| | Report: VA Gave $100M in Bonuses as Vets Waited | |  | | Even as federal inspectors repeatedly warned that patient wait lists were having a detrimental impact on care, the troubled Veterans Affairs health system handed out $108.7 million in bonuses to executives and employees the past three years, an Asbury Park Press investigation found. The top bonuses went to top executives in the Veterans Health Administration, which has come under fire for what its Office of Inspector General called "systemic patient safety issues" that may have led to wrongful deaths. Last year, the top bonuses — of $21,000, $17,000 and $13,000 — went to medical and dental officers in San Diego, according to the Press' review of payroll data from the Office of Personnel Management.
Dustin Racioppi, USA Today 06/11/2014    | | Read Article: USA Today | | P.F. Chang's Investigates Data Breach Report | | | | P.F. Chang's China Bistro said Wednesday it is investigating a report of a possible data breach involving credit and debit card data that may have been stolen from its restaurant locations nationwide. The report came from cybersecurity blogger Brian Krebs, who has uncovered previous data breaches at retailers such as Target.
Nanci Hellmich, USA Today 06/11/2014 | | Read Article: USA Today | | Harbormaster Dismissed from Teen Drowning Lawsuit | | | | The Michigan Court of Appeals has dismissed a harbormaster from Traverse City, Mich. from a lawsuit over the electrocution and drowning death of a teen boy at a city marina. In August 2011, the 18-year-old boy jumped off a dock and into the marina and was electrocuted and eventually drowned. The lawsuit, filed by the estate of the teen and a friend who was injured in the accident, accused the the harbormaster, as well as the city, the marina, the former department of public services director, and electric companies of negligence. In 2013, a circuit court judge dismissed the city, the marina and the former department of public services director from the suit because they had governmental immunity.
Angie Jackson, MLive 06/10/2014 | | Read Article: MLive | | Waffle House CEO Alleges Extortion Plot by Employee | | | | The CEO of Waffle House has alleged in a lawsuit that "attorneys hired by his ex-housekeeper used extortion as a means to force him to settle the woman's sexual harassment claims." The CEO admitted to having "infrequent consensual sexual encounters" but denied the sexual harassment allegations presented in his ex-housekeeper's lawsuit. According to the recent lawsuit, the former employee used her sexual harassment lawsuit as a means to extort money from the Waffle House CEO. The CEO's lawsuit seeks compensatory damages, including general damages, in an amount to be proven at trial.
Alexis Stevens, Atlanta Journal-Constitution 06/10/2014 | | Read Article: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | | Judge Rules Chairlift Injury Suit Can Move Forward | | | | A Franklin County justice has ruled that most of the claims in a lawsuit over the injury of three people when a chairlift broke at a ski resort can move forward. The lawsuit was filed after the three family members were injured in the 2010 accident on Sugarloaf Mountain in western Maine. The three victims were seriously injured when the ski lift broke and fell 35 feet to the ground. The judge dismissed claims of common carrier liability but says the counts of negligence, loss of consortium and punitive damages can move forward.
Donna Perry , Sun Journal 06/09/2014 | | Read Article: Sun Journal | | Farmers Branch Settlement: City Will Pay Attorney Fees | | | | The city of Farmers Branch will pay $1.4M in attorney fees to opposing counsel for plaintiffs who fought a proposed ordinance to ban immigrants who are in the US illegally from renting apartments. In Villas at Parkside Partners v. The City of Farmers Branch, the plaintiffs had sued the city to halt the implementation of the proposed ordinance, arguing that it violated the U.S. Constitution. After district and appellate courts ruled against implementation of the ordinance and the U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari to the city's appeal, the Farmers Branch city council on June 3 passed a resolution approving a settlement with the plaintiffs, which calls for the payment of the attorney fees and no other amounts.
Miriam Rozen, Texas Lawyer 06/11/2014 | | Read Article: Texas Lawyer | | |
