Muslim union workers at the JBS Swift & Co. meatpacking plant in Greeley, Colorado have filed grievances and wrongful termination claims stemming from alleged employment conflicts with their observance of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan . Initially there were attempts to work out a deal with Swift that would allow night shift workers to [...]
Benigno Fitial, governor of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) , filed a lawsuit Friday in the US District Court for the District of Columbia to prevent the US government from taking over the CNMI's immigration system. Fitial asserts that the provisions of the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008 allowing federal immigration [...]
The trial of former Polish leader General Wojciech Jaruzelski and seven other Communist-era officials charged in connection with the 1981 declaration of martial law resumed Friday in Warsaw. A 500-page indictment accuses Jaruzelski of "organizing crimes of a military nature" and deprivation of freedom through internment, among other offenses. Jaruzelski's lawyers argue that martial law [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit Thursday heard oral arguments in a case brought against four employees of fraudulent job placement companies ISCS and Receiver . The Chicago-based companies had operated by charging applicants who sought to be placed through the company a $450 advance fee, but never actually providing them with [...]
Council of Europe (COE) Commissioner for Human Rights Thomas Hammarberg released his report on the status of human rights in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) on Friday, praising ongoing efforts by the FYROM government to improve human rights, but also highlighting shortfalls in the judiciary, law enforcement, and the penitentiary system. Hammarberg wrote: [...]
US military prosecutors have brought war crimes charges against a detainee at Guantanamo Bay who they allege stored and concealed anti-tank mines in Afghanistan . The detainee, named Obaidullah, was charged Wednesday with conspiracy and providing material support for terrorism . For Obaidullah to stand trial, the charges must be approved by Susan Crawford, convening [...]
Voting-rights advocates and elections officials fear that a lawsuit brought by the Wisconsin Department of Justice will effectively disenfranchise thousands of voters by causing chaos at the polls in November. Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen filed suit against the state's Government Accountability Board on Wednesday, seeking to force the elections agency to cross-check the [...]
The Teachers Retirement System of Louisiana on Thursday settled a shareholder suit against a group of former executives from American International Group (AIG) , including AIG ex-CEO and chairman Maurice "Hank" Greenberg. The lawsuit, filed in 2002 in the Delaware Chancery Court, concerned improper transfers of approximately $1 billion from AIG to C.V. Starr & [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on Thursday ruled that a claimant had produced insufficient medical evidence to recover from a settlement fund established to compensate those harmed by the weight-loss medication known as fen-phen . The Philadelphia-based court affirmed a decision by the US District Court for the Eastern District of [...]
US Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) introduced a new bill entitled the "Support for Democracy and Human Rights in Ethiopia Act of 2008" in the Senate on Tuesday, calling for greater support for individual and political rights in Ethiopia . The bill is meant to "build on successful diplomatic efforts that contributed to the October 2007 [...]
