Texas Tribune Daily Brief
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Editorials/Columns/Letters
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| SOLOMON: Arbitration Clauses Let American Apparel Hide Misconduct |  | The real lesson from the ouster of Dov Charney at American Apparel is the danger of arbitration clauses. That may not seem obvious given the bitter battle for control of the retailer and the accusations of sexual harassment. But if American Apparel hadn't been able to use arbitration and confidentiality clauses to keep investors and the public in the dark over those accusations, Mr. Charney would most likely have been shown the exit some years earlier.
STEVEN DAVIDOFF SOLOMON , The New York Times 07/16/2014    | | Read Article: The New York Times |
| Groups Seek Ban of Oil in Older Railroad Tank Cars | | | Environmental groups asked the U.S. Department of Transportation to immediately ban shipments of volatile crude oil in older railroad tank cars, citing oil train wrecks and explosions and the agency's own findings that accidents pose an imminent hazard. The petition filed Tuesday seeks an emergency order within 30 days to prohibit crude oil from the Bakken region of the Northern Plains and elsewhere from being carried in the older tank cars, known as DOT-111s. Accident investigators have reported that the cars rupture or puncture during wrecks, even at slow speeds.
Associated Press, Houston Chronicle 07/16/2014
| | Read Article: Houston Chronicle |
| Teenagers' Cars Are Older, Smaller and Less Safe, Study Finds | | Many teenagers are driving vehicles that do not offer good crash protection or lack important safety technology, according to research released Wednesday by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, a group financed by the insurance industry. The study shows that teenagers killed in crashes while behind the wheel are more likely than adults of their parents' age to be driving vehicles that are smaller and older.
CHERYL JENSEN, The New York Times 07/16/2014 | | Read Article: The New York Times |
| Ill. Man Trapped in Jail Room for 32 Hours Files Suit | | An Illinois man who was trapped inside a Cook County Jail for over 30 hours filed a lawsuit against the county on Monday. The man was visiting his incarcerated son on July 5, when he accidentally became entrapped in a room he believed to be the visiting area. For about 32 hours, the man was trapped inside the 8-by-8-foot room without food, water, bedding or a toilet. In his lawsuit, the plaintiff alleges that county officials "willfully and wantonly" allowed the incident to occur and that they initially handcuffed and questioned him after he was found in the room. The lawsuit seeks compensation for physical, emotional and psychological injuries.
Michelle Manchir, Chicago Tribune 07/14/2014 | | Read Article: Chicago Tribune |
| Lawsuit Accuses Twitter of Age Discrimination | | A former employee of social media giant Twitter has filed a lawsuit against his former employer alleging that he was fired because of his age. According to the lawsuit, the 57-year-old plaintiff was fired from his position without warning after having surgery to remove kidney stones and was replaced with employees in their 20's and 30's. The lawsuit contends that Twitter refused to accommodate his needs after the kidney-stone surgery and assigned him additional work during his recovery process.
Riley Snyder, LA Times 07/15/2014 | | Read Article: LA Times |
| BP Workers Can Sue Over Retirement Losses Tied to Spill, Court Says | | BP employees can sue managers of the company's retirement savings plan over losses related to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, a U.S. appeals court said.The New Orleans-based appellate court, citing a recent Supreme Court ruling, Tuesday rejected U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison's 2012 decision denying claims for millions of dollars in losses suffered by the plans. The suits questioned plan managers' investment in BP's shares, which dropped more than 40 percent after the worst offshore spill in U.S. history and still haven't completely recovered in value.
Bloomberg, Houston Chronicle 07/16/2014 | | Read Article: Houston Chronicle |
| Feds, Widows Agree to Settle Mine Fire Lawsuit | | The U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration has agreed to pay $1 million to settle a lawsuit over the deaths of two miners in a 2006 fire at an underground coal mine in West Virginia, according to court documents. Under the proposed settlement, MSHA also agreed to develop a training course at the National Mine Safety and Health Academy in Raleigh County on preventing fires at underground coal and non-metal mines. The agency did not admit any liability.
Associated Press, Charleston Daily Mail 07/16/2014 | | Read Article: Charleston Daily Mail |
| Bouncy Houses Are So Fun and So Dangerous | | As of 2011, only 19 states regulated inflatable devices, according to the Insurance Journal. Even states that do regulate say it's hard to keep track of rogue operators who fail to register their businesses. Bouncy houses are readily available for purchase online, and it doesn't take much to buy one and set up a weekend rental business. An analysis by the Houston Chronicle last year found that of 170 businesses that advertised bouncy house rentals in the Houston area, only 30 were licensed by the state, which requires a safety inspection and proof of insurance.
Karen Aho, Bloomberg 07/16/2014 | | Read Article: Bloomberg |
| Documents Show General Motors Kept Silent on Fatal Crashes | | Documents provide details for the first time on the issue at the heart of a criminal investigation by the Justice Department: whether G.M., in its interaction with safety regulators, obscured a deadly defect that would also injure perhaps hundreds of people. The company repeatedly found a way not to answer the simple question from regulators of what led to a crash. In at least three cases of fatal crashes. The responses are found in documents known as "death inquiries," which The Times obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. In those inquiries, regulators ask automakers to explain the circumstances surrounding a crash to help identify potential defects in cars.
REBECCA R. RUIZ and DANIELLE IVORY, The New York Times 07/16/2014 | | Read Article: The New York Times |
| BMW to Recall 1.6M Cars | | BMW said on Wednesday it is recalling about 1.6 million cars worldwide to replace passenger-side front airbags made by Takata Corp 7312.T because the inflators could break apart during deployment and injure passengers. The recall affects 3-Series vehicles produced between May 1999 and August 2006.
Reuters, Reuters 07/16/2014 | | Read Article: Reuters |
| A Spoonful of Medicine May Put Children at Risk | | Each year, about 10,000 people contact poison centers in the United States, afraid that they gave too strong a dose of medicine or were confused by measurement directions, according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers. Now many professional associations have begun recommending that a uniform unit be adopted for liquid medicines: the milliliter. The guideline comes despite long-held fears that Americans are loath to try anything metric.
JAN HOFFMAN , The New York Times 07/16/2014 | | Read Article: The New York Times |
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