Tag: lawsuit

Ohio AG Files Lawsuit Against Health Care Giant for Overcharging Medicaid

The Center Square

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost claims in lawsuit filed Thursday a health care giant raised prices for taxpayer-funded care to maximize company profits.

Yost said Ohio sued Centene Corp. in Franklin County Common Pleas Court, alleging its subsidiary, Buckeye Health Plan, used a web of subcontractors for the provision of pharmacy benefits to be able to misrepresent pharmacy costs. That, Yost said, resulted in millions of dollars of overpayments by the Ohio Department of Medicaid.

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Minnesota Cities’ Police Settlements Ranged from $50,000 to $24.3 Million from 2018-20

The Center Square

Freedom of Information Act research conducted by The Center Square reveals Minnesota cities relied on taxpayers to foot police-settlement payouts ranging from $50,000 to more than $24 million between 2018 and 2020.

Police settlements compensate the public for violated rights and also avoid clogging the court system.

Still, over the past few decades, taxpayers are being left with more significant bills.

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New York Sues Amazon over Allegedly Jeopardizing Workers’ Safety

Admin

New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit against Amazon on Tuesday night alleging that the online behemoth bypassed regulations meant to protect its workers from COVID-19.

The lawsuit claims that since the pandemic began in March the company refused to adopt legally required safety measures to stop the spread of the coronavirus in its two New York City facilities. It also alleges that Amazon did not adequately sanitize and close its facilities, adopt necessary social distancing measures or notify its employees of possible coronavirus exposures.

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Lawsuits Filed Against Ohio Cities over Municipal Income Tax Collections During Pandemic

The Center Square

Two Ohioans filed lawsuits this week challenging Ohio tax law that allows cities to tax income of workers who, the lawsuits say, do not live in nor work in the municipalities.

The Buckeye Institute, an independent research and educational group, filed the lawsuits on behalf of Eric Denison and Josh Schaad against the cities of Columbus and Cincinnati. The lawsuits ask the court to declare unconstitutional Ohio law that allows cities to tax workers who do not live in and have not been working in those cities.

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Legal Coalition to Sue to Stop Feds’ Critical Race Theory Training

Admin

One of President Joe Biden’s new executive actions is in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, according to a coalition of legal foundations and lawyers, which is planning to take legal action to stop it.

On his first day in office, Biden signed an executive order reversing former President Donald Trump’s ban on critical race theory training programs within the federal government.

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Republican Organizations File Lawsuit to Ensure Georgia Follows State Laws for January 5 Runoff Elections

Jason M. Reynolds

The Republican National Committee and the Georgia Republican Party filed a lawsuit to ensure Georgia election law is properly followed for the January 5 runoff election.

The lawsuit demands that poll watchers be allowed to do their jobs as permitted under Georgia law, and safeguards in the law for ballot “drop boxes” are upheld, according to a statement issued Tuesday by the Republican National Committee.

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Lin Wood Wins Restraining Order to Stop Georgia Elections Officials From Wiping Dominion Voting Machines

Jason M. Reynolds

Shortly after initially ruling Sunday that state officials must seize and preserve voting machines and data, a federal judge reportedly changed his mind to clear the way for machines to be reset or wiped.

The second order was issued by Senior Judge Timothy C. Batten Sr. of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia Atlanta Division. It came in a civil suit asking Gov. Brian Kemp, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and others to decertify the election results, protect machines and verify ballot signatures.

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Carter Page Is Suing the People Who Spied on Him for $75 Million

Admin

Former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page sued the Justice Department, the FBI and multiple officials involved in Crossfire Hurricane on Friday for $75 million, saying that he was the victim of “unlawful spying” as part of the government’s investigation of the Trump campaign.

Page asserts in the lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington D.C. on Friday, that investigators violated “his Constitutional and other legal rights in connection with unlawful surveillance and investigation of him by the United States Government.”

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Attorney Lin Wood Confirms Trump Legal Team’s Evidence Will Be Enough to Overturn Election

Corinne Murdock

ATLANTA, Georgia – Attorney Lin Wood stated that the evidence from Trump campaign attorney Sidney Powell will overturn the election. Wood filed suit against Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, alleging that the state official changed election law. He confirmed this during The John Fredericks Show for an exclusive interview following his court loss on Thursday.

