He’s not a big name in Chicago, but Vito J. Lopez is notorious in New York. Once considered among the state’s most powerful politicians, the former chairman of the Brooklyn Democrats and longtime state assemblyman resigned from office in disgrace last year after two more of his ex-staffers filed sexual harassment allegations against the 72-year-old pol.
A great deal of the discussion surrounding the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) deals with large companies and the burden to “big business.” It is estimated that 96% of all businesses in the United States have 50 or fewer employees and employ nearly 34 million workers[1]. For these companies and their smaller counterparts (those having 25 or fewer employees), there is a great deal of confusion about the ACA.
Just in time for spring training, baseball litigation seems to be on the upswing. Exhibit A is the suit filed by three ex-farmhands on Feb. 7 in San Francisco federal court alleging Major League Baseball, three of its teams and the commissioner “have preyed upon minor leaguers, who are powerless to combat the collusive power of the MLB cartel.”
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Law school finals? The semester barely started. Yet it is never too early to begin constructing the contemporary law school final exam question.
Many a claim is not worth pursuing individually, and will only be brought if a potential class action lurks. How, though, does the individual plaintiff round up enough others to form the makings of a class in actions such as under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), where potential plaintiffs are given notice and must opt in to form a class? 29 U.S.C. Section 216(b).
Most readers will remember the saga of Broadway Bank and its demise in early 2010 under the hand of the Giannoulias family. The public airing of the bank’s dirty laundry not only sank Alexi Giannoulias’ U.S. Senate bid that November, but inevitably spawned litigation that continues today in Chicago federal court.
On July 9, 2013, Illinois became the final state in the nation to allow residents to carry concealed weapons. The Illinois State Police intends to begin accepting applications for concealed carry licenses on January 5, 2014 and licenses will be issued thereafter. For employers concerned about the potential risk for increased violence in the workplace due to employees and others carrying concealed weapons, there are a few basic steps that they should consider taking.
It was Napoleon, after retreating from Moscow in 1812, who famously remarked, “There is only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous.” In a compelling federal appellate opinion issued slightly more than 200 years later, the court found nothing remotely sublime about State Farm and its counsel labeling their opponent’s argument “ridiculous.”
I. Statutory AnalysisA. Income Exclusion For Benefits. Gross income does not include amounts received through accident or...