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Google broke labor law by retaliating against workers, federal agency alleges

A federal agency on Wednesday alleged that Google broke US labor laws by surveilling, interrogating and firing employees who organized protests against the search giant, according to a complaint filed by the National Labor Relations Board.



a man talking on a cell phone: Laurence Berland, who was fired from Google, at a rally last year. James Martin/CNET

© Provided by CNET
Laurence Berland, who was fired from Google, at a rally last year. James Martin/CNET

The filing addresses the firings of Laurence Berland and Kathryn Spiers, who were terminated by the search giant last year after the company said they had violated its internal policies. The NLRB complaint, however, alleges some of those policies are unlawful and that Google illegally questioned its employees about “protected concerted activities.”

Google on Wednesday defended the action it took against employees. “We strongly support the rights our employees have in the workplace, and open discussion and respectful debate have always been part of Google,” a Google spokeswoman said in a statement. “We’re proud of our

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Canada asks court to throw out expert affidavit in Huawei CFO’s U.S. extradition case

TORONTO (Reuters) – Canadian prosecutors will ask a court to disregard a former U.S. government lawyer’s affidavit submitted by Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou’s legal team in her U.S. extradition case, arguing it is “irrelevant” and “unnecessary,” documents released on Wednesday showed.

The affidavit was submitted in July in which Michael Gottlieb, who was a White House lawyer under President Barack Obama, testified that U.S. President Donald Trump had departed from longstanding legal policies designed to promote the “impartial administration of justice,” with his comments that he was willing to use Meng as a bargaining chip in trade talks with China.

Meng’s lawyers have argued that the extradition should be thrown out in part because the case against her in the United States is tainted by political interference, pointing to comments from Trump about her extradition.

She was arrested in December 2018 on a warrant from the United States.

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Court rejects appeal of woman in Great Danes abuse case

The state’s highest court on Wednesday rejected an appeal by a New Hampshire woman who argued her privacy was violated in a case that eventually led to her being convicted of housing dozens of filthy and sick Great Danes in her mansion.

In a unanimous decision, the New Hampshire Supreme Court found a lawyer for Christina Fay had not demonstrated her right to privacy was violated and turned down a request to vacate her convictions. Fay’s lawyer unsuccessfully argued authorities violated her privacy when they allowed an animal welfare group to take photos and video as it helped gather the dogs from her house.

The court also found the state did not violate Fay’s right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. Fay’s lawyer unsuccessfully argued to a lower court that the evidence in the search should be suppressed because Wolfeboro police had failed to disclose that an animal

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Former death row inmate dies in N.J. prison. ‘He died innocent,’ attorney says.

Nathaniel Harvey admitted to other crimes. He told authorities he committed the robberies and burglaries around Middlesex County in the 1980s that would put him behind bars for more than 60 years.

But there is one crime he never admitted he did. And he was willing to be executed rather than admit to it and accept a plea deal.

Harvey would maintain his innocence throughout his incarceration, but it will not be proven in court. He died last week in a New Jersey state prison at the age of 70, according to state prison records.

Authorities charged Harvey with murder for the grisly killing of Irene Schnaps, a 37-year-old woman who was found bludgeoned to death in 1985 in her Plainsboro apartment.

He was originally found guilty of the murder in 1989, but the conviction was repeatedly challenged. His case was set to go to a third trial in the

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US won’t seek death penalty in Planned Parenthood case

Federal prosecutors say they won’t seek the death penalty against a man accused of killing three people and injuring nine others at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado in 2015

December 2, 2020, 10:44 PM

3 min read

DENVER — Federal prosecutors said Wednesday they will not seek the death penalty against a man accused of killing three people and injuring nine others at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado in 2015.

U.S. Attorney Jason Dunn submitted a one-sentence notice of the decision concerning Robert Dear that did not include any explanation of the reasons for it.

The move comes about a year after Dear was charged in federal court after his prosecution in state court stalled. He had been repeatedly deemed incompetent to stand trial. Dear, however, has insisted he is competent.

During his

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Bike attorney, Kenneth J. Knabe, shares insights in his new book

Joe Blundo
 |  The Columbus Dispatch

Kenneth J. Knabe is a “bike attorney” in both senses of the phrase: He often commutes by cycling from his Cleveland-area home to his nearby law office where he operates a practice dominated by bike cases.

