New York Paralegal Blog

JACKSON, Miss. - The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity (EEOC) announced today that it has filed a lawsuit for race discrimination and retaliation against Dollar General Corporation, asserting that it violated federal law when it denied a black lead sales associate in a Long Beach, Miss., store a promotion to a vacant assistant store manager position because of her race. The EEOC said the store also retaliated against her for complaining, and filing a charge of discrimination with the EEOC.

CLEVELAND – Ganley Lincoln of Bedford, Inc., an auto dealership in Bedford, Ohio, will pay $300,000 to four African-Americans to settle a racial harassment lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today. In its lawsuit, the EEOC charged that Jay Walsh, Ganley’s general manager at the time, routinely used derogatory terms to refer to blacks, customers as well as employees, including the epithet “n----r.” Walsh, in referring to an older African-American employee, wished the “old n----r ... would hurry up and die.” Further, the agency charged, Walsh utilized a compensation system that disadvantaged black salespeople with regard to sales opportunities and commissions. Racial discrimination violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The EEOC filed suit, No. 1:07cv2829, in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Eastern Division, after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliati...

WASHINGTON – In oral arguments today, the New York State Attorney General’s Office -- represented by state Solicitor General Barbara Underwood -- urged the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the right of states to sue five polluting power companies to force them to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, the primary cause of climate change. Leading a coalition on behalf of New York, California, Connecticut, Iowa, Rhode Island, Vermont, and the City of New York, Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman’s office argued that the power companies are causing a “public nuisance” by releasing greenhouse gases into the air, and can therefore be held accountable in court. American Electric Power Co., Inc. v. Connecticut marks Solicitor General Underwood’s 20th argument before the Supreme Court. “This lawsuit seeks to protect our States from climate change that threatens our economy, our health and our natural resources. In the absence of federal action limiting carbon dioxide pollution from fossil-fuel pow...

"Citigroup's announcement today that it will cut an additional 50,000 jobs is a sad and disturbing development for the company. As Citigroup suffers, so too do investors, employees, and taxpayers. At the very least, Citigroup should follow Goldman Sachs' lead and announce quickly that top executives will not be receiving bonuses this year. Citigroup's stated intention to wait until the new year to make its bonus decisions is a mistake. After four consecutive quarterly losses, it seems only fair that top executives should shoulder their fair share of these difficult economic times. It would send exactly the wrong message for Citigroup's top brass to collect bonuses while investors, taxpayers, and now Citigroup's own employees suffer." "Citigroup is, of course, not the only company in this situation. Other companies like AIG, who have received billions in rescue financing from taxpayers, also need to take a hard look in the mirror when determining the r...

Today Attorney General Cuomo sent the attached letter to Edward Liddy, the CEO of AIG. The letter sets forth that: (1) AIG will freeze any payments under former-CEO Martin Sullivan's $19 million contract; and (2) AIG has confirmed that no payments will be made out of the $600 million compensation and bonus pools of the Financial Products subsidiary. The letter also states the Attorney General's position that taxpayers should be repaid before any executives and that new executive pay structures should eliminate improper incentives.

WASHINGTON — A British citizen and former executive of British Airways World Cargo has agreed to plead guilty, serve eight months in jail and pay a criminal fine for participating in a conspiracy to fix rates for international air cargo shipments, the Department of Justice announced today. According to the charges filed in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia, Keith Packer, former Commercial General Manager for British Airways World Cargo, and his co-conspirators engaged in a conspiracy to fix the air cargo rates charged to customers for international air shipments, including to and from the U.S., in violation of the Sherman Act. Under the plea agreement, which is subject to court approval, Packer has agreed to serve eight months in jail, pay a $20,000 criminal fine and cooperate with the Department’s ongoing investigation. More...

ALBANY, N.Y. (September 10, 2008) – Attorney General Cuomo today warned landowners of potential perils and strong-arm tactics when dealing with oil and gas exploration companies. His office released new materials and guidelines to protect consumers and ensure they get the best deal for their land should they choose to become involved in an oil or gas exploration lease. The Attorney General’s Office has become aware of potentially misleading or improper tactics used by certain exploration and development companies to obtain leases from landowners. The office is investigating a significant number of complaints from landowners regarding these tactics and urges anyone who believes they have been defrauded by an unscrupulous representative of a gas exploration company to contact his office at 800-771-7755. A new downloadable tip sheet and brochure can be found online at www.oag.state.ny.us/bureaus/environmental/consumer_guides.html . More...

NEW YORK, NY (August 15, 2008) - Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo today announced another agreement to provide liquidity to consumers who purchased auction rate securities. Under the latest agreement, Wachovia Securities, LLC and Wachovia Capital Markets, LLC (collectively, “Wachovia”) will return over $8.5 billion to investors across New York State and the nation. The agreement settles allegations that Wachovia made misrepresentations in its marketing and sales of auction rate securities. Wachovia marketed and sold auction rate securities as safe, cash-equivalent products, when in fact they faced increasing liquidity risk. Within the past eight days, Cuomo has signed agreements restoring nearly $35 billion of liquidity to thousands of investors nationwide. Under Cuomo’s settlement, Wachovia has agreed to buy back, no later than November 28, 2008, all illiquid auction rate securities from all Wachovia retail customers, charities, and small businesses. Wachovia will also pay damages to ...