In June 2010, a federal judge declined to grant final class certification to a suit brought against Wal-Mart by former janitorial staff, charging the retail giant over their labor practices. “On June 25th, Chief US District Judge Garrett Brown…found that because the plaintiffs worked for a variety of Wal-Mart contractors around the county, not for […]
Are You In Good Hands?
Allstate Agrees to $10 Million Settlement A news release has confirmed that automobile insurance giant Allstate has agreed to pay a $10 million in a regulatory settlement following an investigation by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) that lasted for a year and a half. The settlement involves forty-five states, but New York is […]
Nursing Home Residents Have Civil Rights
New category of lawsuits for civil rights violations at nursing homes. The Legal Intelligencer (7/1/09, Duffy) reports, “In a landmark opinion that recognizes a new category of lawsuits, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the Federal Nursing Home Reform Amendments give residents of county-run nursing homes the right to bring civil rights claims […]
Insurance Investment Losses = Lower Claims Settlements
The insurance industry has seen a double ‘whammy’ in 2008: a huge decline in sales of insurance products (due to the decline in sales of autos and houses) along with double digit declines in the value of their investment portfolios. For property/casualty insurers (like auto and homeowners insurance companies) these events will no doubt lead not […]
Jurors in the Electronic Age
Even though the judge gives the standard instruction to ‘not talk about the trial until it is over’, connected people who are selected to serve on juries can’t seem to refrain from texting or tweeting during their jury service. Recent experiences reported from around the country show that many jurors can’t stop doing what they […]
Warning: The car that hits you is probably not insured
The Insurance Research Council has estimated that by next year nearly one in six motorists in this country may be driving without insurance. As the recession leaves millions of workers unemployed and pressures family budgets, many families are cutting the “luxury” of car insurance. Big Mistake. Not only is car insurance mandatory by law in 48 states, including […]
Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act
On January 30, 2009, President Obama signed into law the Democrats’ quick response to a (Bush) Supreme Court decision which had taken away almost all avenues for workers to recover for pay discrimination. In 2007 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled (in a 5-4 decision) that Lilly Ledbetter “had failed to file a discrimination suit against the Goodyear […]
Lawsuits Limited in Colorado
Lawsuits Against Schools and other Public Entities Limited in Colorado While many national media columnists and talk show hosts rail against the increasing number of lawsuits filed against schools (usually in California) for such things as enforcing a dress code or failing to enforce equitable play on the playground at recess, what Colorado consumers probably […]
How State Farm handles auto claims
State Farm is the largest automobile insurer in the United States. Last year alone, its automobile insurance business collected over $30 billion in premiums! The combined net worth of the State Farm group of companies increased $5.6 billion in 2007, resulting in an overall net worth of $63.7 billion. State Farm is the largest auto […]
Paxil and Suicide
Some dermatologists have prescribed the anti-depressant drug, Paxil, for “off-lable” use in teenagers. One of those teenagers, a 16 year old from New Jersey, killed himself shortly after he began the Paxil regime. The parents of the teen brought a lawsuit against Glaxo-SmithKline (GSK), claiming that the drug firm was negligent in failing to warn […]
