Performance reviews and libel: The 9th Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a claim that an employer libelled an employee via performance reviews, holding that California law recognizes a “common interest” privilege, and that the employee had failed to show malice.
Rudwall v. Blackrock, 2008 WL _______ (9th Cir. Aug. 18, 2008)(unpub.)
Alaska habeas corpus: The panel that […]
In this case under the Alaska implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, a federal jury returned a plaintiff’s verdict of $208,000, according to Mark Choate’s Press Release. Plaintiff claimed her supervisor treated her adversely in order to obtain benefits for his “sweetie.” Judge Beistline’s last “law of the case” order is available here.
Update: Here’s the Verdict form. […]
In the overtime class action against Hageland Aviation Services, the parties settled, subject to the employer’s right to appeal Judge Peter Michalski’s ruling on the constitutionality of a 2005 amendment to the Alaska Wage and Hour Act. The settlement provides the class with $900,000 in damages, and its attorneys with $700,000 in fees and costs, if the […]
District Judge John Sedwick has rejected two prisoners’ attempts to reduce their sentences for cocaine base drug trafficking under the two-level reduction in the sentencing guidelines made retroactive by 18 USC § 3582(c).
Dana Sweatt asked Sedwick to reduce her sentence from 84 months to 57 months. Her original Guideline range was 121 to 151 months, but […]
The Monster of Florence, by Douglas Preston with Mario Spezi
It’s time to look at a best seller. Doug Preston, the brother of Richard Preston (The Hot Zone and other books), has had much success writing thrillers and murder mysteries with co-author Lincoln Childs. While living in Florence in 2000, Doug met Mario Spezi, a well […]
Guaranteed appellate oral argument: When the 9th Circuit was recently in Anchorage, some practitioners found out, at the last minute, that the court had cancelled oral argument and taken their matters solely on the briefs. Unlike the Alaska Supreme Court, the 9th Circuit doesn’t guarantee oral argument - except for pro bono appointed counsel, as […]
U. S. District Judge Timothy Burgess has accorded collateral estoppel effect to Superior Court judgments affirming the Alaska Human Right Commission’s dismissal of charges for lack of substantial evidence.
Elsa Billingham had filed ASCHR and EEOC charges alleging that the State had discriminated and retaliated against her (age and sex) in the events leading up to […]
In this case under the Contract Disputes Act, plaintiff asked the Court to preclude the government from calling 1) witnesses not produced at Rule 30(b)(6) depositions, and 2) witnesses concerning events associated with documents that the government is no longer able to find.
District Court Judge John Sedwick held, as to the non-produced Rule 30(b)(6) witnesses:
Under the circumstances presented, the […]
The 9th Circuit has again applied MetLife v. Glenn, this time holding that an administrator’s (MetLife, as it happens) structural conflict of interest wasn’t sufficient to set aside a denial of ERISA benefits. The panel said:
The Supreme Court has indicated that an ERISA fiduciary’s structural conflict of interest is but one factor in considering whether […]
At Alaska Law Blog, Jerome Juday rants about the congestion created by family law cases, and suggests an Alaskan version of ”Judge Judy.” He says, “The State could hire some shrill or half-insane retired judge to act as the star of the show.” Neil O’Donnell discusses Rhodes v. Erion and Rule 68 as a “risk multiplier” in […]
The jury trial in Johnson v. Fred Meyer, discussed recently, started Monday in federal court. Judge Beistline has continued to address the plaintiff’s claim that the implied covenant of good faith/fair dealing is violated when the male supervisor’s romantic preference for another female employee causes an adverse employment action.
In his latest order, Beistline said:
If Plaintiff succeeds in […]
In a “maintenance and cure” claim arising from an accident off the coast of Alaska, the 9th Circuit has affirmed the trial court’s denial of punitive damages and fees, despite the seaman’s success on the merits:
We decline Ward’s invitation to create a per se rule whereby seamen who are forced to file suit in federal […]
In this appeal under the Contract Disputes Act concerning a “requirements” contract for cargo shipped between Adak and the Pacific Northwest, District Judge John Sedwick has:
1) barred plaintiff Samson from calling witnesses first identified after the deadlines for the Final Witness List and for discovery;
2) held that a plaintiff is not required, before trial, to do a Rule 30(b)(6) designation […]
U. S. District Judge Ralph Beistline has held that the Teamster Affiliates Pension Plan is equitably estopped from retracting its Administrator’s representation of a participant’s benefit amount.
