Wednesday, April 26, 2017
- Maine Legislature: LD 1477 would amend Maine sexual harassment training requirements to require the Maine Human Rights Commission to provide employers with a training guide, make Department of Labor determinations that employers have complied with the training requirements binding on the Commission, and impose monetary penalties for violations of the posting and training requirements
- US Supreme Court: In a personal injury car accident lawsuit against a tribal employee in his individual capacity, the Court held that the employee, not the tribe, is the real party in interest and the tribe’s sovereign immunity is not implicated; the fact that the employee was acting within the scope of his employment at the time the tort was committed is not, on its own, sufficient to bar a suit against that employee on the basis of tribal sovereign immunity; and the existence of an indemnification provision does not extend a tribe’s sovereign immunity where it otherwise would not reach
- Ninth Circuit: As a matter of first impression in its circuit, the court held that neither Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act nor Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 preempt a city’s state-law claims for breach of contract and de facto contribution against contractors who breach their contractual duty to perform services in compliance with federal disability regulations
- First Circuit: In affirming summary judgment for a deemed federal entity health center based on plaintiff’s failure to file administrative complaint within two years as required by the Federal Tort Claims Act, the court found that there was was no evidence that the health center deliberately concealed any material facts that were needed to put plaintiff on notice of the fact and cause of the injury, which may have otherwise justified equitably tolling the statute of limitations
- US District Court ME: In excessive force claim, Magistrate Judge denied summary judgment on qualified immunity grounds for officer who shot and injured plaintiff after plaintiff drew knife and slashed his arm, finding that, at the time of the 2015 incident, the contours of the constitutional protection from the use of excessive force were sufficiently clear such that a reasonable law enforcement officer would have understood that when a subject displays and uses a knife to inflict self-harm in the presence of others, the use of deadly force is reasonable only when there is an immediate threat of harm to the officer or the others, and only after, if feasible, the officer provides a warning or instruction to the subject and the subject persists in threatening conduct
- Maine Legislature: LD 1530 would amend the Maine unemployment security law to specify that unemployment benefits will not be awarded to an employee during a mutually agreed-upon leave or sabbatical leave from the employee’s employer, and provide that a reduction in hours initiated by the employee and agreed upon by the employee and employer does not qualify the employee for unemployment benefits
- MHRC: May 27th Commission Meeting Agenda posted
- MHRC: April 24th Commission Meeting minutes posted
- Press Herald: Muslim woman sues Portland employer, alleges religious discrimination