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EEOC issues guidance on worker background checks 

Published: May 1, 2012

Tags: criminal background checks, EEOC, employment discrimination, Title VII

WASHINGTON – The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has issued updated guidance on employers’ use of criminal background checks in making employment decisions.

Justices to decide whether ‘Padilla’ duty is retroactive 

Published: April 30, 2012

Tags: collateral consequences, Criminal Law, immigration, ineffective assistance of counsel, Padilla v. Kentucky, Sixth Amendment, Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether its 2010 ruling in Padilla v. Kentucky, holding that the Sixth Amendment requires criminal defense attorneys to warn non-citizen clients if a guilty plea carries a risk of deportation, applies retroactively.

Schumer: Congress will act if Supremes uphold Ariz. immigration law 

Published: April 26, 2012

Tags: Arizona, Chamber of Commerce v. Whiting, Chuck Schumer, Congress, immigration, SB 1070, Supreme Court

WASHINGTON – Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., has promised a swift legislative response if the U.S. Supreme Court upholds a controversial Arizona state law that requires police to check the immigration status of anyone detained and suspected of being in the country illegally and criminalizes the failure to adhere to registration laws.

CFPB opens public inquiry on use of arbitration clauses 

Published: April 26, 2012

Tags: arbitration, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, mandatory arbitration

WASHINGTON – The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau wants to know what you think about arbitration clauses.

The Bureau kicked off an effort to study the effects of arbitration clauses in credit card agreements, mortgage contracts and other financial products by opening public comment on the issue.

Supreme Court tackles Arizona immigration law 

By: Kimberly Atkins
Published: April 25, 2012

Tags: Arizona, immigration law, Obama administration, preemption, SB 1070, Supreme Court

WASHINGTON – The last oral argument of the U.S. Supreme Court’s term was an explosive one, as the justices considered whether SB 1070, the controversial Arizona immigration statute, is preempted by federal law.

ABA voices concern over CFPB regulation on confidentiality 

Published: April 24, 2012

Tags: ABA, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, work-product privilege

WASHINGTON – The American Bar Association is objecting to language in a proposed rule from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau governing confidential treatment of information obtained from persons in connection with the exercise of the agency’s authority.

Justices tackle credit-bidding in bankruptcy ‘cramdown’ plan 

By: Kimberly Atkins
Published: April 23, 2012

Tags: Bankruptcy, Chapter 11, credit bid, secured creditor, Supreme Court

WASHINGTON – The justices of the U.S. Supreme Court took up a complicated bankruptcy case Monday, parsing the language of the Bankruptcy Code to determine if a Chapter 11 debtor must give a secured creditor the right to credit bid items being sold at auction.

Obese worker’s estate gets $125K under EEOC deal 

Published: April 20, 2012

Tags: ADA, AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT, disability discrimination, EEOC, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, obesity

A Louisiana nonprofit agency must pay $125,000 to settle a discrimination lawsuit brought on behalf of the estate of an employee who claimed she lost her job because she suffered from severe obesity, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has announced.

FDA: Yaz users may have higher risk of blood clots 

Published: April 18, 2012

Tags: Bayer, birth control, birth control litigation, Food and Drug Administration, Yasmin, Yaz

Drospirenone-containing birth control pills like Bayer’s Yaz and Yasmin may be associated with a higher risk for blood clots than progestin-containing pills, the Food and Drug Administration has concluded.

Court halts NLRB’s notice posting rule 

Published: April 17, 2012

Tags: DC Circuit, NLRB, notice posting rule, preliminary injunction

WASHINGTON – A federal appellate court has temporarily blocked the National Labor Relations Board from implementing its controversial employer notice posting rule, which was set to go into effect April 30.