Senators, start new beginning now
June 16, 2008
BALTIMORE - Sens. Barbara Mikulski and Benjamin Cardin right now have power to
shape the future of our nation. They can set the new direction and attitude.
They can prove to America that Democratic cries for a new beginning are not just
hollow party rhetoric.
And while they are at it, they can serve justice, relieve the beleaguered U.S.
4th District
Court of Appeals and put an excellent choice for judge on the bench.
They readily admit Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein would be a good
judge. In fact, they say the main reason they are blocking his nomination is he
does such a great job here in Maryland. The other reasons they give are patently
specious.
Politics, they say, has nothing to do with keeping off the most shorthanded
appeals court in the nation this Republican who clerked for Reagan Supreme Court
nominee Judge Douglas Ginsburg before being hired and promoted by the Clinton
Justice Department. IQ is not the issue. He graduated summa cum laude from
Wharton, cum laude from Harvard and was a Law Review editor.
Now that Virginia’s senators joined hands across party lines to expedite one
appointment, four vacant seats remain, still more than twice as many as any
other circuit court of appeals. The partisan bickering over filling this
influential bench has denied citizens of five states our full share of justice
through the terms of three presidents and surely will into a fourth.
That is an outrage. If Mikulski and Cardin are playing mere politics with
Maryland’s unofficial seat, they betray the people of our state. If they are
waiting out the presidential election in hopes of inflicting an ideologue on the
court and replacing Rosenstein with one as U.S. attorney, they should turn
Democrats’ eight years of allegations against the Bush administration upon
themselves.
For one thing, the 2008 election is a long way from decided. For another, even
if their party’s nominee wins, he has called for a new beginning. Barack Obama
asks all Americans “to believe not just in my ability to bring about real
change in Washington. I’m asking you to believe in yours.”
Really? How can anybody believe in his or our ability to effect change if two
of the smartest, most effective members of the Senate refuse to change?
Senators, we want change today, not seven months from now. The first thing we
want you to change is putting party politics before the greater good of the
people. Stop it.
Show the way. You still have time. The Senate filled the last seat only 65 days
after President Bush’s nomination.
Use Rosenstein’s appointment to light a beacon on Capitol Hill that those who
call for change can change themselves.
Frank Keegan (http://www.examiner.com/a-1439259~Senators__start_) wrote:
Editorial
Senators, start new beginning now
The Baltimore Examiner Newspaper
2008-06-13
Justices allow RICO lawsuit in Illinois case
June 13, 2008
The Supreme Court on Monday allowed businessmen to use a powerful law enforcement tool in a lawsuit alleging fraud in tax sales in Cook County, Ill.The unanimous decision came in a case involving the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.
The court ruled in favor of two firms alleging that manipulation by competitors had resulted in a disproportionate share of tens of thousands of tax liens going to the competitors.
Tax sales in Cook County enable the collection of unpaid property taxes, giving buyers of tax liens an opportunity to take over property if the owners don’t pay up.
The issue for Phoenix Bond & Indemnity Co. and BCS Services Inc. was whether they could sue even though they had not relied on allegedly fraudulent statements the defendants submitted to Cook County. The statements said that each tax buyer was truly independent from other tax buyers in the competitive bidding.
Writing for the court, Justice Clarence Thomas said that nothing in the RICO law required Phoenix and BCS to show that they relied on alleged misrepresentations by a defendant.
Cook County requires that each buyer submit bids only in its name and not through any related entity.
Phoenix and BCS alleged that a number of related entities “packed the room” in tax sales by having relatives in two families bid for the same properties.
Law firm files suit against hospitals
June 13, 2008
A Rochester employment law firm filed class-action lawsuits Thursday against Kaleida Health and Catholic Health System, accusing the health-care giants of violating federal and state law by not paying hourly employees for lunch or meal periods that were interrupted or missed.
The suit, filed in U. S. District Court by Dolin, Thomas and Solomon LLP, claims the two hospital systems have policies to automatically deduct the time for meal periods from employees’ pay, even if workers didn’t receive their full time off and should have been paid.
That’s against federal and state labor laws, the firm says, citing a recent bulletin from the U. S. Department of Labor aimed at the healthcare industry.
