2013 TTLA Pharmaceutical & Medical Device Seminar, April 25-26 | TTLA is proud to present its first-ever seminar dedicated solely to Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Litigation. Join highly experienced and successful mass tort lawyers, including many who serve in leadership roles on plaintiff steering committees, as they discuss the hottest topics in this dynamic and ever-changing area of law. TTLA legends and panels of Texas plaintiff attorneys will gather in Houston to discuss and debate a wide-range of mass tort topics, from marketing and pre-litigation to voir dire and trial. So join us in Houston on April 25-26, 2013 to learn from some of the best Pharmaceutical and Medical Device lawyers in the country. Click on the headline to learn more. | Suit: Black Nurse Asked Not to Touch Baby | | A nurse at a Michigan hospital has filed a lawsuit against her employer, claiming hospital officials granted a man's request to prohibit "black nurses" for caring for his newborn child. In the suit, the woman says a note was posted on an assignment clip board that said "No African American nurse to take care of baby." The lawsuit is seeking punitive damages. Wire Report, Christian Science Monitor 02/19/2013 | Read Article: Christian Science Monitor | Suit Against Seattle FBI Bureau to Proceed | | A judge in Washington state has ruled that a discrimination lawsuit by a top Seattle FBI agent against the bureau can proceed. In her suit, the plaintiff claims that she has "been denied at least 10 promotions since she took over the FBI’s Seattle field office in early 2005" and has been pressured to retire on multiple occasions. While the judge dismissed the woman's age-discrimination claim, he agreed that she could go forward with accusations of sex-discrimination and retaliation. Michael Doyle, Seattle Times 02/19/2013 | Read Article: Seattle Times | Excessive Force Lawsuit in Georgia Tossed Out | | A Georgia judge has dismissed a lawsuit against the Macon police department that accused officers of using excessive force while searching for a fugitive at the wrong home. Police handcuffed and forced the plaintiff to the floor, mistaking him for the fugitive they were looking for. The judge ruled that the police made a "reasonable mistake" because the plaintiff and the fugitive "are of the same race and sex and have the same physical characteristics." Amy Leigh Womack, Macon Telegraph 02/18/2013 | Read Article: Macon Telegraph | Report: State Agencies Fail to Protect Psychiatric Hospital Patients | | Lax oversight and biased investigations by Texas state officials have placed vulnerable psychiatric patients at risk for abuse and neglect for two decades, according to a sharply critical investigative report released Monday. The report, prepared by Disability Rights Texas, recommends reforms to the state psychiatric hospital system. Its findings spread blame for the oversight failures widely, identifying multiple missed opportunities to protect patients from a handful of doctors whose behavior raised numerous red flags over the years: Andrea Ball & Eric Dexheimer, Austin American Statesman 02/19/2013 | Read Article: Austin American Statesman | | |