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Court reviews Ga. firing of transgender woman
Industry News |
2011/12/01 10:26
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A federal appeals court is considering whether a former Georgia state legislative aide who was fired amid her sex change was the target of sexual discrimination.
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday heard the case of Vandy Beth Glenn, who said in a 2008 lawsuit that legislative counsel Sewell Brumby fired her after she told him she would come to work dressed as a woman as she transitioned from man to woman.
Glenn, formerly known as Glenn Morrison, said she was told she was fired because her gender transition would be seen as immoral by Georgia lawmakers.
State attorneys contend they broke no law and said federal laws that guarantee the rights of some minorities don't extend to transgender employees. |
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Man tied to Ohio Craigslist case appears in court
Headline Topics |
2011/12/01 04:27
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A suspect in a deadly Craigslist robbery plot was wheeled into court in an unrelated case Thursday, his head bobbing rhythmically, and he later ignored questions about the mounting body count and his relationship with a teen murder suspect.
Richard Beasley, unshaved and dressed in a white and gray striped jail outfit, didn't speak and kept his head down as Summit County Common Pleas Judge Tammy O'Brien revoked his bond on a drug-trafficking charge.
The legal problems faced by Beasley, a self-styled chaplain and youth mentor, are mounting: His attorney said a prostitution case involving the 52-year-old Beasley and a 17-year-old boy would be upgraded with a racketeering charge Friday.
The drug and prostitution cases in Akron are unrelated to a widening Craigslist homicide investigation.
Investigators say someone trying to lure robbery victims posted a bogus ad on Craigslist touting a cattle farm job in southeast Ohio.
Authorities have linked two bodies and the shooting of a man who survived to the scheme, which targeted single, out-of-work men in their late 40s or early 50s. The investigators heading up the Craigslist inquiry also found a third body but have yet to link it to the case.
A 16-year-old boy, Brogan Rafferty of nearby Stow, faces juvenile charges of aggravated murder, complicity to aggravated murder, attempted murder and complicity to attempted murder in the death of one man and the shooting of another. |
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Texas asks court to stop redistricting plan
Court Watch News |
2011/11/28 09:43
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The Supreme Court has been asked to stop a federal court from implementing a state redistricting map in Texas that could increase minority representation in the state Legislature.
The state's attorney general, Greg Abbott, filed the request with the high court on Monday. The court-drawn map was drafted after minority groups challenged the original plan passed by the Republican-dominated state Legislature.
The map drawn by the San Antonio-based federal court could lead to greater minority representation and give Democrats a chance to add as many as a dozen seats in the Legislature. Abbott and other Republican leaders have denied that any of the legislature's redistricting maps would diminish minority voting power.
The court-ordered map will remain in place until the legal fights are resolved. |
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Court to look at overtime pay for drug sales reps
Headline Court News |
2011/11/28 09:43
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The Supreme Court has agreed to consider whether pharmaceutical sales representatives can bill their employers for overtime, a case that could affect the pay of tens of thousands of people.
The court said Monday that it will review a federal appeals court ruling that held the sales reps do not qualify for overtime under federal labor law. Other appeals courts have ruled differently and the pharmaceutical industry joined in the call for Supreme Court review.
The sales reps meet with physicians in the hope that doctors will prescribe one company's medicine over another's. Two salesmen who once worked for drug maker GlaxoSmithKline filed a class-action lawsuit claiming that they were not paid for the 10 to 20 hours they worked each week on average outside the normal business day. |
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Utah-to-Boston passenger denies child porn charge
Headline Court News |
2011/11/28 09:42
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A University of Utah professor has pleaded not guilty to viewing child pornography on his laptop during a flight from Salt Lake City to Boston.
Grant Smith, of Cottonwood Heights, Utah, was ordered held on $75,000 bail Monday and told to have no unsupervised contact with children.
Massachusetts State Police say the 47-year-old Smith was sitting in first class Saturday afternoon when another passenger saw pornographic images, alerted a flight attendant and emailed a relative who contacted law enforcement.
Smith was arrested after landing on a charge of possession of child pornography. His lawyer says he has no criminal record.
Smith is a professor in the materials science and engineering department at Utah. He has been placed on administrative leave. |
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High court to review fine for mercury storage
Headline Court News |
2011/11/28 09:42
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The Supreme Court will consider throwing out an $18 million penalty against Texas-based Southern Union Co. for illegally storing mercury at a rundown building in Rhode Island.
The justices said Monday they will hear the natural gas company's appeal of the criminal penalty that was imposed by a federal judge and upheld by an appeals court.
What makes the case unusual is that the company is challenging the size of the penalty under a line of Supreme Court cases concerning prison sentences.
Southern Union had used the building in Pawtucket to store outdated mercury-sealed gas regulators that it removed from customers' homes. The mercury was initially removed and shipped to a recycling center. But when that work stopped, the regulators and loose mercury were left to accumulate inside the building. |
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Supreme Court won't hear skycaps' appeal on tips
Headline Topics |
2011/11/28 09:42
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The Supreme Court has left in place a ruling that denied $333,000 to airport skycaps who claimed they were cheated out of tips when American Airlines started charging curbside baggage fees.
The court on Monday rejected an appeal from nine skycaps at Logan International Airport in Boston. They wanted the court to review a federal appeals court ruling that overturned a lower court decision in their favor.
The skycaps sued under a Massachusetts law aimed at preventing employers from keeping tips intended for workers. The 1st U.S. Court of Appeals in Boston held that the law was pre-empted by federal aviation law regulating airfares. The court also said that soon after institution of the baggage fee, American Airlines clearly indicated with signs that the $2 fee was not a tip. |
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