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Panel Affirms Dismissal Of Price Discrimination Claims Against Insurer | | ST. LOUIS - Dismissal of minority property owners' price discrimination claims against an insurance company under the Fair Housing Act (FHA) and Civil Rights Acts of 1866 and 1870 was proper because their claims are preempted under the McCarran Ferguson Act, the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed Aug. 12 (Marva Jean Saunders, et al. v. American Family Mutual Insurance Co., Nos. 07-1894, 07-1897, 07-1903, 8th Cir.; 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 17121; See 3/21/06, Page 17).
05/09/2008 |
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MDL Judge Preliminarily Certifies Class As To $69M Settlement From Marsh | | NEWARK, N.J. - The insurance brokerage antitrust multidistrict litigation judge on Aug. 21 preliminarily certified a class for settlement purposes as to last month's $69 million offer from Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc. regarding allegations that it and others participated in broker-centered and global conspiracies involving undisclosed contingent commission agreements and bid rigging (In Re Insurance Brokerage Antitrust Litigation, No. 04-5184; In Re Employee-Benefit Insurance Brokerage Antitru... | | 05/09/2008 |
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Judge Rules HMOs Are Not Entitled To Claimants' Identities | | NEW ORLEANS - The judge supervising federal consolidated Vioxx litigation said health maintenance organizations seeking help to identify potential reimbursement for treatment of Vioxx injuries are not entitled to the names of claimants on the national settlement with Merck & Co. (AvMed, Inc., et al. v. U.S. Bancorp, et al., No. 2:08-cv-01633-EEF-DEK, 1199SEIU Greater New York Benefit Fund, et al. v. BrownGreer, et al., No. 08-3627; E.D. La.; 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 60269; See July 2008, Pages ... | | 05/09/2008 |
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Court Considers Remedies Available For Time-Barred Claim Against Employer | | HARRISBURG, Pa. - Parties recently completed briefing the Pennsylvania Superior Court on whether workers' compensation statutes are a widow's exclusive remedy against her husband's employer or whether time bars allow her to pursue a tort claim against it for his fatal mesothelioma (Mary Lou Crooks, et al. v. Alcoa Inc., No. 612 WDA 2008, Pa. Super.).
05/09/2008 |
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McKesson Ruling On Cause Of Action Under Treaty Of Amity Scrapped | | WASHINGTON, D.C. - The District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Aug. 26 dealt a blow to the McKesson Corp.'s efforts to collect damages from Iran for the alleged expropriation of the company's interest in an Iranian dairy, reversing a lower court's finding that McKesson has a cause of action under the Treaty of Amity between Iran and the United States (McKesson Corp., et al. v.Islamic Republic of Iran, No. 07-7113, D.C. Cir.; See August 2007, Page 4).
05/09/2008 |
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11th Circuit Reverses, Rules Pollution Exclusion Applies To Site Assessment | | ATLANTA - The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Aug. 20 vacated a decision that the pollution exclusion does not apply to an environmental consultant's failure to locate debris, drums and a tank in a site assessment, instead ruling that the damages sought are directly related to environmental contamination and that construction debris constitutes a "pollutant" (James River Insurance Co. v. Ground Down Engineering Inc., et al., No. 07-13207, 11th Cir.; See 6/21/07, Page 5).
05/09/2008 |
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FTC's Objections To Whole Foods/Wild Oats Merger Revived By D.C. Circuit | | WASHINGTON, D.C. - The District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on July 29 in a divided opinion reversed a trial court's decision denying the Federal Trade Commission's request for a preliminary injunction blocking a completed merger between Whole Foods Market Inc. and Wild Oats Markets Inc. (Federal Trade Commission v. Whole Foods Market, Inc., et al., No. 07-5276, D.C. Cir.; 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 16562).
05/09/2008 |
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Insurers Must Produce SIU Files, But Not Fraud Detection Plan In New York RICO Action | | BROOKLYN, NY - Two automobile insurers must produce the contents of their Special Investigative Unit (SIU) files relating to a racketeering and common-law fraud action alleging fraudulent claims for acupuncture services, with the exception of "information that divulges plaintiffs' fraud detection plan and materials protected by attorney-client and work-product privilege," a federal magistrate judge held Aug. 5 (State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., et al. v. Eastern Medical, P.C., et al., ... | | 05/09/2008 |
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Court: Mervyn's Violates Disability Laws; On Remand, CDR Can Seek Amendment | | SAN FRANCISCO - If, on remand, the disability rights group at the heart of the Proposition 64 cases can produce a plaintiff with standing, then the court should grant judgment for that party on claims that a retailer failed to provide disabled persons with adequate access to merchandise, a California court held July 29 (Californians for Disability Rights v. Mervyn's LLC, No. A106199, Calif. App., 1st Dist.; 2008 Cal. App. LEXIS 1173; See April 2007, Page 6).
05/09/2008 |
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Texas Supreme Court Finds Duty To Defend Cell Phone Claims | | AUSTIN, Texas - A Texas Supreme Court majority on Aug. 29 ruled in three cases before it that liability insurers of cell phone manufacturers have a duty to defend class actions alleging exposure to radio frequency radiation emitted from cell phones (Nokia Inc. v. Zurich American Insurance Co., et al., No. 06-1030, Samsung Electronics America Inc., et al. v. Federal Insurance Co., No. 06-1040, Trinity Universal Insurance Co. v. Cellular One Group, No. 07-0140, Texas Sup.).
05/09/2008 |
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9th Circuit Panel Orders Class To Exhaust Tribal Remedies Before Suing In Federal Court | | PORTLAND, Ore. - On a motion to reconsider a July 2006 order reinstating a personal injury class action lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Blackfeet Tribal Housing Authority for exposure to chemicals in pressure treated wood, a divided panel of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held that the federal government did not undertake a trust relationship with the plaintiffs to construct or to maintain the housing (Martin Marceau, et al v. Blackfeet Housi... | | 05/09/2008 |
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'Dancing Baby' Complaint Sufficiently Pleads Claim, May Proceed | | SAN JOSE, Calif. - After dismissing a Pennsylvania woman's complaint for misrepresentation against record label Universal Music Corp. in April, a California judge found her second amended complaint sufficient to withstand the label's renewed motion for dismissal, denying the motion in an Aug. 20 order (Stephanie Lenz v. Universal Music Corp., et al., No. 07-3783, N.D. Calif.; See May 2008, Page 16).
05/09/2008 |
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