Texas Tribune Daily Brief
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| As More Companies Demand Arbitration Agreements, Sexual Harassment Claims Fizzle |
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More companies are adopting the mandatory-arbitration clauses, and many employees are walking away from harassment, wrongful-termination and discrimination claims rather than taking them to a privately run tribunal, according to experts and new research. The percentage of nonunion, private-sector employees covered by the mandatory-arbitration clauses has more than doubled since the early 2000s, according to a 2017 study by a Cornell University professor and sponsored by the Economic Policy Institute, a think tank in Washington, D.C. In many cases, workers drop the claims because they can't get lawyers to take their cases. Plaintiffs' lawyers say they are reluctant to represent arbitration clients on contingency fees because potential settlement and award payouts are generally lower than in court.
JACOB GERSHMAN, Wall Street Journal - $$ Subscription Required 01/25/2018    |
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| Houston Sex Trafficking Victim Sues Hotels, Truckstops, Website for Profiting from Exploitation |
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An 18-year-old Houston girl lured into the shady underworld of sex trafficking has launched a sweeping civil lawsuit in Harris County that's among the first in the country to accuse prominent hotel chains, well-known trucks stops and a ubiquitous website of profiting from illegal exploitation of a minor. The suit, filed in Harris County court, seeks damages from 15 hotel chains and five truck stops, including Hyatt Hotels Corporation, Choice Hotels International, Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores, TravelCenters of America and the company that operates the Flying J truckstops. The Backpage.com website and its CEO, Carl Ferrer, who have been named in a variety of legal actions nationally, are also defendants in the lawsuit. The suit filed Tuesday cites a provision of the civil practice and remedies code called Chapter 98, based on a 2009 law brought by Rep. Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas, which states that the people can hold businesses liable if they knowingly profit by participating in a venture that involves human trafficking.
Gabrielle Banks, Houston Chronicle 01/25/2018
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| Read Article: Houston Chronicle |
| Ex-USA Gymnastics Doctor Larry Nassar Treated Athletes in Texas Without License, Board Confirms |
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Convicted ex-USA Gymnastics physician Larry Nassar treated athletes at the famed Karolyi Ranch near Houston without a Texas medical license, the state's medical board confirmed to The Dallas Morning News on Wednesday. 'If he had been practicing medicine in the state of Texas he should have held a license issued by the Texas Medical Board,' a board spokesman wrote in an email to The News. Texas authorities confirmed Tuesday they were investigating the Karolyi Ranch, which USA Gymnastics severed ties with last week. By law, any out-of-state physician traveling with a sports team to Texas - say during a Dallas Cowboys game - is practicing here without a license, according to the Texas Medical Board.
Jori Epstein and Terri Langford, The Dallas Morning News 01/25/2018
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| Read Article: The Dallas Morning News |
| City of West Reaches $10.4M Settlement |
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The city of West has reached a $10.4 million settlement with several companies in the devastating April 2013 fertilizer plant explosion that resulted in 15 deaths and millions of dollars in property damage. The city had filed a lawsuit that alleged Adair Grain Inc., CF Industries, El Dorado Chemical Company and International Chemical Company were negligent in selling or distributing the chemical being stored at the plant. The companies have denied responsibility or wrongdoing in the April 17, 2013, explosion that destroyed nearby schools and homes. More than 250 people were injured by the blast and cleanup efforts, including 72 residents of a nursing home not far from the plant.
CLAIRE Z. CARDONA, The Dallas Morning News 01/25/2018 |
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| $2.25M for Family of Disabled Man Who Died While Aide Texted |
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New York state will pay $2.25 million to settle a lawsuit filed after a disabled man choked to death in a state-run group home while an aide allegedly texted her boyfriend from the bathroom. Eddie Velasquez's death in 2014 came one day after choking on sliced turkey he took from the kitchen of an Ithaca group home. The 48-year-old man, who could not speak and was born with developmental disabilities, was considered a choking risk and was not to be allowed in the kitchen or near food without supervision. The Associated Press obtained a state investigator's confidential report that found the aide who was supposed to be watching him sent or received 137 text messages and talked on her personal phone more than 10 times. A co-worker told the investigator the aide was having problems with her boyfriend and 'spent most of the day in the bathroom texting' him.
David Klepper?|?AP, The Washington Post 01/25/2018 |
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| Texas Docs Ink Deal After $1M Award In Patient Death Case |
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A Texas federal judge on Monday approved a post-verdict settlement to end a suit accusing three doctors of failing to timely diagnose the bacterial infection that caused a man's death, about two months after a jury awarded more than $1 million to the patient's family. The deal resolves a suit brought by Connie Shofner accusing Drs. Fawwaz Shoukfeh, Wael Tello and Cheryl M. Tyler of breaching the standard of care by failing to timely and properly diagnose her ex-husband Grant Willis' bacterial infection.
Y. Peter Kang, Law360 ($) 01/25/2018 |
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