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User ID: enronuslw PW: bnaweb22 -----Original Message----- From: "BNA Highlights" <bhighlig@bna.com<@ENRON [mailto:IMCEANOTES-+22BNA+20Highlights+22+20+3Cbhighlig+40bna+2Ecom+3E+40ENRON@ENRON.com] Sent: Monday, June 04, 2001 11:17 PM To: BNA Highlights Subject: June 5 -- U.S. Law Week's Case Alert ______________________________ THE U.S. LAW WEEK'S CASE ALERT Highlights & Table of Contents June 5, 2001 ______________________________ ISSN 1522-4317 Registered Web subscribers can access the full text of these articles by using the URL link supplied. Information about becoming a subscriber or signing up for a FREE Web trial is available at http://web.bna.com or call BNA Customer Relations at 1-800-372-1033, Mon. - Fri. 8:30 am - 7:00 pm (ET). __________ HIGHLIGHTS __________ SUPREME COURT SAYS CAPS ON COMPENSATORY DAMAGES IN FEDERAL JOB BIAS SUITS DON'T APPLY TO FRONT PAY AWARDS Front pay awards in federal employment discrimination suits are not subject to the 1991 Civil Rights Act's caps on compensatory damages, the U.S. Supreme Court rules. The unanimous decision resolves a circuit split in favor of the majority view on the issue. Front pay is money awarded either for lost compensation between the date of judgment and the date of reinstatement or in lieu of reinstatement. The front pay remedy has long been available under Section 706(g) of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Because the 1991 Act authorized compensatory and punitive damages "in addition to" remedies already available under Section 706(g), the court concludes that the caps do not apply to front pay awards. . . . Page 1727 http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4g4a4g5_ INNOVATIVE MAINE LAW MAKING PRESCRIPTION DRUGS AVAILABLE AT DISCOUNT TO UNINSURED SURVIVES CONSTITUTIONAL CHALLENGES Maine's novel prescription drug price control statute is not preempted by the Medicaid statute and does not violate the commerce clause, the First Circuit rules. The Maine program makes prescription drugs available at a discount to uninsured state residents who do not qualify for Medicaid, and requires prior state authorization of the prescriptions of drug manufacturers who decline to negotiate rebates with the state. Rejecting a conflict preemption claim, the court says the rebate negotiation and prior authorization features are "consonant" with the Medicaid program by making prescription drugs more accessible to low-income people. Finding no merit to the commerce clause challenge, the court says that the Maine statute does not apply extraterritorially or discriminate against out-of-state manufacturers, and that its local benefits outweigh any burden on interstate commerce. . . . Page 1729 http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4f2n4a6_ JUSTICES ADOPT SINGLE-ENTITY APPROACH FOR CALCULATING PRODUCT LIABILITY LOSS OF AFFILIATES FILING CONSOLIDATED RETURN The product liability loss for an affiliated group of corporations filing a consolidated return should be determined using the single-entity approach urged by the taxpayer, not the separate-member methodology urged by the government, the U.S. Supreme Court decides. The ruling resolves a circuit split on the availability of the product liability loss carryback under Section 172 of the Internal Revenue Code. In the government's view, affiliates that generate positive separate taxable income should not contribute to product liability loss eligible for the carryback. But the court finds the taxpayer's single-entity approach a preferable reading of the tax code and applicable regulations, rejecting the government's claim that it will lead to tax avoidance abuses. . . . Page 1733 http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4g3y4m7_ _____________ IN THIS ISSUE _____________ A complete topical index of Case Alert. ATTORNEYS: A discharged law firm may not intervene in its former client's litigation protect its charging lien, at least without showing that its rights won't be protected by the client and successor counsel, the Second Circuit decides. . . . Page 1723 http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4g0t2u0_ CIVIL PROCEDURE: Exacerbating a circuit split, the Sixth Circuit holds that interest on a federal court's award of attorneys' fees begins to accrue when the court enters the fee judgment, not when it fixes amount of award. . . . Page 1724 http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4f7r1d9_ CIVIL RIGHTS: An array of statistical data presented by civil rights plaintiffs was insufficient to save a racial profiling suit from law enforcement officials' motion for summary judgment, the Seventh Circuit rules. . . . Page 1724 http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4f9j2z5_ CRIMINAL LAW: The U.S. Supreme Court overturns a second death penalty sentence in a long-running capital case involving a mentally retarded defendant. . . . Page 1726 http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4g4q7y8_ EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION: The Age Discrimination in Employment Act does not protect foreign nationals who apply abroad for jobs in the United States, the Fourth Circuit holds. . . . Page 1727 http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4f7a3v9_ EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION: Front pay is not an element of "compensatory damages" within the meaning of the 1991 Civil Rights Act and thus is not subject to the statutory caps on compensatory damages in 42 U.S.C. Section 1981a(b)(3), the U.S. Supreme Court determines. . . . Page 1727 http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4g4a4g5_ FAMILY LAW: A state agency's noncompliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act may not be raised as a defense in a proceeding to terminate parental rights, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court concludes. . . . Page 1728 http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4f4k6p6_ FOOD AND DRUGS: Maine's prescription drug price control statute is not preempted by the Medicaid