Confronted with a claim of discriminatory termination or retaliation, an employer’s defensive strategy most often centers on marshalling facts and evidence to—eventually—support a motion for summary judgment that leans heavily—if not exclusively—on the argument that any adverse employment actions taken were based on legitimate and non-discriminatory business reasons that the employee will not be able to show were pretextual. This approach began with the burden-shifting framework described by the Supreme Court in its seminal 1973 decision, McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. … Read the rest
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Gary Waetzig filed an age discrimination suit against his former employer, Halliburton. He then dismissed the suit when the company pointed out that he had agreed to arbitrate. When he lost in arbitration and tried to return to federal court, the statute of limitations on the alleged age discrimination had passed, and he asked the court instead to grant relief from the previous order of dismissal, essentially reopening that first case.
At the Supreme Court, his case, Waetzig v. … Read the rest
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The Petitions of the Week column highlights some of the cert petitions recently filed in the Supreme Court. A list of all petitions we’re watching is available here.
People held in state prison can turn to federal court to challenge the validity of their conviction or sentence. But they face a high bar in doing so: They have to convince a federal trial judge that their state conviction or sentence was “unreasonable,” and if they fail in that … Read the rest
Nestle Canada Inc. is recalling certain Gerber brand baby cereal because of Cronobacter contamination.
Testing by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency showed the contamination in Oat Banana & Mango Baby Cereal, according to a recall notice posted by the agency today.
The implicated baby cereal was distributed online and in the following provinces: Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan. It may have also been distributed in other provinces and territories, according to the Canadian Food Inspection … Read the rest
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The Petitions of the Week column highlights a selection of cert petitions recently filed in the Supreme Court. A list of all petitions we’re watching is available here.
Last summer, the Supreme Court ruled in Siegel v. Fitzgerald that a 2017 law permitting debtors in bankruptcy proceedings in North Carolina and Alabama to pay lower administrative fees than those paid by debtors in other states violated the Constitution’s requirement that Congress provide uniform bankruptcy laws nationwide. That decision … Read the rest