“I’ve not only talked with Sidney, I’ve met with her in length. I’ve seen the evidence. So I know what she said in her press conference yesterday is one hundred percent accurate,” stated Wood. “The elections in this country have been fraudulent for several election cycles.”

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Court of Appeals Sides with Harvard in Race Discrimination Lawsuit

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Two First Circuit Court of Appeals judges ruled Thursday that Harvard University’s admissions process did not violate civil rights of Asian-Americans, Reuters reported.

The decision comes after the court heard arguments less than two months ago and upholds a decision from District Court Judge Allison D. Burroughs which favored Harvard after the case was heard in October 2018, Reuters reported.

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Ohio Cities Announce Lawsuit Against State to Curb Gun Violence

The Center Square

Two of Ohio’s largest cities announced a lawsuit against the Ohio Attorney General’s office, claiming the state fails to keep guns out of the hands of criminals.

In a news conference Monday, Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther and Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley said gaps in the state’s background check databases allowed thousands of people to buy guns who should not have been able to because of criminal convictions.

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Michigan Fraternity Sued Over Nonbinary, Female Members

Admin

An all-male fraternity at the University of Michigan is being sued by its national organization after accepting nonbinary and female  members.

ABC News reports the lawsuit, which was filed by Sigma Phi Society on Oct. 20 in the U.S. District Court in Detroit, alleges that the conduct of members at UM’s chapter of Sigma Phi has caused “irreparable harm to the valuable Trademarks, including infringement and dilution thereof, and to National Sigma Phi’s image, identity, and goodwill.”

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Justice Dept. Files Landmark Antitrust Case Against Google

The Associated Press

The Justice Department on Tuesday sued Google for antitrust violations, alleging that it abused its dominance in online search and advertising to stifle competition and harm consumers.

The lawsuit marks the government’s most significant attempt to protect competition since its groundbreaking case against Microsoft more than 20 years ago. It could be an opening salvo ahead of other major government antitrust actions, given ongoing investigations of major tech companies including Apple, Amazon and Facebook at both the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission.

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Supreme Court Declines to Hear Tennessee’s Challenge to Federal Refugee Resettlement Program

Jason M. Reynolds
Supreme Court of the United States

The U.S. Supreme Court said this week it will not hear Tennessee’s challenge of the federal refugee resettlement program, which claimed it violated the 10th Amendment.

Tennessee’s Republican-led government had asked for the review, The Associated Press reported. The court filed its denial earlier, letting a lower court ruling stand.

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Interim Ohio Health Director Himes Succeeds in Moving Mask Lawsuit to His Home Turf

Jason M. Reynolds

Interim Ohio Health Director Lance Himes succeeded in requesting that a lawsuit to overturn the use of masks in public schools be moved out of Putnam County Common Pleas Court and into his home turf, The Lima News reported.

The case has moved to Franklin County. The plaintiffs live largely in Northwest Ohio, in communities including Leipsic, Berkey and Perrysburg.

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No Credible Evidence to Support Nashville Mayor John Cooper’s July Shutdown of Bars and Reduction of Restaurant Capacity, Despite Bullying Tactics by His Administration

Jason M. Reynolds

When Nashville Mayor John Cooper announced at a July 2 press conference that he was shutting down all the city’s bars for 14 days, reducing restaurant capacity from 75 percent to 50 percent, and temporarily closing event venues and entertainment venues, all due to “record” cases of COVID-19 traceable to restaurants and bars, he apparently knew that his own Metro Health Department said less than two dozen cases of COVID-19 could be traced to those establishments. But he failed to disclose that the “record” of bar and restaurant traceable cases to which he referred to was about one tenth of one percent of Davidson County’s 20,000 cases of COVID-19.

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California Mothers Sue California Gov. Newsom, Saying His Partial Reopening of Schools Hurts Special Needs Students, Causes Anxiety Over Grades

Jason M. Reynolds

Four mothers have filed a lawsuit against California Gov. Gavin Newsom over his coronavirus education plan, claiming adverse effects including anxiety over poor grades and lack of special education access.