statute and does not run afoul of the commerce clause, the First Circuit rules. . . . Page 1729 http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4f2n4a6_ INSURANCE: An insurer that meets certain conditions may recover from its insureds settlement payments made over their objection if the underlying claims turn out to be outside the policy's coverage, the California Supreme Court decides. . . . Page 1730 http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4f8p4a1_ LABOR: Rejecting the NLRB's position, the Ninth Circuit holds that unions may not include the costs of organizing employees of other employers in determining the agency fees that nonmembers must pay under a union security clause in a collective bargaining agreement. . . . Page 1731 http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4f3c4t2_ LOCAL GOVERNMENT: The Chicago school board's extension of spousal health benefits to the same-sex domestic partners of school district employees does not violate the equal protection rights of employees who have uncovered domestic partners of the opposite sex, the Seventh Circuit finds. . . . Page 1732 http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4f2n0a4_ MARITIME LAW: The U.S. Supreme Court holds that wrongful death actions based on negligence may be brought under the general maritime law. . . . Page 1733 http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4g4a8z1_ TAXATION: The product liability loss of an affiliated group of corporations must be figured on a consolidated, single-entity basis, the U.S. Supreme Court decides. . . . Page 1733 http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4g3y4m7_ TAXATION: A reversion of surplus pension plan assets by a corporation that does business in multiple states is taxable by California as apportionable business income, the California Supreme Court rules. . . . Page 1734 http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4f4t8c0_ CASES IN BRIEF : . . . Page 1735 ______________ TABLE OF CASES ______________ Adoption of Gregory (Mass.) . . . Page 1728 http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4f4k6p6_ Associated General Contractors of Ohio Inc. v. Drabik (6th Cir.) . . . Page 1724 http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4f7r1d9_ Blue Ridge Insurance Co. v. Jacobsen (Cal.) . . . Page 1730 http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4f8p4a1_ Brusco Tug & Barge Co. v. NLRB (D.C. Cir.) . . . Page 1736 http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4f8k6b5_ Butler, Fitzgerald & Potter v. Sequa Corp. (2d Cir.) . . . Page 1723 http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4g0t2u0_ Charges of Unprofessional Conduct Against 99-37, In re (8th Cir.) . . . Page 1735 http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4f8k6a5_ Chavez v. Illinois State Police (7th Cir.) . . . Page 1724 http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4f9j2z5_ Comdisco Securities Litigation, In re (N.D. Ill.) . . . Page 1735 http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4f8k6a8_ Commonwealth v. Liang (Mass.) . . . Page 1736 http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4g3v3m1_ Florida v. Thomas (U.S.) . . . Page 4400 http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4g3v3m1_ Hoechst Celanese Corp. v. Franchise Tax Board (Cal.) . . . Page 1734 http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4f4t8c0_ Irizarry v. Chicago Bd. of Educ. (7th Cir.) . . . Page 1732 http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4f2n0a4_ Norfolk Shipbuilding & Drydock Corp. v. Garris (U.S.) . . . Page 1733 http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4g4a8z1_ Penry v. Johnson (U.S.) . . . Page 1726 http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4g4q7y8_ Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America v. Concannon (1st Cir.) . . . Page 1729 http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4f2n4a6_ Pollard v. E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. (U.S.) . . . Page 1727 http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4g4a4g5_ Razorfish Inc. Securities Litigation, In re (S.D.N.Y.) . . . Page 1735 http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4f8k6a8_ Reyes-Gaona v. North Carolina Growers Association (4th Cir.) . . . Page 1727 http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4f7a3v9_ Secretary of State v. Tretiak (Nev.) . . . Page 1736 http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4f8k6b9_ Service Employees Int'l Union Health and Welfare Fund v. Philip Morris Inc. (D.C. Cir.) . . . Page 1736 http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4f9k7w7_ Slattery v. Swiss Reinsurance America Corp. (2d Cir.) . . . Page 1736 http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4f8k6b2_ United Dominion Industries Inc. v. United States (U.S.) . . . Page 1733 http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4g3y4m7_ United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1036 v. NLRB (9th Cir.) . . . Page 1731 http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4f3c4t2_ United States v. Sherburne (9th Cir.) . . . Page 1736 http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4g1f7f3_ United States v. True (6th Cir.) . . . Page 1736 http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4g1f7f3_ __________ The U.S. Law Week (ISSN 1522-4317) BNA's Highlights are published weekly by The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc., 1231 25th St., N.W., Washington, DC 20037. For Customer Service including subscriptions and address changes, call 1-800-372-1033. For retransmission of the Highlights, more information or to order full text of summarized stories, call BNA PLUS at 1-800-452-7773 (202-452-4323 in DC), FAX # 202-822-8092, Internet:bnaplus@bna.com. Copyright © 2001 by The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. Washington, D.C. 20037. Use of this service is subject to the terms and conditions of the license agreement with BNA. Unauthorized access or distribution is prohibited.
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