Law Reports

By Susan R. Hobbs Members of Communications Workers of America Local 1298 “by a strong majority of workers voting” ratify a four-year labor agreement with AT&T Inc. in the East region covering about 3,200 wireline workers in Connecticut, the union and company announced June 3. CWA Local 1298 President William Henderson praised union members and the [...]

By Yin Wilczek Most public companies are falling behind in their compliance with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s conflict minerals disclosure rule, according to a survey released May 29 by risk management consultant Aravo Solutions Inc. The firm, in a survey of its customers, other companies, and industry participants, found that most issuers have yet to begin their [...]

By Florence Olsen Recently issued rules on wellness programs under the Affordable Care Act did not address the tax treatment of wellness incentives because that was not the purpose of the regulations, an Internal Revenue Service official said May 31. “Unfortunately, there’s been some confusion,” said Stephen B. Tackney, IRS deputy division counsel and deputy associate [...]

By Bebe Raupe CINCINNATI–Public employees’ statements made under threat of job loss during an administrative investigation are inadmissible in subsequent criminal proceedings against them, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled May 29 (State v. Graham, Ohio, No. 2012-0338, 5/29/13). In a 7-0 decision, the court reversed a ruling by the Ohio’s Court of Appeals, saying it [...]

By Stephanie M. Acree Three pending appeals from certain holders of Borders gift cards were dismissed as equitably moot May 22 by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (Beeman v. BGI Creditors’ Liquidating Trust (In re BGI Inc.), S.D.N.Y., No. 1:12-cv-07714-ALC, 5/22/13) Judge Andrew L. Carter found that the debtor’s [...]

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed May 29 that former MetLife Inc. (MET)broker Victoria McGee Harris, who pleaded guilty to charges she stole millions of dollars from her primarily elderly clients, properly was sentenced to 210 months in prison (United States v. Harris, 7th Cir., No. 12-1470, 5/29/13). Among other specifics, Judge David Hamilton [...]

By Amy E. Bivins Ronald E. Paul, the former U.S. representative from Texas and Republican presidential hopeful, had engaged in reverse domain name hijacking when he pursued the registrant of the ronpaul.org domain name in arbitration proceedings, a panel at the World Intellectual Property Organization’s arbitration and mediation center concluded May 11 (Paul v. Domain Capital Inc., WIPO, No. [...]

By Tamlin H. Bason Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. did not infringe a plaintiff’s trademark when it used the registered term on a fictional product on its 2012 The Dark Knight Rises film, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana held May 16 (Fortres Grand Corp. v. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., N.D. Ind., No. 3:12-cv-00535-PPS-CAN, 5/16/13). The [...]

Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.) introduced legislation May 22 to increase retirement savings by offering employers a safe harbor for automatic salary deferrals starting at no less than 6 percent of salary, instead of a minimum 3 percent of salary under current automatic enrollment safe harbor policy. The 6 percent safe harbor would be an additional [...]

By Anne A. Marchessault A Union County, N.J., employee who experienced post-traumatic stress disorder after discovering her supervisor’s dead body at work can advance Family and Medical Leave Act retaliation and interference claims against the county, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey held May 23 (Bravo v. Union Cnty., D.N.J., No. 2:12-cv-02848, 5/23/13). Rose Bravo [...]

By Stephanie M. Acree A debtor was not entitled to attorneys’ fees for litigation involving the issue of how to treat negative equity associated with the debtor’s trade-in vehicle under bankruptcy law, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California held May 10 (Penrod v. AmeriCredit Financial Services Inc. (In re Penrod), N.D. Cal., [...]

By Fanni Koszeg at Bloomberg Law The global hedge fund industry had total assets under management in excess of $2.375 trillion in the first quarter of 2013 according to Hedge Fund Research, Inc (HFR).1 This number may be small compared with the over $55 trillion in world stock exchange market capitalization but the hedge fund industry has [...]

By Denise Lugo NORWALK, Conn.–Members of the Financial Accounting Standards Board voted May 23 to issue an exposure document revising the way companies would account for insurance contracts in the United States, admitting, however, that it would incur costs, complexity, and nonconvergence with the International Accounting Standards Board. The costs and complexity incurred by the [...]

Rockville, Md.-based proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. agreed May 23 to pay $300,000 to resolve Securities and Exchange Commission charges that it failed to safeguard confidential information about clients participating “in a number of significant proxy contests” (In re Institutional Shareholder Services Inc., SEC, Admin. Proc. File No. 3-15331, 5/23/13). In a release, the [...]

By Tony Dutra There was no proof that a patent holder intentionally concealed the best mode of implementing its claimed apparatus, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled May 21 in a 2-1 decision (Ateliers de la Haute-Garonne v. Broetje Automation USA Inc., Fed. Cir., No. 2012-1038, 5/21/13). The majority, reversing a lower court’s [...]

By Yin Wilczek The number of enforcement actions brought so far in 2013 by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority are on pace to match the record numbers seen in 2012, FINRA Executive Vice President and Chief of Enforcement Brad Bennett said May 22. Among other trends, FINRA’s home office continues to see a significant number of [...]

By Tony Dutra Alexsam Inc.’s patent on activating prepaid phone and gift cards was not adequately shown to be infringed, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled May 20 (Alexsam Inc. v. IDT Corp., Fed. Cir., No. 2012-1063, 5/20/13). The court reversed a lower court’s judgment because Alexsam failed to prove a negative–that point-of-sale [...]

By Karen Young ATLANTA–A bill recently signed into law by Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) to eliminate sales tax on manufacturing equipment purchases could face legal challenges because although it did receive approval by a majority, it did not meet the required two-thirds House vote, House Minority Leader Perry Thurston Jr. (D) said May 21. Scott [...]

By Jeff Bater Witnesses testifying at a congressional hearing held on May 15 to explore the effectiveness of financial regulatory overhaul pointed out flaws in a key part of the landmark law designed to protect taxpayers from bailing out Wall Street behemoths. One witness testified about a proposal for a new Chapter 14– amendments to the [...]

By Sean Forbes More than two-thirds of employers with a health care plan indicated in a March survey that they will continue to offer coverage for all full-time employees in 2014, a big jump from last year, the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans said May 16. The percentage of single employers that currently have plans that said [...]