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Nevada court says Strip club dancers are employees
Headline Court News |
2014/11/04 14:45
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In a legal decision with wide implications for strip clubs in Sin City, the Nevada Supreme Court ruled Thursday that dancers at one Las Vegas club are employees, not independent contractors, and are entitled to be paid minimum wage.
The unanimous ruling Thursday in a 2009 class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of six dancers at Sapphire Gentlemen's Club could change the landscape statewide in a business where dancers have for decades depended on tips and even paid "house fees" to establishments that allowed them to work.
"Given that Sapphire bills itself as the 'World's Largest Strip Club,' and not, say, a sports bar or nightclub," the high court said, "we are confident that the women strip-dancing there are useful and indeed necessary to its operation."
Mick Rusing, the Tucson, Arizona, attorney who represented plaintiff Zuri-Kinshasa Maria Terry and five other dancers in the initial case, said the ruling might directly effect more than 6,500 current and former members of the affected class, dating to about 2006.
Rusing said they could be entitled to a combined $40 million in back wages, plus the return of house fees.
"And it keeps going up every month," Rusing said. "As employees, you get a lot of rights. The girls are entitled to be paid. At very least, minimum wage."
Sapphire officials and the attorneys who represented the company before the Supreme Court didn't immediately respond to messages.
The Supreme Court ruling, written by Justice Kristina Pickering, declared clubs are not exempt from provisions of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.
That includes worker compensation and sexual harassment rules, Rusing said. |
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North Carolina Worker's Compensation & Social Security Disability
Network News |
2014/11/04 14:43
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We at DiRusso & DiRusso have been helping those in our area with legal need for the past 23 years. Located near Mount Airy, North Carolina, we are grateful for the citizens of Surry County for consistently choosing us for legal representation. Our staff takes pride in this distinction and we believe it is wise that our clients chose local
counsel.
Unlike firms in the larger cities, it is important to us that our clients speak directly with DiRusso and DiRusso, not assistants or paralegals. This local touch extends to our knowledge of the local employers, local court officials, and local employers. It is of upmost importance that we are available to you and sensitive to the needs of
the area.
In addition to being local, we also have the expertise and resources to advocate for you, no matter who you're going against. We at DiRusso and DiRusso are here to listen compassionately about the difficult time you may be having, while also being solution-oriented. Our attorneys are dedicated to representing their clients, and nobody else. We will provide you with current rules, cases, and codes to keep you up to date with the law.
Call us today to speak with an attorney regarding your case. Your initial consultation concerning Personal Injury, Social Security Disability, and Workers' Compensation is always free.
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Divorce Litigation and Child Custody & Visitation in Northern Virginia
Lawyer News |
2014/10/30 09:56
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The Law Offices of Tenecia P. Reid is dedicated to providing outstanding and creative legal solutions to clients throughout Northern Virginia.
The Law Offices of Tenecia P. Reid is here to help you determine how to achieve your goals and maintain your interests. Our exemplary legal counsel assists those throughout Northern Virginia who need an honest assessment of their legal situations. We will advocate on your behalf, advise you on the best course of action, and inform you of the financial and time commitment needed for success.
We specialize in both uncontested divorce cases as well as those with child support, custody, alimony, property, relocation, and other complications. In addition to divorce cases we also have experience with contempt actions, paternity issues, and injunctions, and
protective orders.
Call us today for a consultation, and our attorneys will assist you in traversing the legal system and finding the best outcome for your situation.
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Marine wants new charges in Iraq war crime tossed
Press Release |
2014/10/30 09:55
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The Marine Corps should not be retrying a sergeant whose murder conviction in a major Iraq war crime case was overturned by the military's highest court after he served half of his 11-year sentence, his defense attorneys say.
Civilian defense attorney Chris Oprison said he has filed nine motions that he will present during a two-day hearing for Lawrence Hutchins III that starts Thursday at Camp Pendleton Marine Corps base, north of San Diego.
"We think all these charges should be dismissed," Oprison said. "What are they trying to get out of this Marine? He served seven years locked up, away from his wife and family. Why are they putting him through this again after he served that much time?"
The military prosecution declined to comment.
The Marine Corps ordered a retrial for Hutchins last year shortly after the ruling by the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces that found his rights were violated by interrogators in 2006 when he was detained in Iraq and held in solitary confinement without access to a lawyer for a week.
