Daily Archives: October 22, 2012 - 5 results

Medical debt is one of the main factors leading to bankruptcy. In fact, it’s a contributing cause in 62 percent of personal bankruptcy filings, according to a 2009 study that appeared in the American Journal of Medicine. Medical debt differs from other forms of consumer debt, since it usually results from something completely unpredictable – an illness or injury. In addition, illness or injury often prevents a person from working and earning income to pay off the bills. Many American …

Ignatius “Michael” Pollara, 46, and his mother, 70, were arrested following what police said was a 10-year shoplifting spree that might have spanned 50 states. They were nabbed in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., because, said sheriff’s Sgt. Rich Rossman, Pollara could not resist using a “rewards” card traced to him, which he used to get credit for some of the purchases he had switched for more expensive items. [South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 8-10-2012]

The United States Supreme Court on Oct. 16 refused to overturn a lower court decision blocking an attempt by the state of Ohio to keep up to 100,000 people from the polls this November. The court declined to issue an emergency stay to a decision that the polls had to stay open to everybody, or nobody, the weekend before election day. “The application for stay presented to Justice Kagan and by her referred to the Court is denied,” the court …

Pregnancy brings a host of new concerns to a expectant mother’s life – but one of them should not be whether she will be forced out of her job. Pregnancy discrimination has become a hot-button issue for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency that enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. If your employer has decided your pregnancy makes you a liability, it is setting itself up for new risks of liability itself.   Emerging Issue Three federal laws …

The 1990 movie Jacob’s Ladder told the story of a Vietnam veteran tortured by hallucinations that were caused by drugs he was given, without his knowledge, by the U.S. Army. Twenty-two years later, welcome to the real story. The real-life version will play out in a federal court in California, which on Sept. 30 certified a class action of Vietnam vets who are suing the U.S. government over their exposure to biological and chemical agents they say were administered to …