Latest Legislation Headlines

All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Judge Approves $9.2 Million Settlement Between Chicago schools, Union

Sep 9 2022 // A federal judge has approved a $9.25 million settlement by the Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teachers Union in two long-running lawsuits stemming from the layoffs of hundreds of Black educators at underperforming...

Virginia Lawmakers Again Fail to Fill Vacancy on Key Regulatory Agency

Sep 9 2022 // Virginia lawmakers elected a handful of local judges Wednesday but failed yet again to fill a vacancy on the powerful State Corporation Commission, which regulates a wide range of business interests.The lack of action...

Adoption Agency Can Deny Services to Unmarried, Gay Couples, Judge Rules

Sep 9 2022 // A federal judge ruled that New York state could not require a Christian family services agency to provide adoption services to unmarried or same-sex couples.New Hope Family Services in Syracuse professes that it cannot...

Judge Tosses Charge Against Dive Boat Owner in California Fire That Killed 34

Sep 7 2022 // A Los Angeles federal judge threw out an indictment charging a dive boat captain with manslaughter in the deaths of 34 people in a 2019 fire aboard a vessel anchored off the Southern California coast.The ruling came on the...

Motel Has No Duty to Prevent Guest’s Suicide, Massachusetts Appeals Court Rules

Sep 6 2022 // A motel and its employees have no duty to prevent a guest’s suicide even when family members warn that the guest is a suicide risk.A Massachusetts Court of Appeals has ruled that while innkeepers may have an...

Rescinded Policies Owe No Coverage for Lead Paint Claims, Maryland High Court Rules

Sep 6 2022 // Insurers that rescinded general liability policies issued to landlords who misrepresented their exposure to lead paint claims owe no coverage to 12 plaintiffs who had not yet obtained final court judgments,...

Judge Rules Walgreens Contributed to San Francisco’s Opioid Crisis

Sep 5 2022 // A federal judge ruled in mid-August that Walgreens can be held responsible for contributing to San Francisco’s opioid crisis for over-dispensing opioids for years without proper oversight and failing to identify and...

California Lawmakers Pass Landmark Fast Food Workers Bill

Aug 31 2022 // California lawmakers this week approved a nation-leading measure that would give more than a half-million fast food workers more power and protections, over the objections of restaurant owners who warn it would drive up...

Washington Judge Enters Order on Washington Insurance Commissioner’s Credit Scoring Ban

Aug 31 2022 // Judge Indu Thomas entered the final order declaring that Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler exceeded his authority when he issued a permanent rule banning the use of credit-based insurance scores.Judge Thomas initially...

Florida Judge Dismisses Contractors’ Challenge to SB 2D’s Attorney Fee Limits

Aug 31 2022 // A Florida judge has thrown out a constitutional challenge to an insurance litigation reform law, noting that the state officials named in the lawsuit were not the correct defendants.Plaintiffs Restoration Association of...

North Carolina Judge Sets Lindberg’s New Trial Date for March 2023

Aug 30 2022 // A new trial for North Carolina insurance executive Greg Lindberg has been set for March 2023, three years after his conviction on bribery charges, a conviction that was later overturned.Federal prosecutors and...

Win for Qualcomm as No EU Appeal Court Ruling Against $991M Fine

Aug 29 2022 // EU antitrust regulators will not appeal a court ruling scrapping its 997-million-euro ($991 million) fine against Qualcomm, people familiar with the matter said, in a major win for the U.S. chipmaker that ends a...

Sept. 11 Victims Not Entitled to Seize Afghan Central Bank Assets, Says Judge

Aug 29 2022 // A U.S. judge on Friday recommended that victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks not be allowed to seize billions of dollars of assets belonging to Afghanistan’s central bank to satisfy court judgments they obtained...

Regulatory Roundup: DHS Adjuster Licensing, Pandemic Regulatory Catchup, Idaho Joins SBS

Aug 29 2022 // This post is part of a series sponsored by AgentSync.State by state variations of laws, compliance protocols, industry transparency, and general regulatory cultures can lend one the impression that keeping up with industry...

DCA Can’t Prohibit Lower Court Ruling, Florida Justices Decide in Insurance Case

Aug 26 2022 // Claim Was Settled, But Insurer Attorneys Revealed Mediation Info, Claimants’ Lawyer SaysAn appeals court cannot be used to prohibit a lower court’s decisions, except through the normal appeal process, the...

Judge Cuts $500K Punitive Award Against Prison Guard to $5,000

Aug 26 2022 // A federal judge has overturned a jury’s decision imposing $500,000 in punitive damages against a former Delaware prison guard accused of sexually assaulting an inmate during a pat-down.The jury found in December that...

Judge Dismisses Former Nebraska Officer’s Discrimination Lawsuit

Aug 25 2022 // A judge has dismissed the discrimination lawsuit of a former Lincoln, Nebraska Police Department spokeswoman, saying her allegations did not sufficiently prove a hostile work environment.Erin Spilker said in her lawsuit...

California Lawmakers Allow Lawsuits Against ‘Cyber Flashers’

Aug 24 2022 // Victims who receive unsolicited sexually graphic material by text, email, app or other electronic means could sue the sender under a bill that California lawmakers sent to Gov. Gavin Newsom this week.The bill targets...

Judge Blocks Florida ‘Anti-Woke’ Law Pushed by Gov. DeSantis

Aug 22 2022 // A Florida judge has declared a Florida law championed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis that restricts race-based conversation and analysis in business and education unconstitutional.Tallahassee U.S. District Judge Mark...

Judges Behind ‘Kids-for-Cash’ Ordered to Pay More Than $200M

Aug 18 2022 // Two Pennsylvania judges who orchestrated a scheme to send children to for-profit jails in exchange for kickbacks were ordered to pay more than $200 million to hundreds who fell victim to their crimes.U.S. District Judge...