The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Tuesday overturned a district court judge’s dismissal of a lawsuit filed by server and bartender employees alleging they were paid “tipped” wages for performing non-tipped duties in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) . Under the “dual jobs” provision of the FLSA, employers [...]
Judge Amy Totenberg of the US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia ruled Monday that Georgia will be permitted to go forward with the use of its electronic voting machines, despite security warnings from voting technology experts. The ruling comes in a 2017 lawsuit filed by Georgia voters and election security organizations who [...]
Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh announced Monday that Maryland intends to appeal the decision of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to deny Maryland’s petition for relief for emissions from out-of-state plants contributing to ozone problems in Maryland. Maryland filed a petition in December 2016 asking for injunctive relief under Section 126 of the Clean Air [...]
Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos of the US District Court for the Southern District of Texas, on Monday dismissed a lawsuit challenging Texas’ voter ID law, in light of the Fifth Circuit Court’s April decision upholding the law as constitutional. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced the victory for Senate Bill 5 , saying the law will [...]
Illinois’ Fourth District Appellate Court upheld a lower court’s dismissal of a lawsuit challenging an Illinois law that allocates funding for abortions for government employees and individuals on Medicaid. Several pro-life organizations filed the lawsuit in 2017, saying the law, House Bill 40, violated the Balanced Budget requirement of the Illinois Constitution because the General Assembly [...]
After the release of the grand jury report last month that exposed widespread abuse within the Catholic Church, hundreds of victims across Pennsylvania have been invited to join a massive class action lawsuit filed in Allegheny County on Monday. Plaintiffs Ryan O’Connor and Kristen Hancock, on behalf of her minor child, are suing all eight [...]
Judge Lynn Norton of Idaho’s Fourth Judicial District Court on Monday modified her previous decision that called for the state to turn over execution records to allow for redactions of any identification of the source of drugs used during lethal injections. In the underlying case, Cover v. Idaho Board of Corrections, University of Idaho professor Aliza [...]
The US Senate approved the Support for Patients and Communities Act on Monday to to address opioid and substance use disorders in an effort to fight the national opioid epidemic. The bill passed 99-1 with Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) giving the only vote against the legislation. The bill would alter Medicaid and Medicare programs as [...]
The Senate Judiciary Committee announced on Monday that it will postpone the vote on President Donald Trump’s nominee to the US Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh , and allow Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused Kavanaugh of attempted sexual assault, to speak at a public hearing next Monday. Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley said that the Committee will give “these recent allegations [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit upheld Illinois’ zero emission credit (ZEC) subsidies for the state’s nuclear power plants on Thursday. The ZECs require power producers in the state that generate electricity using coal or gas to purchase the ZECs from the nuclear power plants at a price of $16.50 per megawatt-hour. [...]
