Texas Tribune Daily Brief
| | |
| Nursing Home Workers Share Explicit Photos of Residents on Snapchat |  | Nursing home workers across the country are posting embarrassing and dehumanizing photos of elderly residents on social media networks such as Snapchat, violating their privacy, dignity and, sometimes, the law. ProPublica has identified 35 instances since 2012 in which workers at nursing homes and assisted-living centers have surreptitiously shared photos or videos of residents, some of whom were partially or completely naked. At least 16 cases involved Snapchat, a social media service in which photos appear for a few seconds and then disappear with no lasting record.
Charles Ornstein, ProPublica 12/21/2015    | | Read Article: ProPublica |
| Prosecutors, Insurer Change Controversial Funding Deal | | Responding to a flood of criticism about its unusual financial arrangement with a large insurance company, the Travis County District Attorney's Office is dramatically restructuring its workers' compensation fraud unit and implementing new safeguards against potential abuse and conflicts of interest. The changes come in the wake of a series of reports by The Texas Tribune and the Austin American-Statesman that raised questions about the cozy relationship between government prosecutors and Texas Mutual Insurance Company, the state's largest provider of workers' compensation policies.
Jay Root and Tony Plohetski, Austin American-Statesman, Texas Tribune 12/21/2015 | | Read Article: Texas Tribune |
| Veterans Say 'Burn Pits' Created Toxic Clouds That Made Them Sick | | A growing number of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan believe their respiratory ailments are linked to burn pits. These were acres-wide mounds of waste near bases that contained everything from batteries to vehicle scraps to amputated body parts. The refuse was usually ignited with jet fuel. Last year, Congress ordered the Department of Veterans Affairs to set up the Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry. So far, almost 50,000 veterans have signed up. Additionally, one of the companies that operated the burn pits, KBR Inc., is facing lawsuits from veterans across the country. The company says if it's held liable, the U.S. military will have a hard time finding companies to do this kind of work.
DANIEL HAJEK & AREZOU REZVANI, National Public Radio 12/21/2015 | | Read Article: National Public Radio |
| German Woman Sues Airbnb Over Hidden Camera Recordings | | A woman from Germany who was unknowingly recorded by camera at her Airbnb rental in Irvine, California has filed a lawsuit against the owners of the apartment. According to the lawsuit, the woman was recorded by a hidden camera in the couple's apartment. The lawsuit was filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Northern California and contends that a remote-controlled camera was used to video the plaintiff. The lawsuit contends that the plaintiff was recorded on the camera walking around the apartment without clothing and discussing personal matters. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages from Airbnb and the Irvine couple, plus attorneys' fees and any other relief a jury might award.
Hannah Fry, LA Times 12/17/2015 | | Read Article: LA Times |
| Settlement for Paramedic Fired for Having Diabetes | | A diabetic Indiana woman who lost her job as a fire department paramedic has settled a federal discrimination lawsuit with the township for $725K. Kristine Rednour, who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age 12, brought legal action against the Wayne Township Fire Department after she was fired in 2011 because of "medical events" caused by her illness, according to her complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. In her suit, Rednour alleged the termination violated her civil rights under the ADA.
Jill Disis, The Indianapolis Star, USA Today 12/21/2015 | | Read Article: USA Today |
| Firefighters Sue Siren Maker Over Hearing Loss | | About 4,400 current and former firefighters nationwide who are suing Federal Signal Corp., an Oak Brook, Illinois-based company that makes sirens, claiming it didn't do enough to make them safer for those on fire trucks who have to listen to them nearly every day. They say the company could have designed them in a way that directs the volume away from areas where firefighters sit in the engines, shielding them from sound blasts that lawyers say reach 120 decibels, roughly equivalent to a rock concert. Said the 73-year-old Nardone: "The manufacturer had the means and ability to do something about it and they didn't."
DEEPTI HAJELA, ASSOCIATED PRESS, Houston Chronicle 12/21/2015 | | Read Article: Houston Chronicle |
| Woman Wins $7.25M Judgment in Revenge Porn Suit Against Ex-Husband | | Bindu Pariyar's ex-husband forced her to trade her native Nepali dresses for miniskirts. He tricked her into getting breast implants, hid her passport and ordered her to work in a strip club. When she didn't make enough money, he forced her to have sex with men ' and then he filmed the episodes, according to court documents. After she left him, she said, he made her an unwilling porn star. Pariyar explained her situation and ongoing struggles in interviews with The Dallas Morning News, court documents and a civil lawsuit she filed against her ex-husband. State District Judge Martin J. Hoffman ordered Sewell to remove all online videos and images of Pariyar. He also ordered Sewell to pay Pariyar more than $7.25 million in restitution, which Pariyar doesn't expect to see.
TASHA TSIAPERAS, The Dallas Morning News 12/21/2015 | | Read Article: The Dallas Morning News |
| Advocates Back Military Family's Feres Doctrine Challenge | | A diverse group of organizations has filed briefs urging the Supreme Court to hear the case of a military child whose medical malpractice suit was dismissed because her injuries stemmed from complications during birth from her active duty mother. In their amicus, or "friends of the court," briefs, the advocates, including the American Legion, the National Organization for Women, four members of Congress and others, urged the court to hear Ortiz v. the U.S., saying the case, which calls into question the applicability of the Feres Doctrine, is important to military women.
Patricia Kime, Military Times, USA Today 12/21/2015 | | Read Article: USA Today |
| West Virginia University Denies Wrongful Death Lawsuit | | West Virginia University is denying allegations in a lawsuit over the death of a fraternity member. The lawsuit was filed by the parents of an 18-year-old boy who died after consuming an extreme amount of alcohol at a fraternity event in 2014. The lawsuit alleges negligence on behalf of the university, but the school claims it did not sanction the Kappa Sigma fraternity event. The boy was found without a pulse at the initiation and died at a hospital two days later. The wrongful death lawsuit, which accuses the fraternity of pressuring the boy "to drink excessive amounts of alcohol in order to be accepted for admission into Kappa Sigma," was filed by the parents in October.
Jay Tokasz, Buffalo News 12/19/2015 | | Read Article: Buffalo News |
| |
