Lawyers USA Online

Ford isn’t liable for ‘take-home’ asbestos

Pat Murphy — Thu, 24 May 2012 15:57:51 +0000

Ford Motor Co. isn’t liable for injury allegedly caused by exposure to asbestos carried home on the clothes of independent contractors who worked at one of the auto maker’s plants, the California Court of Appeal has ruled in reversing a $40,000 jury verdict.

The plaintiff was diagnosed with mesothelioma in
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Title VII suit isn’t governed by ‘sole reason’ standard

Pat Murphy — Thu, 24 May 2012 15:54:06 +0000

A Title VII plaintiff was not required to show that unlawful discrimination was the sole reason why he was passed over for a job, the D.C. Circuit has ruled.

The plaintiff is a Cuban-American male who received the highest interview scores among the 16 finalists for a director of workplace
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Indirect purchasers can’t get homebuyer tax credit

Pat Murphy — Thu, 24 May 2012 15:50:46 +0000

Taxpayers who purchased their home through their subchapter S corporation could not claim a first-time homebuyer credit when they filed their federal income taxes, the U.S. Tax Court has ruled in upholding a deficiency determination.

The taxpayers are a married couple and the only shareholders of a subchapter S corporation.
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Doctor can’t share in fault without proof of malpractice

Pat Murphy — Thu, 24 May 2012 15:47:41 +0000

A personal injury defendant was required prove all the elements of medical malpractice before a non-party doctor could be found comparatively at fault for the plaintiff’s injuries, the California Court of Appeal has ruled in reversing judgment.

The plaintiff was injured when the elevator in her apartment building malfunctioned and
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NLRB to rule if university faculty fall under NLRA

Kimberly Atkins — Thu, 24 May 2012 15:07:33 +0000

WASHINGTON – The National Labor Relations Board is accepting briefs in a case considering whether university faculty members seeking to unionize are considered employees and thus covered by the National Labor Relations Act, or whether they are managerial and thus excluded from the law.

An NLRB regional director held that
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Man receives $4 million settlement in police confrontation case

Tony Ogden — Thu, 24 May 2012 14:59:40 +0000

A 61-year-old Vallejo, Calif. man was awarded more than $4 million in a settlement with the Vallejo Police Department over a five-year-old confrontation that left him with a broken neck, lawyers for both sides said.

Read the full article from the Vallejo Times Herald: Vallejo man receives $4 million settlement
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$4.1 million settlement reached for pregnant inmates who said they were shackled

Tony Ogden — Thu, 24 May 2012 14:57:37 +0000

Cook County, Ill. officials have agreed to to pay more than $4 million to settle a lawsuit brought by pregnant women who said they were shackled at their hands and feet while they gave birth at the county jail.

Read the full article from NBC Chicago: $4.1M Settlement Reached for
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‘Transformers 3’ extra receives $18.5 million settlement in accident

Tony Ogden — Thu, 24 May 2012 14:55:53 +0000

Two top Hollywood film studios, makers of the high-grossing “Transformers” franchise, must ante up $18.5 million to a Chicago woman left brain-damaged by an injury sustained while working as an extra during a 2010 filming in Northwest Indiana.

Read the full article from The Chicago Sun-Times: ‘Transformers 3’ extra receives
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Benchmarks: Is ‘shiny floor’ claim enough for slip-and-fall suit?

Pat Murphy — Thu, 24 May 2012 13:16:38 +0000

Is a slip-and-fall plaintiff’s allegation that a floor was “shiny” sufficient to raise a jury issue as to whether it was safe to walk on? The Rhode Island Supreme Court faced that question last week.

Maureen Habershaw presented the issue in
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Supreme Court declines to hear music downloading case

Sylvia Hsieh — Wed, 23 May 2012 20:49:15 +0000

A $675,000 jury verdict against a student who illegally downloaded 30 songs from the Internet was left standing by the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to take the matter up.

Joel Tenenbaum, a 28-year-old Boston University physics student, used file-sharing
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