News

Will Seattle Have to Change Its Homeless Sweeps? Ruling Is Coming Soon

An initial ruling is expected soon in a lawsuit challenging how Seattle and Washington state are dealing with unauthorized homeless encampments in the city. Two homeless people sued last month, accusing the city and the state transportation department of violating the rights of people living outdoors by seizing and destroying their property while evicting them from and clearing away their …


Feds Not Rushing Travel-Ban Appeal to Supreme Court

The Justice Department said in a brief filed Monday that it would continue to defend President Donald Trump’s targeted travel ban in the federal appeals court in San Francisco, which on Thursday refused to reinstate it. The department did not say whether it would try to appeal that ruling to the Supreme Court. But its silence on the matter suggested that the Trump administration …


Billion-Dollar Settlement Netted Little for Retirees

It was hailed as one of the largest anti-trust, class-action settlements ever — nearly $2 billion to be paid to investors by some of the country’s major banks for allegedly fixing the financial markets. And right there near of the top of the list of victims of the alleged fraud was the Essex Regional Retirement System, the Danvers-based organization that manages $370 million in …


Questions About EPA-Monsanto Collusion Raised in Cancer Lawsuits

Now it’s getting interesting. A new court filing made on behalf of dozens of people claiming Monsanto Co.’s Roundup herbicide gave them cancer includes information about alleged efforts within the Environmental Protection Agency to protect Monsanto’s interests and unfairly aid the agrichemical industry. The filing, made late Friday by plaintiff’s attorneys, includes what the attorneys represent …


Jehovah’s Witness Sexual-Abuse-Coverup Lawsuit Settled

A settlement agreement has been reached, but neither the victim nor the church she said failed to report her sexual abuse to the authorities can talk about it. On the fifth day of trial Monday in Philadelphia County Court, Stephanie Fessler, of Lancaster, settled the suit she filed against the Jehovah’s Witness Church in Spring Grove. “The matter with the Jehovah’s Witnesses has …



Labor Department to Delay and Revisit Fiduciary Rule

President Donald Trump’s Department of Labor moved one step closer to putting the brakes on the agency’s fiduciary rule for retirement investment advisers late Feb. 9. The agency sent to the White House’sOffice of Management and Budget a proposal to delay the rule’s applicability date, one week after Trump ordered the agency to review the Obama-era rule that aims to protect retirement investors …


Baltimore City to Pay $300,000 in Anthony Anderson Death Lawsuit

Baltimore’s spending panel is set to approve a $300,000 settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the family of Anthony Anderson, who died after he was tackled by a police officer in 2012. Officers stopped Anderson, 46, on Sept. 21, 2012, in a vacant lot when the officers said he failed to respond to commands, prompting one officer to use a “bear hug” maneuver, according to according to …


What’s Behind the Rise in Shareholder Class Actions?

There’s been several high profile class actions launched by unhappy shareholders against the companies they invest in (otherwise known as securities class actions) lately in Australia. The common theme is a claim these companies have not been straight with investors, issuing falsely optimistic information or concealing negative information. If it’s proved to be true, this sort of conduct does …


Woman Died After Being Left Unattended for Hours in Jail

A family said their loved one died in the Atlanta City Jail, where she was being held for a minor crime, and it took hours for anyone to find her. Records show Wickie Bryant was booked into the Atlanta City Detention Center in Sept. 2015 after police arrested her for disorderly conduct. Bryant suffered from schizophrenia and diabetes, …