Administrative Law

In ‘revolutionary’ ruling, NLRB says football players are employees of Northwestern, can unionize

Football players are employees of Northwestern University and can unionize, the National Labor Relations Board said in a ruling released Wednesday that is expected to reverberate throughout the country. Robert McCormick, a professor emeritus at Michigan State University College of Law, describes the decision as “revolutionary for college sports.” If…

Mar 26, 2014 8:25 PM CDT

IRS answers bitcoin tax questions, says virtual currency is property, not money

The virtual currency bitcoin is actually considered property, not money, for tax purposes, the Internal Revenue Service announced Tuesday. That means gains from buying low and selling high are taxed in the same way as gains on other property, the New York Times’ DealBook blog (reg. req.) reports. Initial value…

Mar 25, 2014 8:25 PM CDT

Using finger as ‘look-alike firearm’ gets boy, 10, a 3-day school suspension

A three-day suspension has been upheld for an Ohio fifth-grader accused of pointing his finger at the side of another student’s head and pretending to shoot him in class earlier this year. Nathan Entingh, 10, admitted he made his hand into a gun-like shape, but said he had just been…

Mar 19, 2014 8:25 PM CDT

EEOC ‘listening session’ focuses on possible workplace discrimination via social media posts

A worker on medical leave is seen skydiving in a photograph posted on Facebook, or another social media site. Should he or she be disciplined? What if a fellow employee who saw the photo got access to a password-protected site? Does the answer to that question differ if the photograph…

Mar 18, 2014 9:10 PM CDT

Snakes-in-a-cab prankster isn’t worried about regulator trouble; riders signed releases afterward

A comedian who taped cab passengers’ reaction to a 14-foot Burmese python says the riders all signed releases afterward. Comedian and former cab driver Jimmy Failla made the video to promote his new book, report the Huffington Post, the New York Post and the Gothamist. The video shows New York…

Mar 12, 2014 3:37 PM CDT

Obama will order an expansion of eligibility for overtime

President Obama will direct the Labor Department to draft new regulations to expand eligibility for overtime pay. The new restrictions will curb the number of employees currently defined as executive or professionals who are exempt from overtime requirements, report the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.).…

Mar 12, 2014 12:02 PM CDT

Drone operator gets $10K fine tossed

A drone operator fined $10,000 for allegedly flying his unmanned craft too low has won dismissal of the fine. Administrative Law Judge Patrick Geraghty ruled on Thursday that the Federal Aviation Administration could not ban commercial, low-flying drones based on a policy statement adopted outside the formal rule-making process, Reuters…

Mar 7, 2014 7:21 PM CST

Three-parent in vitro mulled by FDA panel; critics fear possibility of ‘designer babies’

A technique in which scientists combine DNA from three people to remove genetic mutations got a hearing on Tuesday before a panel of the Food and Drug Administration. At issue during the two-day hearing is whether to allow human trials of the in vitro fertilization technique, dubbed “three-parent IVF,” report…

Feb 26, 2014 2:21 PM CST

Administrative judge was disbarred in 1998 but continued to work

An administrative law judge in Washington, D.C., has been deciding workers’ comp cases for 16 years, despite his disbarment in 1998. The Indiana Supreme Court disbarred Anand Verma for making false statements in his bar applications in Maryland and Pennsylvania, the Washington City Paper reports. He has issued hundreds of…

Feb 25, 2014 11:50 AM CST

DOJ says bar officials violate ADA by asking applicants too much about their mental health

Asking would-be lawyers standard questions about their mental health, including their history of diagnosis and treatment, could violate the Americans with Disabilities Act, according to the civil rights division of the U.S. Department of Justice. In a lengthy Feb. 5 letter (PDF) to the Louisiana Supreme Court, its committee on…

Feb 12, 2014 9:30 PM CST

Major legal publishers to offer law firm refunds for automatic renewals

Without admitting any violation of consumer protection laws, two major legal publishers have voluntarily agreed to the Florida state attorney general’s request that they change their business practices concerning automatic subscription renewals and shipments of materials that were not specifically ordered. West Publishing Corporation and Thomson Reuters Tax Accounting Inc.…

Feb 6, 2014 4:05 PM CST

Attorney parents of ‘mathlete’ lose again in legal battle over right to select son’s algebra teacher

The parents of a gifted Florida ninth-grader don’t have a right to decide which algebra class he should be assigned to, a state court judge ruled last year. And recently, in a parallel challenge filed with the Florida Department of Education by William and Aimee Hefley, a state administrative law…

Feb 3, 2014 10:05 PM CST

Did the EPA go too far in regulating greenhouse gases? SCOTUS to decide

In 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark environmental ruling that greenhouse gases are “air pollutants” under the Clean Air Act. In a 5-4 decision in Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency, the court said the recalcitrant EPA had to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles if the agency…

Feb 1, 2014 9:30 AM CST

NSA phone records collection program is illegal and ineffective, government oversight board says

A National Security Agency program that collects and stores so-called metadata on nearly every U.S. phone call is both illegal and largely ineffective, the majority of a bipartisan executive branch agency concluded in a lengthy report (PDF) released Thursday. “We have not identified a single instance involving a threat to…

Jan 23, 2014 8:34 PM CST

FCC lacked authority to impose ‘Net neutrality’ on broadband carriers, federal appeals court rules

In a victory for Verizon Communications Inc., a federal appeals court has ruled that a government agency does not have the power to require broadband carriers to comply with so-called Net neutrality regulations concerning Internet traffic. Having opted “to classify broadband providers in a manner that exempts them from treatment…

Jan 14, 2014 8:55 PM CST