Legal News

Lawsuit by Teacher Allegedly Fired Over Central Park Five Lesson Dismissed

A federal judge Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit brought by a former New York City public high school teacher who claimed she was fired for teaching a unit about five men wrongly convicted in the 1989 gang rape of a Central Park jogger. U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl ruled that Jeena Lee-Walker’s speech, as a public employee, was not protected by the First Amendment when she taught lessons about …


Iowa Supreme Court Throws Out AFSCME Lawsuit Against Governor Branstad

The Iowa Supreme Court has ruled Governor Branstad had the authority to close the state-run Mental Health Institutes in Clarinda and Mount Pleasant last year. Court: The citizens of Iowa granted the governor item-veto power The court threw out a complaint by two dozen Democrats in the state legislature and the president of the union that represented many of the workers at the two facilities. …


Appellate Court Reverses Prieto Lawsuit Dismissal

A federal appeals court has reversed a lower court’s dismissal of a lawsuit alleging Yolo County Sheriff Ed Prieto created a sexually hostile work environment by hugging and kissing a female employee while on the job. The reversal sends the case back for trial in U.S. District Court in Sacramento. Yolo County Sheriff Ed Prieto.


Appeals Court Rejects Utah Challenge of Class-Action Suit

The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver will not hear a case about Utah’s efforts to stall a class action lawsuit over mental health treatment in the state’s jails. The Standard-Examiner reports (http://bit.ly/2emtf06 ) that the Utah Attorney General’s Office asked the court to consider its challenge of a ruling certifying the Disability Law Center’s suit as a class action. The appeals …


Federal Court Favors Seminoles in Gambling Lawsuit

Siding with the Seminole Tribe over the state of Florida, federal Judge Robert Hinkle on Wednesday ruled that the tribe can continue to offer blackjack and other banked card games for the next 14 years. The ruling means blackjack until at least 2030 at Seminole-owned casinos and means less money for state coffers at a time when state budgets over the next few years are expected to be tight. The …


Judge Won’t Sign Off on Sony Price-Fixing Deal

A federal judge Tuesday refused to approve Sony’s proposed $19.5 million settlement of an antitrust class action accusing it of conspiring to fix prices of lithium ion batteries. U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said at a Tuesday hearing for indirect purchasers of the batteries that she was frustrated that the fairness hearing had been set before she could …


Airbnb Rebuked in SF Lawsuit

A judge handed Airbnb a rebuke in a lawsuit seeking to block enforcement of the city’s rental regulations. less Ian Mackinlay registers his short-term rental with the city at 1660 Mission St. in San …


Woman Wins Groundbreaking Lawsuit Against Ex After He Posts Revenge Porn Photos

It’s a growing trend in the United States, and one that is sickening and illegal: Revenge porn. Our story begins with a young woman, an aspiring model who posed for nude photos thinking they would remain relatively obscured and within her control. An ex-boyfriend is accused of posing as the woman to obtain photos from the photographer who took them.