Discrimination claim appears to divide high court

Headline Legal News 2009/04/23 09:32   Bookmark and Share
A divided Supreme Court took up its first examination of race in the Obama era Wednesday, wrestling with claims of job discrimination by white firefighters in a case that could force changes in employment practices nationwide.


The case from New Haven, Conn., pits white firefighters, who showed up at the court Wednesday in their dress uniforms, against the city over its decision to scrap a promotion exam because no African-Americans and only two Hispanic firefighters were likely to be made lieutenants or captains based on the results.

As is often the case with closely fought social issues at the court, Justice Anthony Kennedy appeared to hold the key to the outcome. He seemed concerned that New Haven scuttled the test without determining that there were flaws that might have led to the racially disproportionate results.

"So shouldn't there be some standard that there has to be a significant, a strong showing after the test has been taken that it's deficient? Before it can be set aside?" he said.

Kennedy often frowns on racial classifications, yet he is not as opposed to drawing distinctions on the basis of race as his more conservative colleagues.

But where Kennedy saw shades of gray, the rest of the court seemed to view the case clearly in terms of black and white.

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Man jailed for dodging child support for 14 kids

Headline Legal News 2009/04/12 09:31   Bookmark and Share
Authorities in Michigan say a man fathered 14 children with 13 different women and owes more than $530,000 in unpaid child support.


The Flint Journal reports 42-year-old Thomas Frazier was jailed Thursday. Court records say he hasn't made a support payment in six years.

The newspaper says the unemployed man could be held for 90 days if he doesn't pay $27,900.

Frazier says he thinks he fathered only three of the children and that it's unrealistic for authorities to expect him to pay child support that was $3,000 a month at one point.

Frazier remains held at the Genesee County Jail. It wasn't immediately clear if he had a lawyer who could speak for him.

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Barnhill & Vayernov Investigating Insight Enterprises, Inc.

Headline Legal News 2009/02/12 09:38   Bookmark and Share
Barnhill & Vaynerov LLP today announced that it is investigating potential claims against Insight Enterprises, Inc. ("Insight Enterprises" or the "Company") (Nasdaq:NSIT), on behalf of investors. The investigation pertains to possible securities violations related to public statements made by the Company between March 11, 2004 and February 6, 2009, in light of the Company's disclosure that it will have to restate its previously reported earnings.

On February 9, 2009, Insight Enterprises's stock declined nearly 50% after the Company shocked the market by revealing that it expects to restate financial statements included in the Company's most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K, for the year ended December 31, 2007, and in the Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the first three quarters of fiscal year 2008. According to the Company, the restatement will also include a material reduction of retained earnings as of December 31, 2004, related to the accumulation of such errors in prior periods. Insight Enterprises has disclosed that the cumulative effect of the restatement is expected to be $50 million to $70 million. On this news, Insight Enterprises shares declined by $2.85 per share, more than 48%, to close on February 9, 2009 at $3.05 per share, on unusually heavy volume.

If you purchased or acquired Insight Enterprises common stock between March 11, 2004 and February 6, 2009, if you have information or would like to learn more about these claims, or if you wish to discuss these matters or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Maxim Vaynerov, Esquire, of Barnhill & Vaynerov LLP, 8200 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 400, Beverly Hills, California 90211, by telephone at (310) 943-8989, or by email to Vaynerov@aol.com.
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KBR & Halliburton Accused in Class Action

