On July 14th, the Fourth Circuit US Court of Appeals found in favor of the North Carolina division of the ACLU which represented residents of Rowan County. The county residents sought to end a long-standing practice of politicians starting meetings with prayers that were “unmistakably Christian in content,” to use the words of the Appeals Court’s … [Read more...]
Justice Department Submits Brief Arguing Against Gay Rights
Without being asked, on July 26th, the Trump Administration filed an amicus brief with the Second Circuit US Court of Appeals. In it, officials argued against a long-held opinion that civil rights law protects gay employees from discrimination. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), another federal agency, had already filed its … [Read more...]
Bank’s Duty to Watch for Fraudulent Checks Cannot be Waived
Columbus, OH (July 28, 2017) – The Sixth Circuit ruled last week in Majestic Building Maintenance v. Huntington Bancshares Inc. (July 20, 2018 App. No. 16-4342) that a bank cannot disclaim its duty of ordinary care and good faith in processing checks under UCC Article 4. Huntington had been trying to push the responsibility of catching fraudulent … [Read more...]
9th Circuit Rules – No Routine Shackling of Defendants
On May 31, 2017, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that routine shackling of pre-trial detainees is a violation of the Fifth Amendment. The ruling does not mean that prisoners cannot be shackled in the courtroom, but that the decision must be made on a case-by-case basis, “Before a presumptively innocent defendant may … [Read more...]
Congressional Republicans Work With Trump to Fill Judiciary Vacancies
When President Trump came into office he was tasked with filling over 100 vacancies in federal courts all over the country – mostly US District Courts. Since then he has worked month by month to fulfill that duty. In May, the White House released the names of 10 nominees for positions in lower courts and a month later it announced 11 more. And … [Read more...]
Trump Administration Wants to Change Salary Threshold for Overtime
Background In May of last year, the Obama administration authored a rule that would, in effect, raise the salary threshold for collecting overtime (OT). This means salaried workers would be able to collect time-and-a-half if they work longer than 40 hours in a week. According to the Labor Department’s rule, anyone making under $47,476 (instead of … [Read more...]
Class Action Waivers in Employment Agreements Challenged in Supreme Court
On January 13, 2012, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled that arbitration clauses in employment contracts that prohibit employees from entering class action lawsuits against their employers will not be upheld by law. However, several courts rejected the Board’s ruling due to the Federal Arbitration Act’s express approval of class action … [Read more...]
