New York Times: “A federal effort to ban the sale of raw oysters harvested during the warm months along the Gulf Coast has kicked up a hurricane of opposition from oystermen and members of Congress and threatened to derail a signature food-safety initiative by the Obama administration. At issue is how far the federal government should go to save the lives of 15 people each year who die from eating contaminated raw oysters.”
Law.com: “A federal jury on Tuesday awarded more than $6.2 million in an age discrimination suit brought by two scientists who said they were fired from their jobs at a Chester County, Pa., chemical manufacturing firm when the company targeted only older workers in layoffs in 2005. Significantly, the jury concluded that PQ Corp.’s age discrimination was “willful” — a finding that leads to an automatic doubling of each plaintiff’s back pay award. The jury also awarded hefty compensatory damages — $2 million to plaintiff Roman Wypart and $1.5 million to plaintiff Bonnie Marcus — for the emotional damage they suffered as a result of the discrimination.”
Wall St. Journal: “There’s nothing like a good old fashioned separation-of-church-and-state case to get a community all riled up. Politicians hurl barbs; interest groups from the right and left make brazen accusations; TV talk-show hosts lean just a little closer to the camera when they make their appeals. And bloggers, well, we eat it all up. The latest to hit the airwaves: a smackdown in South Carolina over religiously themed license plates.”
Law.com: “You are familiar with the scenario: one of your employees leaves to go work for a competitor, but before he goes, he copies confidential information for use at his new job. While the scenario may not have changed much, the means of obtaining the information has. The days of photocopying documents and sneaking out the door with hard copies are long gone. Most information is now available electronically, and large amounts of data can be copied efficiently and discreetly via computer. The good news is that in many instances, accessing information electronically leaves a distinct trail for a former employer to follow. The bad news, though, is that if the proper steps are not taken, this trail can quickly be lost.”
Investors Business Daily: “Under sections 7201 and 7203 of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s bill, Americans who don’t maintain acceptable health insurance coverage and who choose not to pay a fine/tax of up to 2.5% of income are subject to fines of up to $250,000 and imprisonment of up to five years.”