Headline Legal News 2009/01/28 09:12   Bookmark and Share
KBR, Kellogg Brown & Root and Halliburton knowingly exposed U.S. troops to water contaminated by sewage and made soldiers sick by burning toxic waste unsafely, a class action claims in Montgomery County Court. The class claims that when KBR found it was giving troops contaminated water, it told its water quality specialist "to concern himself only with the health and safety of KBR personnel."
The class claims KBR earned $4.8 billion in Iraq in 2006 - 45% of the company's revenue that year - and that the defendants "acted egregiously merely to make more money for themselves."
The complaint cites a 2008 report from the Defense Department's Inspector General that confirmed that KBR supplied unsafe water to U.S. troops. It cites a 2006 report from KBR itself that found KBR's failure to disinfect water "caused an unknown population to be exposed to potentially harmful water for an undetermined period of time," and that "the deficiencies of the camp where the event occurred is not exclusive to that camp, meaning that countrywide, all camps suffer to some extent from all or some of the deficiencies noted."
They claim KBR's report admitted that the company kept little or no documentation on its water safety, standards or procedures.
The complaint states: "Former KBT employees and water quality specialist Ben Carter and Ken May told Halliburton Watch that KBR knowingly exposed troops and civilians to contaminated water from the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers. Ben Carter, a water quality specialist who worked for KBR at Junction city, testified that he tested water and found it was polluted with sewage and other contamination and that it was not being chlorinated. He then treated the tanks for the KBR employees and told company managers the military should be alerted so they could treat their tanks as well. Carter told the media that he was ordered by his KBR supervisor to concern himself only with the health and safety of KBR personnel. KBR was supposed to test the water three times daily to confirm safety but, according to Carter, such testing never occurred."
The class seeks medical monitoring and punitive damages for negligence, breach of duty, willful and wanton conduct, and other charges. They are represented by William O'Neil with Burke O'Neil of Washington, D.C.
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Testing firm sues NYC to lift license suspensions

Headline Legal News 2009/01/27 15:15   Bookmark and Share
A company accused of faking tests on concrete and steel at the new Yankee Stadium, the Freedom Tower and over 100 other projects is suing New York City to lift suspensions of their licenses.

Testwell Inc. asserts in state Supreme Court papers that the city suspended its licenses "unlawfully" in October after the company was indicted on enterprise corruption charges. Testwell says the charges have not been proven.

Testwell says an administrative law judge recommended lifting the suspensions but last week the city rejected that recommendation.

The city Law Department says it is reviewing Testwell's court papers. The city has been attempting to retest concrete and steel handled by Testwell on some buildings, although prosecutors say no weaknesses have been found.

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John Q. Kelly on Natalee Holloway Case - Fox News

Headline Legal News 2009/01/05 14:18   Bookmark and Share
Natalie Holloway Attorney John Q. Kelly

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: And, finally, the Aruban prosecutor Hans Mos, responds. John Q. Kelly, the Holloway family attorney, has been trying to get Aruban prosecutor Hans Mos on the phone. Mos did leave him a rather nasty voicemail the other day. But now Hans Mos has responded to a letter from Kelly.

So what did Mos say in this response? John Q. Kelly joins us. John, what did he say?

JOHN Q. KELLY, HOLLOWAY FAMILY ATTORNEY: It's basically two-fold. One is that Joran [van der Sloot] has given different versions of the same event, so they can't be bothered with it.

And, two, they have no interest in any evidence or information that might assist him at this point.

VAN SUSTEREN: That is cute. The key is if you want to commit a crime, go to Aruba and tell three stories, because they will not investigate you and they won't look to corroborate. That's lesson number one. That's good advice.

You ask to have him arrested. What happens about that?

KELLY: He said we have no basis for it. This is the first time we have had any information that has been corroborated. He says he father was engaged in a cover-up, and it turns out that the chief of police and Paulus [van der Sloot], it has been confirmed that they hindered the prosecution. We have taped conversations that confirmed the boys talking about hoping that Natalee, or fearing that she may be alive. There are cell phone pings as to locations of Joran down by the fisherman's hut. There are all kinds of things independently that confirm what Joran is saying now, and they just won't listen.

VAN SUSTEREN: I know that he doesn't like us here at "On the Record." And I will make this promise tonight-we will stop being the monkey on his back if he does any investigation at all.

But I can tell you one thing. We have learned new information that a member of the Dutch parliament, Hero Brinkman, he is about to raise holy hell on Hans Mos. He is going down to Aruba in early January.

And if Hans Mos does not like us, wait until he gets a hold of this member of parliament, because he says that Aruba is "corrupt as hell" I think were his words, not mine.

KELLY: Greta, can I take you to the woodshed on one thing? I think people have to understand that even thought it was five months before your aired your interview with Joran that Hans Mos was made aware of it and the substance of it in great detail almost immediately, and he had no interest in following.

Read the entire interview at Fox News - Click Here
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