Veritas News Network - Truth is Trending

Four owners of a Welcome Inn located in Quincy, Illinois are being sued for allegations of violating that state’s Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) in a complex case that has spanned nearly two years. Plaintiffs April R. Brashier, Richard M. Orencia, and Chad Lebow filed a lawsuit against Quincy Property LLC, doing business as “Welcome Inn,” and Brett Burge, Kenneth Logan, Quentin Kearney and Joe Wimberly under FLSA and Illinois Wage Laws. The lawsuit, filed Jan. 28, 2017, alleges the plaintiffs worked at the defendants’ hotels and weren’t paid overtime due under FLSA. The plaintiffs further allege they were misclassified as salaried employees exempt from FLSA, and that the defendants illegally deducted amounts from their pay in violation of FLSA. Under FLSA, employees may bring a collective action against an employer to recover unpaid overtime or minimum wages. Unlike class actions under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure whereby potential plaintiffs are included in the class unless they opt out, potential plaint

By: Gord Brody  //  Human Rights Watch From the end of World War II, through the Cold War, the fall of the Soviet Empire and even to this day, the United States has commonly been called “The World’s Policeman.” It’s not always a compliment and is actually being rebuked from those on the left and the right of the political spectrum. The direction this incumbency is headed is debatable, but one very troubling effect of the explosion of U.S. military activity since 9/11 is what’s happening back home. The mentality of the “warrior cop” comes straight from overseas, where we’ve been at war since 2001. Many soldiers, who returned home, have joined their local police forces, only to find themselves using some of the same tactics, weapons and vehicles on American city streets that were used in Fallujah, Baghdad and Kabul. We have become a police state. Militarized Police The single largest factor in the transformation of the peace officer in to an antagonistic, menacing force, is their acquisition of military style w

As the world wades further and further into the Information Age, the definition of a journalist has continued morphing at a faster rate than ever. So what is a journalist? Is it a person acting as a watchdog of the government, or a spokesman for it? Is it a member of age-old institutions that have been respected for years, or is it a lone speaker trying to be heard above the din of voices? Did he or she study some form of writing, or is he an accountant with a hobby? Does it matter? These are questions that no longer only plague discussions of credibility, but also the laws of the land. In recent months the discussion surrounding the implantation of a federal shield law has significantly increased, with cases like Jana Winter’s and James Rosen’s garnering mass media coverage. But smaller cases have been surfacing as well, such as the Crystal Cox defamation suit.   What Is a Journalist? Merriam Webster defines a journalist firstly as a “writer or editor for a news medium,” and secondly as a “writer who aims at

Internet privacy may be a myth in the 21st century. Just look at the news cycle for the past several months: it has been dominated by the classified documents that Edward Snowden leaked from the National Security Agency. The documents show that the United States government is constantly spying on not only foreigners within the US, but also on citizens at home and abroad, as well as aliens physically in their own countries.  The news has wrought a worldwide fear that we live in an age that lacks privacy. People no longer feel comfortable speaking freely to friends and relatives over the phone or though email. The scariest part is that most of these fearful people are placing their concern with the wrong entity. Yes, one can worry about Big Brother from now until the end of days. But if a person doesn’t break the law and lives life relatively sin-free, there’s little to worry about in regard to data the government may have on you. The real concern should be what damage regular people surveilling your activities

Bowl season is holiday season for college football conferences and schools, and not just because it falls during the same time of year. Four of the “Power 5” conferences are guaranteed over $30 million just from their automatic participation in BCS bowls, and stand to make an additional $11-22 million from non-BCS bowl games, depending on the conference. Of the Power 5 conferences, the SEC leads the way with $51.5 million in total bowl revenue. The ACC finished second with $46.6 million, followed by the Big Ten with $45.5 million, the Big-12 with $42.2 million and the Pac-12 with $41.4 million. Under the current system, a school from each of the AQ (automatic qualifying) conferences receives an automatic berth in one of five BCS bowl games, which nets each respective conference a $23.9 million payout. This is the final season there are six AQ conferences – the AAC gets a bid along with the Power 5 leagues. The remaining four at-large berths are worth $6.3 million to the conference of whichever teams are selec

