Alaska Employment Law

Recent Posts from Alaska Employment Law

• The Weekend: Ray Davies, in Concert

  Raymond Douglas Davies, Tuesday night at the Berklee Performance Center 1.  Boy, were there ever a lot of old people there, even a wheelchair contingent.  More trips to the bathroom at a concert than I…

• 9th Cir: Rehab Act Protects Independent Contractors

  Does § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. § 794, extend to a claim of discrimination brought by an independent contractor? The 9th Circuit (per Judge Bybee) says Yes. In order to answer that…

• 9th Cir: Kozinski on Benefits for Same Sex Federal Judicial Employees

  Two days ago it was Judge Stephen Reinhardt.  Now 9th Circuit Chief Judge Alex Kozinski takes another step beyond Reinhardt’s order for compensatory relief, and orders OPM to stop interfering with his orders, and directs Blue…

• Legal Research: Google Scholar

  You can now find federal and state court opinions via Google Scholar.  It’s free, includes internal page numbers, and has a citation feature (”How cited”), ala Westlaw’s KeyCite (TM).  At the homepage for Google Scholar,…

• 9th Cir: Benefits for Same Sex Spouses of Federal PDs

  Judge Stephen Reinhardt has ordered the Federal Public Defenders Office to compensate an employee for the health benefits denied to the employee’s same sex spouse (married under California law).  He declined to order the agency to…

• “I Just Have One Question” - Responding to Telephone Calls

  Several times a week someone calls my office and says, “Can you answer a question?  I just want to know if I have a case.”  Often the caller, quite understandably, will add, “I don’t want…

• The Weekend: Harrison and Russo

  One day not so long ago I was in a bookstore shopping for something else and I saw That Old Cape Magic, Richard Russo’s newest book. I have read all of Russo’s books to date,…

• Alaska Legal Miscellanea: Contingent Fee Agreements, and the FTCA

  Federal Tort Claims Act: U. S. District Judge Ralph Beistline has denied the government’s motion for reconsideration in Bolt v. U.S., the slip and fall case at Ft. Wainwright reported here earlier.  The government had…

• DAlaska: Update on Red Dog Mine Shareholder Preference Case

  U. S. District Judge Ralph Beistline has dismissed some, but not all of the claims in the second lawsuit filed by Red Dog mine employee Greg Conitz concerning application of the preference for NANA shareholders.   In the…

• 9th Cir: Federal Pay Levels in Alaska and Hawaii

  The 9th Circuit has rejected claims that federal employees in Alaska and Hawaii are unconstitutionally denied pay equal to that of their colleagues in the Lower 48.  The panel held that the “locality” pay provided…