The new defense team is asking the judge to let them go to Iraq to interview witnesses in the village of Hamdania, where Hutchins led an eight-man squad accused of kidnapping an Iraqi man from his home in April 2006, marching him to a ditch and shooting him to death. Hutchins has said he thought the man was an insurgent.
Before his release, the Marine, from Plymouth, Massachusetts, had served seven years in the brig for one of the biggest war crime cases against U.S. troops to emerge from the war. None of the other seven squad members served more than 18 months.
The military last summer re-charged Hutchins. Among the charges is conspiracy to commit murder, which Oprison said is double jeopardy. Hutchins was convicted of murder at his original trial and acquitted of murder with premeditation.
Hutchins' defense attorneys also say the military compromised his case when its investigators raided defense attorneys' offices at Camp Pendleton in May. Oprison said investigators rifled through privileged files that held "the crown jewels" of Hutchins' defense case. |
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Former Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor
Lawyer News |
2014/10/27 14:53
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No matter the situation, an attorney from the Plymouth Canton Law Office of Rita O. White is available to assist. For everything from questions only a lawyer could answer, to a specific legal issue you may have, we are here to lend a helping hand.
You can expect convenient office hours, along with knowledgeable lawyers and reasonable attorney fees from us. Legal problems can loom large and become stressful, so our Plymouth Canton lawyers give all our clients the personal attention and caring respect they deserve.
Your legal situation may be negatively impacted if you try to deal with it on your own. Instead of risking the outcome, why not call our committed attorneys for guidance? When you need it most, contact us at the Law Office of Rita O. White today to learn more and set up an appointment.
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Court in Va. examines death row isolation policy
Headline Topics |
2014/10/27 14:53
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Virginia's practice of automatically holding death row inmates in solitary confinement will be reviewed by a federal appeals court in a case that experts say could have repercussions beyond the state's borders.
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema in Alexandria ruled last year that around-the-clock isolation of condemned inmates is so onerous that the Virginia Department of Corrections must assess its necessity on a case-by-case basis. Failure to do so, she said, violates the inmates' due process rights.
The state appealed, arguing that the courts should defer to the judgment of prison officials on safety issues. A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments Tuesday.
The lawsuit was filed by Alfredo Prieto, who was on California's death row for raping and murdering a 15-year-old girl when a DNA sample connected him to the 1988 slayings of George Washington University students Rachel Raver and Warren Fulton III in Reston. He also was sentenced to death in Virginia, where he has spent most of the last six years alone in a 71-square-foot cell at the Sussex I State Prison.
Some capital punishment experts say a victory by Prieto could prompt similar lawsuits by death row inmates elsewhere.
"It gives them a road map," said northern Virginia defense attorney Jonathan Sheldon, who noted that the due process claim succeeded where allegations of cruel and unusual punishment have routinely failed. "It's not that common to challenge conditions of confinement on due process grounds." |
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Mom accused of killing 6 babies appears in court
Legal Business |
2014/10/22 13:24
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A Utah judge will get his first chance in December to hear the evidence against a woman accused of killing six of her seven newborns and storing all of their bodies in her garage.
Attorneys for Megan Huntsman, 39, decided Monday not to waive their right to a preliminary hearing. That proceeding has been set for Dec. 11. At the conclusion of the hearing, a judge will decide if there is sufficient proof to send the case to trial.
Huntsman is in jail on $6 million bail, charged with six counts of first-degree murder. She has not yet entered a plea. She made a brief appearance in court Monday, but didn't speak.
Huntsman's estranged husband discovered the infants' bodies on April 12 while cleaning out the home they had shared in Pleasant Grove, Utah, a city of about 35,000 south of Salt Lake City.
Police say Huntsman strangled or suffocated the infants from 1996 to 2006, and that a seventh baby found in her garage was stillborn. Investigators believe Huntsman was addicted to methamphetamine and didn't want to care for the babies.
DNA results have revealed that all seven babies were full term and that her now-estranged husband, Darren West, was the biological father of the infants.
Huntsman lived with West during the 10-year period the children were killed, but he is not considered a suspect in the deaths. He went to prison in 2006 and spent more than eight years behind bars after pleading guilty to drug charges.
West made the grisly discovery while cleaning out the garage. He called police to report finding a dead infant in a small white box covered with electrician's tape. Six other bodies were found wrapped in shirts or towels inside individual boxes in the garage after police obtained a search warrant. |
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