New York Paralegal Blog

NEW YORK- Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced New York is part of a 46-state settlement with a Bankruptcy Trustee charged with overseeing the collection of late fees and other charges allegedly owed by approximately 3.3. million former customers of Hollywood Video and its parent company, Movie Gallery, both of which have filed for bankruptcy and are in the process of being liquidated. As many as 200,000 New Yorkers could be impacted by the settlement. "Imagine applying for a mortgage only to find your credit report is tarnished because of a video rental late fee you didn't even owe," said Attorney General Schneiderman .  "This settlement will provide important safeguards to protect consumers against abusive debt collection practices and will ensure that consumers will not have their credit harmed as a result of any outstanding fees claimed to be owed to Hollywood Video or Movie Gallery." New York and the other settl...

BUFFALO, N.Y (December 8, 2008) – Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the arrests of three Western New York nursing home employees and the conviction of a fourth for abusing elderly and ill patients. According to court records, the acts of abuse include physically attacking and using racial slurs against an 86-year-old Alzheimer’s patient, slapping a 100-year-old patient in the face, and tying an elderly patient with dementia to a chair for two consecutive nights. The arrests and conviction stem from Attorney General Cuomo’s statewide investigations into abuse and neglect in institutional care settings. More...

WASHINGTON - The Department of Justice announced today that it has settled its employment lawsuit on behalf of Tracey Marshall, a sergeant in the U.S. Army Reserve, against the Clerk of the Circuit Court for Hillsborough County, Fla.The Department’s complaint, filed last October in the U.S. District Court in Tampa, alleged that the Clerk’s Office violated the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA). The Clerk’s Office failed to reemploy Marshall in her prior position as supervisor of the Clerk’s Court Clerk II Section of the Circuit Criminal Division when she return from active duty in October 2005. In addition, it is alleged that the Clerk’s Office retaliated against Marshall after she took action under USERRA, by transferring her from the Clerk’s Circuit Criminal Division to the Clerks Traffic Department, which offered a lower pay rate. Under the terms of the settlement agreement, the Clerk’s Office will reinstate Marshall to Manager of the Court Cl...