Tuesday, January 2, 2018
- National Law Review: Tax Reform Act Denies Deductions for Some Sexual Harassment Settlements
- US DOJ: Citing “the ongoing government-wide effort to reduce regulatory burdens and improve the quality of guidance documents offered to the public,” the DOJ announced ADA technical assistance and guidance documents that were withdrawn 12/31/2017, including “Common ADA Problems at Newly Constructed Lodging Facilities” (November 1999); Title II and Title III Highlights (2008); “Commonly Asked Questions About Service Animals in Places of Business” (July 1996); and “Americans with Disabilities Act Questions and Answers” (co-authored by EEOC) (May 2002)
- Law Court: In finding mandatory arbitration agreement between law firm and client unenforceable, the court held that to enforce a contractual provision that prospectively requires a client to submit malpractice claims against a law firm to arbitration, an attorney must have first obtained the client’s informed consent as to the scope and effect of that provision; and, to obtain the client’s informed consent, the attorney must effectively communicate to the client that malpractice claims are covered under the agreement to arbitrate
- Law Court: The court held, in part, that the Maine Freedom of Access Act required the Maine Department of Corrections to disclose portion of final written decision related to disciplinary action that contained a description of a past incident of misconduct by other employees and allegations of misconduct of another employee involved in the incident that resulted in the discipline, as well as the name of the person making the accusation of misconduct against the subject employee
- US District Court ME: The court held that landlord owed a negligence duty to police officer injured while responding a party on landlord’s property, and refused to apply the “Firefighter’s Rule” (prohibiting recovery by a firefighter or police officer injured in the course of duty by perils they are employed to confront) because it has not yet been adopted by the Law Court
- Fourth Circuit: Patron has standing to bring ADA Title III claim where he plausibly alleges his intent to return to place of public accommodation; he is not required to allege specific goods, services, and conveniences that he would seek or the precise dates and arrangements for his return
- US Supreme Court: Chief Justice Roberts’ 2017 Year-End Report on the Federal Judiciary noted that there will be a careful evaluation of the federal judiciary in 2018 to ensure adequate procedures are in place to investigate allegations of misconduct in light of “the depth of the problem of sexual harassment in the workplace”; during the 2016 Term, 71 cases were argued and 68 were disposed of in 61 signed opinions, compared to 82 cases argued and 70 disposed of in 62 signed opinions in the 2015 Term; and civil case filings in the U.S. district courts fell eight percent in 2017 compared with 2016
