| | Take 60 seconds to vote NOW! | | TTLA encourages all members to take 60 seconds right now and cast your ballot in the run-off election for State Bar President-Elect. You can vote in this important run-off election whether or not you voted in the first election. Click on the headline and vote now! | | TTLA 2013 Annual Conference - Reinventing The Rules With Rick Friedman | | June 12 - 14, Sheraton Downtown Hotel - Austin Register Now! The TTLA CLE Committee is proud to have Rick Friedman present Reinventing the Rules during the Annual Conference. You will want to reserve the date and book early as we expect that this will be the most heavily attended seminar in TTLA history and space will be limited. Click on the headline to learn more! | | NC Inmates Allegedly Beaten Off Camera, Suit Says | |  | | Eight inmates at North Carolina's Central Prison have filed suit against the jail, alleging correctional officers beat and stomped on restrained inmates in "blind spots" in the prison outside the view of cameras. The suit claims the inmates were beaten so badly that "one lost sight in an eye and another is unable to walk."
Wire Report, Charlotte Observer 05/10/2013    | | Read Article: Charlotte Observer | | Abbott, AbbVie Hit With $2.2M Verdict In Humira Suit | | | | A Chicago jury slapped Abbott Laboratories and AbbVie Inc. with a $2.2 million verdict Thursday in a suit brought by a man whose wife allegedly suffered a life-threatening fungal infection as a result of taking the blockbuster arthritis drug Humira. The state court jury found for plaintiff Milton Tietz on his negligence claim, though it found for the companies on a product defect claim.
Greg Ryan, Law360.com 05/10/2013 | | Read Article: Law360.com | | DC Officers Accused of Beating Teenagers | | | | Two separate lawsuits have been filed against Metro Transit Police officers in Washington, D.C., claiming police used "excessive force" in confronting two teenagers and then tried to cover up the abuse. In one of the complaints, officers allegedly put a 14-year-old "in a chokehold, punched him in the torso and subdued him with pepper spray." Officers are also accused of fabricating evidence to justify the use of force and arrests. The suits are seeking unspecified damages.
Luz Lazo, The Washington Post 05/08/2013 | | Read Article: The Washington Post | | Wet Seal Pays $7.5 Million to Settle Discrimination Suit | | | | Clothing retailer Wet Seal has agreed to pay $7.5 million to settle a lawsuit filed by African-American employees who claimed they were fired because of their race. The suit accused company executives of working to present a "blonde-and-blue-eyed front" in all its stores, denying non-white employees promotions and equal pay. In the past year, amidst the lawsuit, the company purged its board and replaced top executive officers.
Tiffany Hsu, LA Times 05/09/2013 | | Read Article: LA Times | | Judge Allows Bible Verses on Football Banners | | | | A judge in Texas has ruled in favor of cheerleaders at Kountze High School in a lawsuit over banners displaying Bible verses as football games. The judge determined that no law "prohibits cheerleaders from using religious-themed banners at school sporting events," but also said that the school district is not forced to allow the banners.
Matthew Brown, The Deseret News 05/09/2013 | | Read Article: The Deseret News | | After Plant Explosion, Texas Remains Wary of Regulation | | | | Antipathy toward regulations is shared by many Texans. Even in West, last month’s devastating blast did little to shake local skepticism of government regulations. Texas has always prided itself on its free-market posture. It is the only state that does not require companies to contribute to workers’ compensation coverage. It boasts the largest city in the country, Houston, with no zoning laws. It does not have a state fire code, and it prohibits smaller counties from having such codes. Some Texas counties even cite the lack of local fire codes as a reason for companies to move there. But Texas has also had the nation’s highest number of workplace fatalities — more than 400 annually — for much of the past decade. Fires and explosions at Texas’ more than 1,300 chemical and industrial plants have cost as much in property damage as those in all the other states combined for the five years ending in May 2012.
IAN URBINA, MANNY FERNANDEZ and JOHN SCHWARTZ, The New York Times 05/10/2013 | | Read Article: The New York Times | | After West Blast, Chemical Stockpiles Scrutinized | | | | As the authorities continue to investigate the cause of the West explosion, and state and federal lawmakers discuss whether new regulations and greater oversight are needed, stockpiles of chemicals stored in communities across the state are the subject of intense concern. A patchwork of regulations, generated by municipal, state and federal authorities, has led to almost exclusively local control over disaster preparation. More than 110 facilities across the state report storing 10,000 pounds of ammonium nitrate or more at a time.
Chris Hooks and Maurice Chammah, Texas Tribune 05/10/2013 | | Read Article: Texas Tribune | | |
