Wednesday, May 28, 2014
- US Supreme Court: The Court held that police officers who shot a driver of a fleeing vehicle to put an end to a dangerous car chase did not violate the Fourth Amendment, and, alternatively, the officers were entitled to qualified immunity because they violated no clearly established law
- First Circuit: As a matter of first impression, the court held that an employer may be held liable under Title VII if: plaintiff’s co-worker makes statements maligning the plaintiff, for discriminatory reasons and with the intent to cause the plaintiff’s firing; the co-worker’s discriminatory acts proximately cause the plaintiff to be fired; and the employer acts negligently by allowing the co-worker’s acts to achieve their desired effect though it knows (or reasonably should know) of the discriminatory motivation
- First Circuit: In affirming denial of summary judgment to police officers who charged plaintiff with wiretapping for filming a late-night traffic stop, the court held that an individual’s exercise of her First Amendment right to film police activity carried out in public, including a traffic stop, necessarily remains unfettered unless and until a reasonable restriction is imposed or in place, and the right was clearly established
- US District Court ME: Magistrate Judge recommended dismissal of prisoner 1983 claim because the Maine State Prison is a part of the State of Maine and sovereign immunity bars plaintiff’s suit against it, and, in plaintiff’s claim against guard, he did not allege that the guard had reason to believe another inmate would assault plaintiff when he gave the other inmate a shovel
- HUD: Notice permits developers of federally funded construction projects to use the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design as an acceptable alternative to the Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards until HUD updates its 504 regulations
- OSHA: Untimely whistleblower complaints (30 days to file) will be referred to the NLRB for possible investigation (6 months to file)