Having been hit by a car and represented other cyclists who suffered similar misfortune, he knows all about what he calls the “giant knowledge gap” that exists between riders and motorists.

To fill it, he has written, with assistance from Parker Mulholland, a book called “Cycling Rights: Bicycles, E-Bikes & Micro-Mobility Devices.”

I’m a longtime rider but learned a few things from reading the book, such as: While cyclists can be ticketed for the same traffic offenses that motorists can, only cycling while intoxicated will earn bikers points against their driver’s licenses.

The book comes with a laminated card, citing relevant sections of Ohio law, for cyclists to

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Court upholds North Carolina’s voter identification law

A federal appeals court Wednesday upheld North Carolina’s law requiring voters to present photo identification before casting ballots, even as it acknowledged the state’s “long and shameful history of race-based voter suppression.”

A unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit said North Carolina’s past practice does not indefinitely prevent the state from enacting new voting restrictions.

The panel said a lower-court judge had improperly considered the state’s “past conduct to bear so heavily on its later acts that it was virtually impossible for it to pass a voter-ID law that meets constitutional muster,” according to the opinion from Judge Julius N. Richardson, who was nominated by President Trump.

Richardson was joined by Judges A. Marvin Quattlebaum Jr., also a Trump nominee, and Pamela A. Harris, a nominee of President Barack Obama.

[Court examines North Carolina’s new law that requires photo IDs for voting]

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Rejecting water crisis settlement could cost property owners billions, attorney warns

FLINT, MI — Just days ago, an attorney centrally involved in negotiating a $20-million settlement of claims related to the Flint water crisis described the city’s potential liability as being millions of dollars.

After meeting with the City Council Tuesday, Dec. 1, he’s upped that estimate into the billions.

“The city is a defendant. The city has been sued … meaning the plaintiffs want to get money from the city,” said Rich Berg, an attorney with Detroit-based Butzel Long, which has represented Flint in water crisis litigation since 2016.

“If they win, there will be crippling liability to the city,” Berg told council members. “It will be millions, upon millions, upon millions — if not billions of dollars that the city would be exposed to in liability.”

Berg and Mayor Sheldon Neeley are asking the council to approve the city’s portion of a proposed $641-million settlement of cases filed by

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Cases dropped against man, three women charged in Forest Lake rape

Charges have been dropped against a 40-year-old man accused of raping a woman in his Forest Lake townhouse a year ago as three other women helped restrain her.

The Washington County Attorney’s Office said in a court filing last week that two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct are being dismissed against Lawson T. Waples Ward because of a “lack of evidence and interest of justice.”

The county attorney’s office also dismissed aiding and abetting charges against three others involved in the incident: Tina R. Peet, 52, of Forest Lake; Alena J. Turner, 28, of St. Paul; and Ta’Yonna M. May, 30, of St. Paul.

According to the charges against Waples Ward and the others:

A 21-year-old woman told police that she visited his home on Nov. 16, 2019, and he began engaging in sexual activity with her. At the time, she said she did not tell him to

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Hong Kong judge to decide if cases facing People Power activist warrant national security law appointee



a group of people around each other: People Power vice-chairman Tam Tak-chi leaves the Lai Chi Kok Reception Centre en route to court on Wednesday. Photo: Sam Tsang

© SCMP
People Power vice-chairman Tam Tak-chi leaves the Lai Chi Kok Reception Centre en route to court on Wednesday. Photo: Sam Tsang

The first of Hong Kong’s district judges designated to handle national security law proceedings has been tasked with determining if he or a similarly designated counterpart should hear the cases facing opposition activist Tam Tak-chi, who has not been charged under the Beijing-imposed legislation.

Chief District Judge Justin Ko King-sau on Wednesday assigned Stanley Chan Kwong-chi to hear the prosecution’s application to have Tam’s three cases tried by a judge specially tasked with overseeing hearings related to the security law.

Legco exodus, loyalty oaths mark national security law’s fifth month

The 48-year-old vice-chairman of the localist group People Power faces 14 charges at the District Court. Half are tied to the colonial-era offence of sedition, while the others relate to public order or social-distancing rules introduced because

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