The two hospital systems said they had not yet been served with court papers, but were familiar with the firm and suit, and roundly denounced both.
“This is obviously a self-serving effort by an out-of-town law firm intent on exploiting our hardworking employees,” said Michael P. Hughes, Kaleida spokesman. “Unfortunately, this law firm has a track record of this type of activity in other communities such as Rochester. Our commitment to our employees is unquestionable and we will vigorously defend ourselves against this lawsuit.”
Catholic Health spokesman Dennis McCarthy said the firm had been “soliciting our employees and former employees for months to join this lawsuit.” He said the hospital has policies “to ensure that employees are properly paid for all time worked, including overtime.”
“Such a claim is utterly meritless and will be vigorously defended against,” he said. “CHS will not permit this lawsuit to disrupt its commitment to provide exceptional healthcare.”
Under federal law, meal periods are typically at least 30 minutes in duration, are not considered worktime, and do not have to be paid. However, the law specifically says employees must be “completely relieved from duty for the purposes of eating regular meals,” and says workers are not considered “relieved” if they are “required to perform any duties, whether active or inactive, while eating.”
“The law is clear that employers must compensate employees for all hours worked,” said attorney J. Nelson Thomas, who represents over 700 current and former employees who have joined the lawsuit. “Catholic [Health] and Kaleida cannot be allowed to circumvent the Department of Labor’s regulations.”
The Labor Department bulletin says employers are responsible for ensuring workers take their 30-minute breaks without interruption if they don’t pay the employees for that time. And if employees are interrupted frequently, such as by patient requests, the employees should be paid for the full period.
Violations are common in healthcare, Thomas said, because of the nature of the work. “Nurses are dedicated and they don’t just drop patients to take lunch,” Thomas said.
So after hearing of the issue, the law firm posted a Web site to attract clients. It won a settlement in a similar case in 2006 against University of Rochester.
To date, 389 Kaleida employees and 333 at Catholic Healthhave signed on as plaintiffs, but the firm is seeking more current and former employees, and expects as many as 10,000 may be affected. Thomas said total damages could exceed $10 million.
Federal law allows workers to recover lost wages for three years, but New York law allows six years if the court agrees to allow the state claim. Only hourly workers are covered.
Thomas said the law firm also investigated Erie County Medical Center, but found it complies with the law by paying all employees for meal breaks, whether they take them or not.
The firm is still investigating practices at eight other hospitals or systems in New York State, including Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center, Mount St. Mary’s Hospital and Health Center, Sheehan Memorial Hospital, the McGuire Group, the VA Healthcare Systems, Ascension Health and Catholic Health East.
Lawyer sues Delta for ruining family vacation
June 13, 2008
A New York lawyer is suing Delta Air Lines for $1 million, saying his family vacation turned into a nightmare after they were stranded in an airport for days and treated disdainfully by airline employees. Richard Roth, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of himself and his mother, said he planned the Christmas 2007 trip to Buenos Aires to celebrate his mother’s 80th birthday. She had grown up in the city, but had not returned in years, he said.Instead, Roth, his two teenage children, his wife and mother spent three days in airports, went days without their luggage, were treated rudely by airline employees and were forced to spend $21,000 on unused hotel rooms in Argentina, replacement clothes, and other costs.
“Through its gross negligence, malfeasance and absolute incompetence, Mr. Roth holds Delta responsible for ruining his vacation,” said the lawsuit, filed in New York state court.
Delta Air Lines Inc had no immediate comment. Roth said that he has been in touch with Delta about getting reimbursed, but was repeatedly rebuffed. He told Reuters on Wednesday filing the suit was a last resort.
After the initial flight from New York was delayed by more than two hours, the family was not allowed to board their connecting flight in Atlanta, Roth said.
A Delta employee “literally walked away chuckling that he had left them stranded,” he said. After waiting in the airport for hours, Roth was told the next available flight would depart more than two weeks later.
AG Settles With Three Law Firms In Pension Probe
June 13, 2008
Settlements with three law firms and lawyers in Upstate, Long Island and Westchester ending improper employment arrangements with school districts and a Central New York Board of Cooperative Educational Services have been announced by the Attorney General’s office.The settlements also rescind all public benefits wrongfully received and require the law firms and lawyers to pay the state a total $235,000.
