Leona Round III - Not That Anyone Really Cares But ....

She does appear to have an infinity for attracting trouble. The New York Post has the story of a trio of claims, only one of which has been the subject here before.

Wall Street Taking Different Approach to Sexual Harassment?

At least that's the argument made in today's NYT story, 2 Wall St. Firings Said to Be Linked to Harassment about the dismissal of two investment bankers by J.P. Morgan Chase.

OSHA's View of Enforcing Sarbanes-Oxley Whistleblower Provisions

In a quarterly report, Protecting the Whistleblowers, OSHA reports on the challenges its employees face in taking on their enforcement role under Sarbanes-Oxley.

Leona Helmsley - Round II

As earlier reported here, a New York jury awarded a former employee of one of Helmsley's hotel over $11 million in his claim that she had discriminated against him because he was gay. Yesterday the trial judge reduced the award significantly to $554,000. According to the gay oriented publication, The Data Lounge he thought the jury was influenced by their dislike of Helmsley:

The judge said the jury award -- which included $10 million in punitive damages -- probably resulted from what he called Helmsley's "belligerence" on the witness stand and her "accompanying sneer," which annoyed the jury and succeeded "in keeping the specter of the Queen of Mean alive in the courtroom." "Punitive damages are not a game of Lotto," he wrote, "and more particularly to the matter at hand, Mrs. Helmsley is not a $4 billion pinata for every John, Patrick or Charlie to poke a stick at in the hopes of hitting the jackpot."

For a different picture of the story (literally) check out the New York Post's version. Both sides will appeal. Perhaps overlooked in the shuffle, $500,000 plus is still not an insubstantial sum of money.

Failure to Cover Oral Contraceptives On Medical Plan - Sex Discrimination?

That is the question to be resolved in a lawsuit filed by Planned Parenthood in federal district court in Portland Oregon according to a story in Yahoo News, Workers Sue Railroad Co. for Birth Control Coverage. Clearly Planned Parenthood is no slouch in the pr department since according to Omaha tv station KVET, the lead plaintiff is Jackie Fitzgerald of La Grande, Ore, an Air Force and Gulf War veteran who has worked as a Union Pacific trainman since 1998.

Arbitration - Getting More Scrutiny from the Courts

Nice to see that I was right on the trend, or at least in agreement with Professor St. Antoine among others. Various commentators with different perspectives offer their views on why it is that arbitration is now getting more scrutiny from the court system in today's law.com article. Last week talking about a new 5th Circuit decision, I had a similar comment:

It appears that we may be entering a new era of arbitration jurisprudence. Even though the concept has been reaffirmed, and is if anything more frequently being used, rather than less litigation about arbitration, we are going to have more. The difference is it will now focus on contract formation, program content, integrity of the process (both actual and perceived) and standards for reviewing decisions. Undoubtedly one of the things lost, or at least diminished, will be the benefits of quicker, cheaper final determinations. Jottings (2/27/03)

Whether this is temporary or a transition to a different form of dispute resolution remains to be seen. It does at least make me think that lawyers who are concerned about the diminishment of the role of the jury, regardless of what you think of their own self interest, have more of a point than I have been giving them.

Is the Minimum Wage Now A Matter for City Hall? Yes, At Least in Santa Fe

Many cities have considered and/or adopted so called 'living wage ordinances' which generally set a minimum wage that is higher than the federally mandated standard. Almost always they are limited to city employees and city contractors. However, Santa Fe has taken it one step further and extended it all private and non-profit employers within the city limits of Santa Fe, if they have at least 25 employees. Next year the minimum wage will be $8.50 an hour and it will go up to $10.50 by 2007. The New York Times has the story and so does the U.S. Newswire. And for more information from the group that was pushing the ordinance check out the Santa Fe Living Wage Network.