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Ruth's Chris workers seek class-action status
Headline Legal News |
2011/10/22 09:35
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Current and former female employees of Ruth's Chris Steak House have sued the company alleging gender discrimination and seeking class-action status.
Last week's filing came after U.S. District Judge Barbara Rothstein in Washington, D.C., ruled that a smaller lawsuit alleging gender discrimination against the company could be amended to seek class action status.
The lawsuit had previously been limited to three individual plaintiffs. The class action lawsuit would be on behalf of all female employees at the company's headquarters and restaurants from September 2006 to the present.
The women allege that the restaurant operator conducted a pattern and practice of gender discrimination, including compensating men more than women, subjecting women to sexist comments, and disciplining women more harshly than men.
"The work environment at RCSH is one that is demeaning to women, reflects a culture of male domination and female subjugation, and is a causative factor in the discrimination against women in compensation, promotion, and termination," the lawsuit said.
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Court orders new trial for convicted Cass County killer
Legal Business |
2011/10/21 09:35
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The 6th District Court of Appeals in Texarkana has ordered a new trial for a Cass County man convicted of killing his wife.
The Texarkana Gazette reports that the court on Wednesday granted 50-year-old David Len Moulton's request for a new trial.
Moulton was convicted and sentenced to 60 years in prison in 2010 of the 2004 death of Rebecca Moulton. Her body was found in a pond on the couple's property in Atlanta, Texas. A cause of death could not be determined.
The appeals court agreed with arguments by defense attorney Jason Horton that the jury was given an improper instruction. The instruction said jurors could convict Moulton if they determined he asphyxiated his wife by unknown means.
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Mom pleads guilty to forcing beer on children
Court Watch |
2011/10/21 09:35
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A Connecticut mother has pleaded guilty to charges that she forced her 4-year-old son to drink beer and gave her 10-month-old daughter beer and cocaine.
The Connecticut Post reports Juliette Dunn, of Bridgeport, pleaded guilty Wednesday to risk of injury to a child under the Alford Doctrine, where the defendant doesn't agree to the facts but agrees the state has enough evidence to win a conviction.
A companion, 33-year-old Lisa Jefferson, pleaded guilty to the same charges.
Police say officers were waved down in June by a neighbor who complained that a woman was feeding children beer at a playground.
The children were turned over to the Department of Children and Families after 29-year-old Dunn's arrest. Custody hasn't been decided. |
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Senate rejects GOP effort on terrorist trials
Headline Legal News |
2011/10/21 09:35
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The Senate voted early Friday to reject a Republican effort to prohibit the United States from prosecuting foreign terrorist suspects in civilian courts, handing a victory to President Barack Obama.
By 52-47, senators turned aside a proposal by Sen. Kelly Ayotte (AY-aht), R-N.H., that would have forced such trials to occur before military tribunals or commissions. The Obama administration has fought to continue bringing such cases in federal courts, with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Attorney General Eric Holder writing Senate leaders on Thursday that the measure would deprive them of a potent weapon against terrorism and increase the risk of terrorists escaping justice.
Obama has had numerous clashes with Congress over the handling of war on terror detainees. Congress has voted to prevent the transfer of detainees from the naval prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to the U.S. Obama has sought to close that detention facility but has been opposed by Republicans and some Democratic lawmakers.
Ayotte said it would be dangerous to let terrorists exercise the protections against self-incrimination and other rights of civilian courts that they might use to avoid surrendering critical information to investigators. Republicans cited last November's acquittal by a federal jury in New York of all but one of hundreds of charges brought against Ahmed Ghailani for his role in destroying two U.S. embassies in Africa, in which 224 people were killed.
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Artists sue auction houses over royalties law
Legal Business |
2011/10/20 09:35
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Famed New York painter Chuck Close and other artists are suing Sotheby's, Christie's and eBay, contending the auctioneers willfully violated a California law requiring royalty payments on sales of their works.
The three federal suits filed Tuesday seek class-action status to represent many other artists and demand unspecified royalties and damages — which could total hundreds of thousands of dollars given current art prices.
The suits were filed on behalf of Close — best known for his enormous photorealistic paintings — along with Los Angeles artist Laddie John Dill, and the estate of late sculptor Robert Graham. Graham's works include the ceremonial gate for the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum that was commissioned for the 1984 Olympics and features nude statues modeled on some of the athletes.
A foundation of late California painter Sam Francis also is named as a plaintiff in the suits against Christie's and eBay Inc.
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