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Court knocks down BASF, Shell Brazil payment
Court Watch |
2012/07/05 02:06
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Brazil's top labor court has knocked down a judge's order that Shell Brasil SA and BASF SA deposit $382 million into a fund for workers allegedly contaminated at a chemicals plant.
An emailed statement from the court Wednesday says its lead judge ruled a day earlier in favor of an appeal against immediate payment. A class-action lawsuit seeking compensation from the companies remains before the labor court.
A federal judge in late June ordered the subsidiaries of Royal Dutch Shell PLC and BASF SE to pay into the fund now. Prosecutors sought the order, saying the cash should be immediately available in case workers win the overall lawsuit.
Both Shell and BASF welcomed the new ruling and say they will abide by all legal decisions in the case.
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Settlement Announced In U.S. Bank Overdraft Fee Class Action
Court Watch |
2012/07/02 11:00
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U.S. Bank has agreed to pay $55 million to settle class action lawsuits that accused the bank of improperly manipulating its customers' debit card transactions in order to generate excess overdraft fee revenues. The lawsuits, part of multidistrict litigation involving more than 30 different banks entitled In re Checking Account Overdraft Litigation, are pending before U.S. District Judge James Lawrence King in Miami.
The lawsuits claim that U.S. Bank's internal computer system re-sequenced the actual order of its customers' debit card and ATM transactions, by posting them in highest-to-lowest dollar amount rather than in the actual order in which they were initiated by customers and authorized by the bank. According to the lawsuits, U.S. Bank's practice resulted in its customers being charged substantially more in overdraft fees than if the debit card and ATM transactions had been posted in the order in which they were initiated and authorized.
"We are pleased to have achieved this result for U.S. Bank customers who were adversely affected by this anti-consumer practice," said Robert C. Gilbert, Plaintiffs' Coordinating Counsel, who oversees and manages this multidistrict litigation with Co-Lead Counsel Aaron S. Podhurst and Bruce S. Rogow.
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Supreme Court turns away media companies' appeal
Court Watch |
2012/06/29 09:56
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The Supreme Court has turned down media companies' plea to lift a prohibition on owning both a newspaper and a television station in the same market.
The justices on Friday denied the companies' appeal without comment. The media outlets say the restrictions no longer make sense in the Internet era.
The appeal also sought to get rid of other ownership limits including how many local television stations one company can control.
The companies say the rules make it harder for broadcasters and newspapers to do business and respond to competitors on the Internet, satellite and cable — entities which don't face the same restrictions.
Critics of media consolidation have warned of the dangers of too many media outlets falling under the ownership of a handful of large corporations.
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Court: Union must give fee increase notice
Court Watch |
2012/06/21 12:23
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The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that unions must give nonmembers an immediate chance to object to unexpected fee increases or special assessments that all workers are required to pay in closed-shop situations.
The court ruled for Dianne Knox and other nonmembers of the Service Employees International Union's Local 1000, who wanted to object and opt out of a $12 million special assessment the union required from its California public sector members for political campaigning. Knox and others said the union did not give them a legally required notice that the increase was coming.
The union, and the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, said the annual notice that the union gives was sufficient. The high court disagreed in a 7-2 judgment written by Justice Samuel Alito.
"When a public-sector union imposes a special assessment or dues increase, the union must provide a fresh ... notice and may not exact any funds from nonmembers without their affirmative consent," Alito said.
Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg agreed with the judgment but wrote their own opinion. "When a public-sector union imposes a special assessment intended to fund solely political lobbying efforts, the First Amendment requires that the union provide non-members an opportunity to opt out of the contribution of funds," Sotomayor wrote. |
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2nd campaign aide to DC mayor pleads guilty
Court Watch |
2012/05/24 15:13
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For the second time in three days, a former campaign staffer to District of Columbia Mayor Vincent Gray has pleaded guilty to a federal offense arising from Gray's 2010 mayoral bid.
Howard Brooks pleaded guilty Thursday to lying to the FBI about payments he made to another mayoral candidate using Gray campaign funds. On Tuesday, former Gray aide Thomas Gore pleaded guilty to making some of the same payments and shredding records of them.
Authorities said the cases makes clear that the Gray campaign engaged in dirty politics.
"Today's guilty plea further reveals the underhanded dealings that tainted the integrity of the 2010 mayoral campaign," U.S. Attorney Ronald Machen said in a statement.
What remains unclear is whether Gray participated in or even knew about the criminal activity. While Gray has suffered politically from the scandal, he has not been implicated in any crimes. He has insisted previously during a long-running federal probe that he knew nothing about the potential misdeeds committed by staffers.
The most serious offenses that arose from the cases against Gore and Brooks occurred after Gray took office and involved attempts to conceal the Gray campaign's schemes. Gore pleaded guilty to shredding records of payments made with Gray campaign funds to Sulaimon Brown, a minor mayoral candidate. And Brooks admitted lying to the FBI about his involvement in giving Brown the money. |
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Investment Fraud Litigation |
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Securities fraud, also known as stock fraud and investment fraud, is a practice that induces investors to make purchase or sale decisions on the basis of false information, frequently resulting in losses, in violation of the securities laws. Securities Arbitration. Generally speaking, securities fraud consists of deceptive practices in the stock and commodity markets, and occurs when investors are enticed to part with their money based on untrue statements.
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