One Question Re: Your Social Media | Please take a brief moment to let us know which Social Media platforms you currently use. Click on the headline to participate in a one question survey. The TTLA Communications Department appreciates your input! | Texas Tribune Daily Brief | | Editorials/Columns/Letters | | David Lazarus: Banks Likely to Sue to Deny Consumers Their Right to Sue | | Banks faced with the prospect of no longer being able to deny consumers the right to sue them, the banking industry is expected to take the ironic step of suing the federal government. At issue is a proposed rule from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that would prohibit financial-services firms from placing clauses in contracts stipulating that customers can only arbitrate disagreements. The clauses prevent customers from suing on an individual basis or from joining class-action lawsuits. In another ironic twist, the industry appears ready to spend millions of dollars pursuing legal action aimed at keeping its legal costs down. David Lazarus, LA Times 05/17/2016 | Read Article: LA Times | Key Plaintiff in Uber Lawsuit Objects to Settlement | | The key plaintiff in a lawsuit against Uber has objected to a settlement proposal that would grant drivers up to $100 million. The lawsuit alleges that Uber drivers should be classified as employees. Many similar lawsuits have been filed against Uber and fellow ride-sharing company Lyft alleging that drivers have been misclassified as independent contractors. In court documents filed on Monday, the plaintiff stated that the proposed settlement 'is not in my interest or in the interest of any Uber driver.' Staff Report, Fortune 05/16/2016 | Read Article: Fortune | Texas Businessman Asks U.S. Supreme Court to Let Him Sue DEA Over Informant Death | | The owner of a small Texas trucking company, whose 18-wheeler was used without permission by federal agents in a botched Zetas Cartel sting that left the driver dead, wants the U.S. Supreme Court to hear his case. Craig Patty, the owner, filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. government seeking up to $6.4 million in damages over the November 2011 incident, which played out in broad daylight in northwest Houston. An appeals court in New Orleans dismissed the suit in March and Patty has appealed that decision to the nation's highest court, asking that the suit be reinstated. Dane Schiller, Houston Chronicle 05/17/2016 | Read Article: Houston Chronicle | How an Insurance Dispute Affects the N.F.L. Concussions Settlement | | In the settlement between the NFL and the thousands of retired players who said the league hid from them the dangers of repeated head hits stand to receive up to $5 million each. The insurers say they do not have to cover the claims, which may reach $1 billion, because of the questions raised by the players over whether the league frequently covered up the danger of concussions. But fraud was never proved because the players settled before they went through the discovery process. But where exactly would that money come from? Its insurers, the N.F.L. says. But the insurers, a group of about 30 companies, have gone to court to get out of paying. KEN BELSON, The New York Times 05/17/2016 | Read Article: The New York Times | GM Driver Wants More Crashes Added To Ignition Switch Trial | | Evidence of more than 50 additional car accidents purportedly caused by GM's ignition switch defect should be included in one of the final bellwether trials on the issue, the Virginia woman leading the action said Friday, arguing all of the incidents share the central characteristics of her own severe crash. Kali Hays, Law360.com 05/17/2016 | Read Article: Law360.com | U.S. Supreme Court Sides With HPD Officer in 'Code of Silence' Case | | The U.S. Supreme Court shot down a request by the city of Houston to review a lower court's ruling awarding $378,000 to a police officer who had sued the city on retaliation claims. The decision, handed down Monday, brought an end to a years-long legal battle that began when Houston Police Officer Christopher Zamora's father and other Hispanic officers sued the city, citing racial discrimination. Through his lawyers, Zamora had argued that commanders had transferred him out of an elite investigative unit to night patrol as retaliation after his father and other officers filed the discrimination lawsuit. St. John Barned-Smith, San Antonio Express News 05/17/2016 | Read Article: San Antonio Express News | Texas' Plains All American Pipeline Indicted for California Oil Spill | | Texas based Plains All American Pipeline responsible for spilling more than 140,000 gallons of crude on the California coast last year has been indicted on dozens of criminal charges, the company said Tuesday. The company and one of its employees face 46 counts of state law violations in the May 19, 2015, spill that initially went undetected until oil began spilling onto a pristine beach on the Santa Barbara coastline and into the ocean. BRIAN MELLEY, AP, The Dallas Morning News 05/17/2016 | Read Article: The Dallas Morning News | | |