Jacqueline Bloom worked in the Fairbanks office of Teamsters Local 959 from 1970 through 2004. She qualified for a pension under both the Alaska Teamster-Employer Pension Trust and the Teamster […]
The 9th Circuit panel that heard arguments in Anchorage on August 4-7 has issued its first opinion. It affirmed Judge Ralph Beistline’s dismissal of a a claim under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act for failure to exhaust administrative remedies.
Brooke’s failure to pursue a due process hearing cannot be excused. Although administrative exhaustion may be unnecessary when […]
In the “Sweetie” termination case against Fred Meyers discussed earlier, the Alaska Supreme Court, in Feburary, declined Judge Beistline’s certified question - whether any Alaska public policy prohibits an employer from discharging an at-will employee in order to replace her with someone else, even if the discharge is motivated by a hoped-for romantic interest. Beistline had […]
Love That Dirty Water – The Standells and the Improbable Red Sox Victory Anthem, by Chuck Burgess & Bill Nowlin.
Now this is a specialty book, but it’s a lot of fun. More about music than baseball (but not forgetting baseball), it tells the story of how the ‘60s group The Standells came into being, recorded […]
The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration fined Alaska Mechanical, Inc. $115,000 for safety violations leading to the July 2007 deaths of two employees at Rock Creek Mine in Nome. MSHA’s report details the multiple violations.
Now MSHA has levied the fine for the conduct that it summarizes as follows:
The two victims had been assigned to […]
Applicants for San Francisco-area public employment sued, alleging illegal preferential treatment of Asian and Filipino workers. The District Court dismissed on statute of limitations grounds. The 9th Circuit panel (Hawkins, O’Scannlain, and McKeown) affirmed.
Accrual: The panel joined other Circuits and held that accrual starts when the plaintiff learns of the adverse treatment, without regard to knowledge […]
In a termination grievance under the Alaska North Slope Agreement, Arbitrator John DiFalco has held that a joint labor-management committee had no authority to adopt rules that would bar Step Four arbitration of termination grievances under Article VIII when the Step Three Standing Committee had issued a majority opinion.
In his Award, DiFalco found that the following language in […]
The 9th Circuit this morning held that a District Court erred when it reduced a successful plaintiff’s fee award because he hadn’t made a pre-litigation demand on the ADA defendant. (This is apparently an access, not an employment case.)
The panel wrote:
Hager claims that the district court abused its discretion when, in deciding to reduce the lodestar […]
A recent non-Administrator’s letter from the U. S. Department of Labor addressed the compensability of on-call time for ambulance employees. The Department advised that on-call periods in the winter were compensable, and that on-call times in the summer were not compensable under FLSA.
The staff member’s reasoning was as follows:
Based on the situation you describe, it […]
Other Alaskan blawgs: Peggy Roston has posted on QDROs and IRAs at Alaska Divorce Law Blog. Alicia Porter has posted on giving the Personal Representative the power to create a Special Needs Trust when drafting a will. And Paul Bratton, at Alaska Backwoods Lawyer, writes on a trademark infringement claim he is defending.
Alaska Juris F/V: That’s the name […]
Sing Me Back Home to New Hampshire
Only rarely do I read a book that I wish I had written (suggesting, I must admit, that I am not really competent to write on more than one or two subjects), but just that sort of thing happened when I was about halfway through Sing Me Back Home: […]
Wal-Mart’s efforts to persuade its supervisors that McCain is preferable to Obama is the subject of a Wall Street Journal article that is critiqued by Jim Lindgren at Volokh Conspiracy. This follows the NLRB’s July 22nd guidelines on the limits on employer discipline of employees for political activity. Management-side law firm EpsteinBeckerGreen reviews the Board’s […]
Effective August 25th, U.S. DOT requires observation of urine deposits for the re-testing of safety-sensitive employees in the pipeline industry, according to this post in World of Work. The amended regs are those at 49 CFR Part 40, especially §§ 40.61-.73. The WoW post links to the new regs.
On a related note: Here’s a discussion of […]
