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Court: Ohio overcharged employers for years
Press Release |
2014/05/16 21:33
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The director of the state insurance fund for injured workers said Friday that he's disappointed with an unusually pointed appeals court decision that says the fund overcharged employers by hundreds of millions of dollars.
Steve Buehrer, Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation administrator and CEO, said the agency is considering its options.
Buehrer said he's pleased the court recognized that many businesses benefited from a program that put companies in group rating plans. But the court also said the plans resulted in nearly 300,000 companies being overcharged.
The 8th Ohio District Court of Appeals on Thursday said the plans amounted to an illegal rating system that resulted in employers being overcharged nearly $860 million over several years. It said the agency set up a system of winners and losers by giving discounted premiums to companies that joined group insurance plans and charging companies outside of the plans excessive rates to pay for the discounts.
"Reduced to its essence, this appeal is about a cabal of Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation bureaucrats and lobbyists for group sponsors who rigged workers' compensation insurance premium rates so that for employers who participated in the BWC's group rating plan, it was 'heads we win,' and for employers who did not participate in the group rating plan, it was 'tails you lose,'" the court said.
The court's unanimous ruling affects about 270,000 mostly small-business owners who paid non-group premiums from July 2001 to June 2009. Many are unaware they are covered by the class-action lawsuit that lead to the ruling. |
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Bankrupt Stockton defends financial plan in court
Press Release |
2014/05/13 18:24
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The largest city in California to file for bankruptcy protection is asking a judge Monday to approve its plan for reorganizing more than $900 million in long-term debt to rescue the city from two years of financial uncertainty.
Standing in Stockton's way is Franklin Templeton Investments, which says the city is treating it unfairly. In 2009, Templeton loaned Stockton $35 million to build firehouses, parks and move its police dispatch center. Franklin says the city today is offering it $350,000.
The city has reached deals with all of its major creditors, except for Franklin, which is taking Stockton to a trial before U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Klein.
Stockton's bankruptcy attorney Marc Levinson recently told the City Council that he knows Franklin isn't happy. "We are choosing our battles and fighting where we have to fight and making deals where we can," Levinson said.
An inland port city 80 miles east of San Francisco, Stockton filed for Chapter 9 protection in 2012, making it the nation's largest bankrupt city before Detroit filed for bankruptcy last year. Vallejo went through bankruptcy before Stockton. San Bernardino filed shortly after Stockton, but it has yet to present an exit plan. |
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MJM Law Office, P.C. - Eugene DUI and Criminal Defense Lawyer
Law Firm News |
2014/05/13 18:24
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Located in the heart of downtown Eugene, Oregon, MJM Law Office, P.C. focuses on serving clients in Lane County, Oregon. MJM Law Office, P.C. provides clients with quality representation in DUII Cases and Criminal Defense, including matters such as Repeat DUII Offenses, Drug Crimes, Property Crimes, Campus Crimes, and Assault.
Mr. Mizejewski understands that effectively working through the legal system is a challenging process. MJM Law Office, P.C. provides a personalized approach with clients to work closely and help client's understand and resolve their issues. MJM Law Office takes the time to listen and understand each client's situation and explain the available options. There are many options when facing criminal charges that can reduce or eliminate a conviction, including but not limited to the following: diversion, deferred prosecution, drug court, suppression of evidence obtained during an illegal search or seizure, plea negotiations, pre-trial motions, or acquittal at trial by a jury of your peers.
We proudly serve clients in Lane County, Linn County, Benton County and Douglas County communities, including Eugene, Springfield, Coburg, Creswell, Cottage Grove, Lowell, Oakridge, Veneta, Junction City, Florence, Roseburg, Corvallis and Albany.
If you're in need of a Eugene DUI and Criminal Defense Lawyer, contact the MJM Law Office, P.C. today!
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New Hampshire court upholds COPSLIE vanity plate
Legal Network |
2014/05/09 17:51
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If a New Hampshire man thinks cops lie, he's free to say so on his license plate, the state's highest court ruled Wednesday.
In a unanimous decision, the state Supreme Court agreed with the arguments of David Montenegro, who wanted the vanity plate reading "COPSLIE" to protest what he calls government corruption.
State law prohibits vanity plates that "a reasonable person would find offensive to good taste." But the New Hampshire Civil Liberties Union argued that the law is unconstitutionally vague and gives too much discretion to a person behind a Department of Motor Vehicles counter.
New Hampshire had argued that state workers were right to deny the plate, because the phrase disparages an entire class of people — police officers.
The justices said that state law does not define the phrase "offensive to good taste."
"The restriction grants DMV officials the power to deny a proposed vanity registration plate because it offends particular officials' subjective idea of what is 'good taste,'" the court wrote. The decision states the law is unconstitutionally vague and violates free speech rights.
The case was sent back to Strafford County Superior Court for further proceedings.
Attorney Anthony Galdieri, who argued the case on behalf of Montenegro and the New Hampshire Civil Liberties Union, said he was not surprised by the ruling. "This regulation was an impermissible way to regulate speech under the First Amendment," Galdieri said. |
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