Years from now, the college sports world will look back upon today as perhaps the most significant time in its history. It is a time of palatial prosperity for the National Collegiate Athletic Association; unprecedented profits and popularity have catapulted its product to the vanguard of American sports. But it seems the only thing that can keep up with the NCAA’s penchant for power is its magnetism for ethical imbroglio and scandal. While concord is becoming increasingly difficult to find within the organization, nearly everyone inside seems to harmoniously agree that change, in some scope, is coming. But what that change will look like seems to be the million – or more appropriately, multi-billion – dollar question. The NCAA is reportedly projected to rake in over $900 million in revenue this year, thanks almost entirely to prodigious television contracts and other media rights payments, and that number is expected to climb to over $2 billion by 2020. Burgeoning outrage that is beginning to smother the bra

The New York State Attorney General has placed debt collector Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC under strict guidelines when attempting to collect debts from state residents. The company, located in Norfolk, VA, has been the subject of thousands of consumer complaints nationwide and has filed 66,000 debt collection actions in New York courts alone between 2007 and 2012. Among the thousands of judgments filed, Portfolio Recovery Associates has filed over 2,000 judgments on time-barred actions between Dec. 2008 and April 2012 and in some instances continued to collect on those judgments despite being time-barred. Under the assurance the state made with Portfolio Recovery Associates, the company can no longer commence or cause to be commenced any lawsuit against a time-barred debt. New York’s statute of limitation’s is six years, however, some contracts, particularly credit card agreements, state that their place of incorporation serves as the location. Many companies incorporate in Delaware, which time-bars de

The phone rings. The caller claims to be from United Processing Services. The message: Call an unnamed law firm within a specified time period, usually an hour or two, or a process server will arrive at your door, or worse, at your place of employment. Don’t ask questions because there are no answers. The case is purportedly sealed, however, a case number is provided to give to an attorney at the toll-free phone number for the purported law firm. A call to the so-called “law firm” leads to a company called R & J Consulting where the person answering is a debt collector, not an attorney, and will attempt  to collect a debt- or a presumed debt- or a phantom debt. The threatening calls often go to those who are in the midst of a major purchase, such as a mortgage, refinance or vehicle loan. The calls put some in a panic as they don’t want anything to prevent or delay their purchase. Many succumb to the scam because at first glance everything looks legitimate. An Internet search of “United Processing Services

Jay Jarvis was angered when bill collectors kept calling him demanding he pay a $40 copay bill from a March visit to Oswego Health Urgent Care located in Fulton, NY. The Hannibal, NY resident maintained he didn’t owe the money because his insurance company, Aetna, had already paid the bill. Despite this, the collection calls continued. Jarvis decided to take matters into his own hands and contacted Aetna requesting a hard copy of an explanation of benefits be mailed to his home. He received it October 9 from Aetna’s Texas office. When he opened the envelope and began to read the statement, there with his own information was the information for two complete strangers.  “What is this?” he said when he discovered the names of two women with their identification numbers, employers, and diagnostic codes. Both of the women had visited the same urgent care center around the same time as Jarvis. He immediately called Aetna. “They told me to just destroy the document. They never asked for the names of the people so th

Gary Thibodeau sits in a prison cell at the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, NY waiting for a January 2015 court date to begin a hearing to determine if he will be entitled to a new trial. Thibodeau was convicted in the 1994 abduction of 18 year old Heidi Allen based on the statements of two jailhouse snitches. Thibodeau had passed a lie detector test and no evidence was found to conclude he had anything to do with the Easter Sunday kidnapping of Allen from the D&W Convenience store in New Haven, NY where she worked as a clerk. Earlier this year federal public defender Lisa Peebles uncovered new evidence that she hopes will garner a new trial for Thibodeau, including documentation that Allen had been recruited as a confidential drug informant at the age of 16 by the Oswego County (NY) Sheriff’s Department. In a 1995 news story, it is stated that family members knew nothing about her informant status, yet sheriff reports show that two deputies had met with Allen and her parents at the time of he

