Tuesday, March 20, 2018
- US District Court ME: On Title VII and MHRA sexual harassment claim, the court denied (without reciting the facts) summary judgment on existence of a hostile work environment; denied summary judgment on Faragher defense where employer responded inadequately to prior complaints against the same harasser; granted summary judgment against plaintiff on her constructive discharge claim because employer offered her a transfer or a paid leave during investigation of her sexual harassment complaint; and granted plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment on mitigation defense where employer introduced no evidence that substantially equivalent jobs were available in the relevant geographic area (but noted that plaintiff did not have a back-pay claim anyway because there was no constructive discharge)
- US District Court ME: Magistrate Judge recommended denial of motion to dismiss § 1983 claim arising out of police shooting where claim would not impermissibly invalidate plaintiff’s criminal sentence following his conviction of possession of a firearm by a felon, and plaintiff was not collaterally estopped from litigating issue of whether he raised his rifle in the direction of law enforcement before being shot because that finding was not essential to the prior judgment
- Muskie School of Public Service: 2017 Maine Court Access and Fairness Survey of 1039 participants found 83% believe courts are accessible and 78% agreed or strongly agreed that they are fair
- Maine Supreme Judicial Court: Proposed amendment to Maine Rules of Professional Conduct would adopt the screening protocols in the ABA Model Rules that apply to potential conflicts within a firm due to a lawyer’s former association with another firm; and proposed amendment to Maine Bar Rules would require that all proceedings before the Fee Arbitration Commission be recorded and that those proceedings be transcribed upon request
- US Courts: 2017 statistics show a 2.4% increase in civil rights cases filed in district courts (38,925 total)
- US DOJ: Justice Department Obtains $625,000 Settlement Of Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Against Two St. Louis Landlords
- MHRC: Three, three-hour free housing discrimination seminars in Kittery, Lewiston, and Houlton scheduled in April