Latest Legislation Headlines

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

Maine Court Rules Intertidal Zone Belongs to Beachfront Owners

Apr 25 2022 // A state judge has ruled that the intertidal zone belongs to beachfront property owners but the judge’s ruling didn’t specify what activities, if any, might be allowed there.The ruling was a setback for...

Judge Rejects ‘Gag Order’ for Elon Musk

Apr 21 2022 // Elon Musk will not be subjected to a “gag order” preventing him from discussing a lawsuit claiming he defrauded Tesla Inc. shareholders by tweeting in 2018 about taking his electric car company private, a...

Judge Approves $34M Settlement Over PFOA Contamination of Vermont Community

Apr 21 2022 // A federal judge has given final approval to a $34 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit against a plastics company over toxic chemical contamination of soil and groundwater in a southern Vermont...

Labor Board Judge Rules Amazon Must Reinstate Fired Warehouse Worker

Apr 20 2022 // A judge has ruled Amazon must reinstate a former warehouse employee who was fired in the early days of the pandemic, saying the company “unlawfully” terminated the worker who led a protest calling for Amazon to...

California Judge Rules 5 Officers Wrongly Fired

Apr 19 2022 // A Northern California judge ruled that five Oakland police officers who fatally shot a homeless man in 2018 were unjustly fired and should have kept their jobs.Alameda County Superior Court Judge Frank Roesch said in his...

U.S. Will No Longer Enforce Mask Mandate on Airplanes, Trains After Court Ruling

Apr 19 2022 // The Biden administration will no longer enforce a U.S. mask mandate on public transportation, after a federal judge in Florida on Monday ruled that the 14-month-old directive was unlawful, overturning a key White House...

Federal Judge Certifies Class Action vs. PGAC on Auto Policy Fees

Apr 19 2022 // A subsidiary of American Family Insurance now faces a federal class-action lawsuit in Florida, alleging it regularly charged auto policyholders a cancellation fee that was never mentioned in the policy.The size of the...

ATV Is Not a Farm Vehicle Covered Under Homeowner’s Policy, Virginia Court Rules

Apr 18 2022 // The Virginia Supreme Court has ruled that an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) is not a “farm type vehicle” covered by a homeowner’s insurance policy, reversing a lower court that ruled in favor of coverage.The...

Maine Lawmakers Advance Bill Granting Tribes Sovereignty

Apr 18 2022 // The Maine House voted Thursday to give the state’s tribes the same rights enjoyed by Native Americans elsewhere across the country, a first step in an effort to uphold the tribes’ sovereignty.The 81-55 tally...

California Court Rules Hospitals Can Be Responsible for Abuse by Employees

Apr 18 2022 // A state appeals court ruled that a Southern California hospital can be held responsible for sexual abuse by an employee, upholding a jury’s damage award of $6.75 million to two elderly patients who were abused at a...

Judge Finds Tesla Liable to Black Former Worker Who Alleged Bias, but Slashes Payout

Apr 14 2022 // A federal judge said on Wednesday Tesla Inc. was liable to a Black elevator operator who said the electric car company ignored racial abuse at the factory where he worked, but reduced a nearly $137 million jury award to...

U.S. Gunmakers to Ask Judge to Toss Mexico’s $10 Billion Lawsuit

Apr 12 2022 // A U.S. judge on Tuesday questioned whether allowing Mexico to sue U.S. gun manufacturers for facilitating the trafficking of weapons to drug cartels would open the door to other countries suing them, including Russia over...

Judge Orders Demolition of Packard Plant in Detroit

Apr 11 2022 // A judge has ordered the demolition of the deteriorating Packard auto plant in Detroit, finding that it had become a public nuisance.Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Brian Sullivan wrote in an order that the plant’s...

Maine Lawmakers Move to Phase Out PFAS

Apr 11 2022 // Lawmakers in Maine have made a move toward banning pesticides that contain long-lasting chemicals.The proposal would ban distribution of pesticides with intentionally added perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl substances by...

California Court Rules Hospitals Can Be Responsible for Abuse by Employees

Apr 8 2022 // A state appeals court ruled that a Southern California hospital can be held responsible for sexual abuse by an employee, upholding a jury’s damage award of $6.75 million to two elderly patients who were abused at a...

Judge Dismisses Charges for Missouri Duck Boat Tragedy

Apr 7 2022 // A judge on Tuesday dismissed criminal charges against three men prosecuted after a tourist boat sank and killed 17 people during a 2018 Missouri storm.The boat was swamped by waves caused by strong winds shortly after it...

Texas Judge: NFL QB Watson Must Address History With Therapists

Apr 7 2022 // Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson must say whether he had sex with 18 massage therapists who supported him last year following criminal complaints, a judge in Texas ruled Tuesday.USA Today reported that Watson...

Georgia Lawmakers Adopt NAIC Rules on Group Capital, Stress Tests

Apr 7 2022 // The Georgia General Assembly this week passed a bill that adopts National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ recommendations for insurance holding companies, including calculations for group capital and a...

Lawmakers Probing Amazon Labor Practices Following Illinois Tornado Deaths

Apr 5 2022 // The U.S. House Oversight Committee is opening an investigation into Amazon.com’s labor practices during extreme weather events, following the death of six workers during a swarm of tornados last year. In a letter...

Alabama, Georgia Lawmakers Make Uber, Grubhub Drivers Independent Contractors

Apr 5 2022 // Alabama and Georgia are poised to join the ranks of those states making it clear that drivers for Uber, Lyft, Grubhub and other delivery and ride-sharing apps should be considered independent contractors, not employees...