New York Paralegal Blog

GREENSBORO, N.C. – KobeWieland Copper Products, LLC has agreed to pay $84,750 and provide other relief to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today. KobeWieland manufactures and sells copper tubing, and employs over 500 associates between its two plants in Pine Hall, N.C. and Wheeling, Ill. The EEOC had charged that KobeWieland rescinded an offer of employment to an applicant at its facility in Pine Hall because the hiring official perceived the person as disabled because he was missing fingers on his left hand. According to the EEOC’s suit, Joseph Cardwell lost fingers on his left hand due to a childhood accident. Cardwell was offered a position as a caster by KobeWieland on Sept. 24, 2008. However, when Cardwell reported for his first day of work, a KobeWieland human resource specialist noticed that Cardwell was missing fingers, and immediately rescinded the offer of employment. The huma...

Well, the world of sports has been very eventful lately. Now that the very first of the Grand Slam tennis tournaments has begun, the NBA's final four are well into their series, as well as the NHL, and baseball is heading into its third month, there is a lot to discuss! I'll start with baseball. So far, the Cleveland Indians continue to be the surprise of the baseball season as they now have the best record in baseball at 30-15 with the Phillies not too far behind them at 29-18. The funny thing is, I believe the Phillies are yet to play their best baseball, especially since their big off season acquisition Cliff Lee is just 2-5 thus far. However, the other big story right now is how tight the race is in the AL East. The Yankees, Rays, and Red Sox all lost last night so the division has not moved. Nevertheless, just like the Phillies, I believe the Yankees have not played their best baseball either. The key to this division is going to be who finishes the stronge...

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced that its order charging Pine Ridge Coal Co. LLC of Seth, W.Va., with committing an unwarrantable failure to comply with the law has been upheld by Administrative Law Judge Thomas McCarthy. The order stemmed from the operator's violation of 30 C.F.R. § 50.10, which requires mine operators to notify MSHA of any reportable roof falls without delay – but within no more than 15 minutes – once the operator knows or should know that a reportable accident has occurred. Pine Ridge waited four days to notify MSHA of the roof collapse that took place at the Big Mountain Number 16 mine located in Boone County, W.Va., and notified MSHA only after the fall was discovered by an MSHA inspector and the violation cited. McCarthy found that the operator's delay was unreasonable and resulted from reckless disregard for its obligations under the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977. The...

Update: Jury Imposes Death Sentence Against Bridgeport Drug Dealer for Murdering Three People in 2005 David B. Fein, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, announced that a federal jury in New Haven has found AZIBO AQUART, also known as “Azibo Smith,” “Azibo Siwatu Jahi Smith,” “D,” “Dreddy,” and “Jumbo,” 30, of Bridgeport guilty of the August 24, 2005 murders of Tina Johnson, 43; James Reid, 40, and Basil Williams, 54. The trial before United States District Judge Janet Bond Arterton began on April 20 and the jury returned the verdicts today after approximately three hours of deliberations. According to the evidence disclosed during the trial, AQUART was the founder and leader of a drug trafficking group that primarily sold crack cocaine out of an apartment building located at 215 Charles Street in Bridgeport. AQUART and his associates participated in acts of violence...

NEW YORK - Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced a sweeping new initiative that will give the Attorney General the authority to investigate and potentially prosecute any wrongdoing involving government spending, including member items, contracts, and pension fraud. By working with the Comptroller to police public integrity in Albany, the Attorney General is building on his multi-pronged approach to root out waste, fraud and corruption in state government. “As stewards of the public trust, we are all responsible for doing our part to crack down on public corruption with every tool at our disposal. We need to be smarter, faster and more efficient than what current law allows,” said Attorney General Schneiderman. “That is why it is critical we close every loophole that exists in current law as part of comprehensive ethics legislation. We need such legislation now more than ever, and I look forward to working with the Governor and legislative leaders in the coming weeks t...

The federal judiciary’s Public Access to Court Electronics Records service attracted more than 50,000 new accounts in the first four months of fiscal year 2011. There are now nearly 1.2 million PACER accounts in existence. The service allows users to obtain case and docket information from federal appellate, district, and bankruptcy courts. The PACER Case Locator is a national index for the federal courts. Users may conduct nationwide searches to determine whether or not a party is involved in federal litigation. The federal judiciary’s current fiscal year began October 1, 2010. There were 13,221 new PACER accounts created in October; 12,485 in November; 11,518 in December; and 13,908 in January 2011.

WASHINGTON – In his weekly address, President Obama praised the progress that schools like Booker T. Washington High School in Memphis have made, and he called on Congress to fix No Child Left Behind this year.  To strengthen education in this country, we need to encourage reforms not driven by Washington, but by principals and parents so schools can determine what is best for their kids.  And that is why it is so important that Congress replace No Child Left Behind this year, so that schools have that flexibility.  Reform just cannot wait. The audio of the address is and video of the address will be available online at www.whitehouse.gov at 6:00 a.m. ET, Saturday, May 21, 2011. Remarks of President Barack Obama As Prepared for Delivery Saturday, May 21, 2011 Washington, DC This week, I went to Memphis, Tennessee, where I spoke to the graduating class of Booker T. Washington High School.  Graduations are always happy occasions.  But this comm...

The Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration (EDA), along with 15 other federal agencies within the Obama Administration, today announced a $33 million Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Challenge to drive innovation-fueled job creation and global competitiveness through public-private partnerships in at least 20 regions around the country.  The Challenge will award funds to regions with high-growth industries that support a wide range of economic and workforce development activities. The Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration will invest up to $20 million for technical skills training; EDA will invest up to $10 million in Economic Adjustment Assistance funds; and the Small Business Administration will invest up to $3 million in technical assistance.  The Obama administration is committed to smarter use of existing federal resources to foster regional innovation in support of sustainable economic prosperity. Strong indus...

NORFOLK, VA—Mohamud Hirs Issa Ali, a/k/a Sanadaaq, 32; Mohamud Salad Ali, a/k/a Juguuf, 35; and Ali Abdi Mohamed, a/k/a Basher, 30, all of Somalia, pled guilty today in Norfolk federal court to acts of piracy and hostage-taking against the S/V Quest, which resulted in the murder of United States citizens Scott Underwood Adam, Jean Savage Adam, Phyllis Patricia Macay, and Robert Campbell Riggle. Neil H. MacBride, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Janice K. Fedarcyk, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s New York Field Office; Alex J. Turner, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office; and Mark Russ, Special Agent in Charge of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) in Norfolk, made the announcement after the pleas were accepted by United States District Judge Mark S. Davis. “These men have admitted to pirating an American yacht and holding four U.S. citizens hostage at gunpoint for ransom. Tragically, their piracy led to the execution of ...

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., today announced the indictment of DOMINIQUE STRAUSS-KAHN, 62, on two counts of Criminal Sexual Act in the First Degree, one count of Attempted Rape in the First Degree, one count of Sexual Abuse in the First Degree, one count of Unlawful Imprisonment in the Second Degree, one count of Forcible Touching, and one count of Sexual Abuse in the Third Degree. [1] Today’s indictment in Supreme Court signifies that a New York State Grand Jury has voted to indict the defendant on all of the charges he faced following his Criminal Court arraignment on May 16, 2011. Today’s hearing in Supreme Court voids the need for tomorrow’s court date in Part F, and the next court date in this case will be June 6, 2011. “The Grand Jury, an independent body comprised of impartial jurors, considered the evidence presented by prosecutors from my Office, and found it sufficient to file an indictment,” said District Attorney Vance. “Under American law...