At the same time, top state lawmakers in the Senate and Assembly joined with the Attorney General in announcing plans to introduce legislation that would finally end the abuses of the public pension system.The settlements come as part of Cuomo’s statewide investigation into the public pension systems and are with the Central New York firm of Ferrara, Fiorenza, Larrison, Barrett and Reitz P.C., the New York City firm of Aiello and Cannick and Long Island attorney Gilbert Henoch.
“Systemic abuse in the public pension and benefits systems has wasted millions of taxpayer dollars,” said Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. “We will continue to examine school districts and BOCES throughout the state to ensure that taxpayer dollars are not being wasted by providing pensions to lawyers who are not state employees or other unwarranted perks and benefits. It may have been common practice for decades but it ends now, and I am working with leaders in the Senate and Assembly to pass legislation shutting down the abuses for good.”
Law firm says phone book company messed up ad
June 13, 2008
A prominent Charleston law firm has filed suit against the company that produces Verizon’s phone books, saying its ad was screwed up in the latest Charleston edition.
Richard Neely and Mike Callaghan filed the suit for Neely & Callaghan on June 10 in Kanawha Circuit Court.
The attorneys claim Idearc Media Corp. ran an incorrect ad for the firm. The ad mostly had copy for Neely & Hunter, Neely’s former firm.
“What it does is paints our firm and us as individuals in a false light to the public,” Callaghan said Wednesday. “If you look at what’s in the book, the way it reads, it says Callaghan at top, but lists Hunter in the bottom. It puts me and our firm in a false light.”
Neely is a former state Supreme Court justice and Yale Law School graduate, and Callaghan is a former Congressional candidate, former federal prosecutor, former state Secretary for the Environment and former chair of the state Democratic Party.
“Neely & Callaghan does not advertise in the greater Charleston area because the lawyers are well known,” the attorneys claim in the suit. “The primary vehicle for connecting clients with Neely & Callaghan is the Yellow Pages of the telephone directory prepared by Defendant.”
The suit says Neely and Roger Hunter’s partnership ended in May 2007. Hunter now is with Spilman Thomas & Battle.
In November, according to the suit, Neely & Callaghan purchased an ad with Idearc. The correct version of the ad appeared in the Teays Valley edition of the Verizon phone book.
But the ad that ran in the Charleston edition was headlined Neely & Callaghan, but the ad included information about Neely and Hunter. That included misrepresenting services the new firm offers.
Neely & Callaghan’s office manager asked to see a draft version of the ad, but was told that Idearc doesn’t do that, according to the suit.
“Now, for an entire year, the staff of Neely & Callaghan must take calls for Roger D. Hunter and waste its time properly referring those calls to the correct firm,” the attorneys claim in the suit.
The attorneys also say Idearc libeled the firm by filing a false statement to credit reporting agencies that they didn’t pay for the ad when Idearc knew that it had breached its contract with them and no debt was owed.
The defendants “regular course of conduct is to extort money from wronged customers after [it] has breached its contract by threatening to refuse to publish further advertisements in its quasi-monopoly telephone directories if wronged customers fail to pay charges for contracts that were nonetheless breached,” the suit states.
The lawsuit seeks a maximum of $75,000 in compensatory and punitive damages as well as court costs and interest.
“We will be quantifying damages, yes,” Callaghan said. “Some are unquantifiable in respect to reputation. There’s not a formula to say how much. But yes, we will be looking at those numbers.
“We are looking at our phone call volume to determine how much it’s gone down. We are looking to see who has trouble getting a hold of us. It’s me in particular. But it says we do work that we don’t do. We’re a top-shelf litigation firm. We defend people and sue people. It paints us falsely as saying we do things like structured business buyouts and securities.
“I hate that we had to file the suit, but that’s life.”
With office for Idearc located in the same building as his law firm, Callaghan said it has been awkward at times.
“We like them, and we get along with them fine,” he said. “They messed up, and we asked them to help out. And now we’re here where we are.”