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has sued a Brooklyn law firm and its partner for allegedly participating in a fraudulent mortgage rescue scheme. The suit was filed Wednesday against Gennady Litvin and two firms where he is a principal partner, Litvin Law Firm in Brooklyn and Litvin, Torrens & Associates in Miami. The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, states, “Petitioner brings this special proceeding to permanently enjoin Respondents from engaging in deceptive, fraudulent and illegal business practices that target distressed homeowners who are seeking to lower their mortgage payments or save their homes from foreclosure and to recover restitution, damages, disgorgement, civil penalties and costs.” It’s alleged that the Respondents, directly and through third party marketers, deceptively induced homeowners to pay a fee of typically $595.00 or $750.00 per month by representing that they would  provide them with a comprehensive legal services plan that would allow them to avoid foreclosu

Every day Americans sign arbitration agreements without being aware of it. For too many, reading the fine print contained in a contract or terms of service is time consuming, hence, it’s passed over.  But arbitration agreements are everywhere and every day consumers are waiving the right to have their day in court. Commercial arbitration agreements are everywhere because they provide a unique advantage to corporate America–secrecy. Arbitration removes the transparency of the courts and provides privacy protection for business. That’s because most arbitration proceedings are confidential- meaning the public can never truly know how a business operates when it comes to consumer wrongdoing. While the federal arbitration statute itself doesn’t require confidentiality, most agreements to arbitrate do. There is one exception. Consumers who feel they have been wronged in an arbitration can appeal to the court to vacate the decision of an arbitrator. When that happens, anything included in court documents become publ

When Cindy Cox, a disabled United States Navy Veteran, ordered an iPhone case from online store Accessory Outlet, she got much more than a case for her phone. She alleges she was bullied. Now, she is asking the court for a declaratory judgment against the company. It all began July 6 when Cox, of Kenosha, Wisconsin, ordered a case for her phone for just under $40. When the tracking number Accessory Outlet provided indicated that the order hadn’t shipped after ten days, she tried to cancel the order. Accessory Outlet refused. When Cox said she would contact her credit card company, Accessory Outlet demanded that Cox pay $250 under its “Terms of Sale.” The terms state,“You agree not to file any complaint, chargeback, claim, dispute, or make any public forum post, review, Better Business Bureau complaint, social media post, or any public statement regarding the order, our website, or any issue regarding your order, for any reason, within this 90 day period, or to threaten to do so within the 90 day period, or i

An arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association is accused of hearing a case that may have been a conflict-of-interest. As previously reported, a California resident lost an arbitration to Palms Place, LLC and was ordered by the arbitrator to pay nearly $90,000 in legal fees. The resident had made a deposit of $108,000 on a condominium that was to be built next to the Palms Casino in Las Vegas. The arbitration was executed through the American Arbitration Association which touts itself as providing “neutrals”; arbitrators with no conflicts or ethical concerns. As the California resident learned after-the-fact, his case was decided by an arbitrator whose neutrality is now being called into question. As of publication time, the American Arbitration Association had not responded to a request for comment. Thomas Ryan, a partner in the Lewis Roca Rothgerber law firm was the arbitrator on the case. At no time did he disclose his or his firm’s connections with Palms Place owner George Maloof and Palms Casino

Retail giant Wal-Mart has reached a settlement with New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman after his office launched an investigation into false advertising. The attorney general’s office investigated Wal-Mart’s advertising for a Father’s Day sale, which listed 12-packs of Coca-Cola products on sale for $3. The AG’s office found that customers were charged $3.50 for the beverages. According to Schneiderman, Wal-Mart sold 66,000 12-packs of Coca-Cola products at the inflated price in New York stores in both March and June. Wal-Mart employees offered a couple of excuses for the higher price, according to Schneiderman. Staff at a Buffalo-area store claimed that the price listed in a newspaper circular was a national advertisement and didn’t apply to sales in New York. Other Wal-Mart employees said it was because of the state’s “Sugar Tax,” however, the state doesn’t have a sugar tax. The investigation also found cash registers at stores weren’t programmed to recognize the sale price of Coca-Cola 12-pa

