Feb 1, 2016

Immense Gas Leak in California Fuels Toxic Levels of Public Distrust

My visit occurred during the final days of one of the worst natural gas leaks in U.S. history, caused by a damaged well at the largest underground natural gas storage facility in the western part of the country. The Aliso Canyon storage facility, operated by the Southern California Gas Company (also known as SoCalGas), emitted 97,100 metric tonnes of methane during the months-long leak, …


Dow Chemical Settles Case Citing Supreme Court Uncertainty

Dow Chemical said Friday it will pay $835 million to settle a long-standing class action lawsuit, after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia decreased its chances of prevailing at the Supreme Court. The announcement is an early indication of how corporations are shifting their legal strategy following the loss of the court’s 5-4 conservative majority. “I think most corporations facing class …



EPA Requests Information From Mercedes-Benz Over Emission Levels

FRANKFURT/WASHINGTON U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said on Monday it had not opened an official investigation into Daimler’s luxury car brand Mercedes-Benz but had only requested information to explain emissions levels in some of its cars. A spokesman for Daimler said on Sunday it was fully cooperating with the request for information, and that Mercedes-Benz cars conformed with all rules …


Slater & Gordon Class Action ‘Almost Certain’

Slater & Gordon announces almost $1 billion loss by Jonathan Shapiro and Sarah Danckert Slater & Gordon has two months to the secure the support of National Australia Bank and Westpac Banking Corp The Melbourne-based company posted a $958 million first-half losss, which is three times the combined profits since it became the first law firm in the world to float on a stock market in 2007. The …


Former Residential School Student Says Info Withheld on Priest Who Abused Him

Justice department lawyers have been accused of withholding documents that show a priest who worked at an infamous Indian residential school for nearly four decades was a serial sexual predator even as they persuaded an adjudicator to deny compensation to a former student who said the priest abused him. The man, who was a student of St. Anne’s Indian Residential School in Fort Albany, Ont., is …


How Better Signs Can Help New York’s Met Museum Fix Its Vague Admissions Policy

One of the most visited museums in the world is about to become even more accessible. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City announced on Friday (Feb. 26) that it will settle a three-year-old class action lawsuit challenging its vague “pay-as you wish” admission policy. To coincide with the opening of its new satellite location on Madison Avenue and 75th Street next month, the museum …




UC Berkeley Students File Lawsuit Against Google Alleging Illegal Scanning of Emails

In March 2014, Google fell under fire for scanning emails in Apps for Education, a collection of online tools and services that include Google Drive and Google Mail. Now, nearly two years later, four UC Berkeley students and alumni filed a lawsuit against Google Inc. on Wednesday, alleging that UC Berkeley emails were the target of such data mining between 2012 and 2014. In 2014, nine …