A proposed class action lawsuit alleges that Southwest Airlines secretly recorded a telephone call in violation of privacy laws. The plaintiff, Aaron Siani, filed a proposed class action suit Sept. 7. in the U.S. District Court Central District of California. In his complaint, Siani alleges that on or about September 1, 2014, he received a telephonic communication on his cellular telephone from (210) 991-9991, a number associated with Southwest Airlines. The caller identified herself as a representative of the airlines. During the conversation, Siani discussed the details of his request to cancel and obtain a refund of an airline itinerary. In addition to discussing details of the airline itinerary, Siani divulged certain information personal to the representative. After speaking with the representative for several minutes, Siani inquired as to whether the phone call was being recorded. The representative informed him that the entire conversation had been recorded and apologized for not informing him at the o

There’s been a lot of concern over privacy issues with the new Facebook messenger app, however, Facebook claims those concerns are overstated. Soon, the app will be required for all iPhone and Android users. Fears have spread across the Internet about the app being invasive and able to access personal information such as phone contacts and there have been concerns that the app can eavesdrop on conversations. Facebook has denied the allegations and issued a statement in regard to the concerns. It reads, “You might have heard the rumors going around about the Messenger app. Some have claimed that the app is always using your phone’s camera and microphone to see and hear what you’re doing. These reports aren’t true, and many have been corrected. Still, we want to address some concerns you might have.” It continues, “Like most other apps, we request permission to run certain features, such as making calls and sending photos, videos or voice messages. If you want to send a selfie to a friend, the app needs permiss

For decades, Americans who have been wronged by corporations and large companies could bring a class-action lawsuit, pooling their resources to alleviate the cost of suing. The class-action lawsuit made it possible for the “little guys” to take on big conglomerates. But more and more corporations are adding arbitration clauses into terms of service agreements, essentially forcing a consumer to waive the right to sue in court or bring a class-action. The arbitration clauses essentially force each individual to appear before an arbitrator or arbitration panel with a price tag that can sometimes far outweigh the cost of court. For years, the practice of forced arbitration was prohibited by law in many states. But in 2011 the Supreme Court ruled in AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion that all state laws prohibiting forced arbitration clauses are preempted by the 1925 Federal Arbitration Act. That led a host of corporations to add the clauses to terms of service and other contractual agreements. For the consumer with

The rise in citizen journalists and bloggers has resulted in a wave of controversy over the coveted press pass and media credentials. Traditionally, those working in the mainstream media receive a press pass from their employer containing their name and photograph, the name of the media organization and contact person, as well as certification that the employee is an authorized representative of said media organization. Media credentials go a bit further and vary from agency to agency. Some may require a complete background check, others may require only a home address, social security number and a photocopy of a driver’s license, and almost all require the credentialed person be a verifiable member of the mainstream media. Press credentials can get a reporter, photographer, or photojournalists into everything from concerts and major league baseball to the White House and can allow crossing the yellow police tape that seals off the area of a crime or accident scene. Credentials are often needed for entering p

When a party loses an arbitration the arbitrator can award legal fees to the prevailing party but there’s no remedy for the plaintiff to learn if the fees are actually paid to the lawyer. As previously reported, a resident of California had agreed to purchase a condominium at Palms Place in Las Vegas, prior to construction of the units. After delays and unanswered questions, the buyer did not want to move forward with the purchase and the matter landed before an arbitrator from the American Arbitration Association. The plaintiff lost the case and was ordered to pay nearly $90,000 in legal fees for Palms Place to Marc P. Cook of Bailus Cook & Kelesis of Las Vegas without actual proof that Palms Place had paid the bill. The plaintiff was not shown a cancelled check or any other proof of payment to verify the entire amount was paid by Palms Place to Cook. The American Arbitration Association does not comment on cases that are, or have been, before them. An appeal is pending in the California resident’s case.