The lawsuit was filed Sept. 10 in Shasta County Superior Court by the Freedom Foundation on behalf of the northern California families. The complaint is available here.

The plaintiffs allege the plan that requires students to be in classes part-time denies them their constitutional right to a quality education as enshrined in the California Constitution.

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Metro School Board Member and Plaintiff Fran Bush Says Constitutional Lawsuit Against Former Superintendent Dr. Shawn Joseph is Still Pending

Jason M. Reynolds

The lawsuit against former Metro Nashville Public Schools superintendent Dr. Shawn Joseph and the Metro government is still pending, one of the plaintiffs, a school board member, says.

Fran Bush is one of three MNPS school board members who are suing Joseph and the Metro government. The other plaintiffs are board members Jill Speering and Amy Frogge.

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‘Tennessee Stands’ Files Lawsuit Claiming Statute Deeming Governor’s Executive Orders Having Full Force and Effect of Law Unconstitutional

Laura Baigert

Citizens for Limited Government and Constitutional Integrity, Inc. doing business as Tennessee Stands filed a lawsuit in Davidson County Chancery Court Monday against Governor Bill Lee on the grounds that the state statute deeming the governor’s executive orders have the full force and effect of law is unconstitutional.

Tennessee Stands founder and president Gary Humble along with Rodney Lunn, the plaintiffs in the case, reference Tennessee Code Annotated (T.C.A.) 58-2-107 which dates back to 2000.

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Commentary: Time to Grab Some Popcorn as Attorney Lin Wood Agrees to Take on Carter Page’s Case

Admin

Lin Wood, the attorney representing a Kentucky teenager in a number of defamation lawsuits against major media outlets, announced a settlement Friday with the Washington Post. The terms of the agreement between the family of Nicholas Sandmann – the Covington Catholic High School student accused of disrespecting a “native elder” while wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat during the January 2019 March for Life – remain secret. 

Wood and Sandmann settled a similar lawsuit against CNN earlier this year. Cases still are pending against NBC News, ABC News, CBS News, the New York Times, Rolling Stone, and Gannett.

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Lawyers Help Ohio Business Owners Organize Lawsuits Into Class Action to Take on DeWine’s Shutdown Regulations

Jason M. Reynolds

Ohio business owners who are fed up with Gov. Mike DeWine’s ever-lasting shutdown regulations are joining their lawsuits together into a class action against the state.

Three lawyers are working together to help combine existing lawsuits and are looking for other owners whose livelihoods are being threatened by what they say are unconstitutional orders. The suit against the DeWine administration and other government agencies was filed in the Ohio Court of Common Pleas in Lake County.

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White Singing Group Formerly Known as Lady Antebellum Seeks Legal Ruling to Confirm Appropriation of Name ‘Lady A’ from Black Singer

Jason M. Reynolds

The white country band formerly known as Lady Antebellum has chosen to show racial “sensitivity” by suing to appropriate the name “Lady A” from Anita White, a black singer who has used the moniker for decades.

Lady Antebellum on June 11 said they would start going by the name Lady A since “antebellum” carried racial connotations, Billboard said. The suit was filed July 8 in Nashville’s U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.

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Buckeye Institute Sues Over Law Allowing Columbus to Collect Income Taxes From Commuters Despite Emergency Order Preventing Them from Working in the City

Jason M. Reynolds

The Buckeye Institute said that it and three employees filed a lawsuit over the taxing of workers’ income in Columbus since they do not live in the city and were not allowed to work there during Ohio’s Stay-at-Home order.

The lawsuit, which is available here, was filed in the Court of Common Pleas in Franklin County.

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Federal Judge Dismisses Republican Lawsuit Over Constitutionality of Redistricting Commission

Jordyn Pair

A federal judge on Monday dismissed a lawsuit backed by the Michigan Republican Party that claimed restrictions on members of the redistricting commission in the state were unconstitutional.

The Michigan Republican Party and Tony Daunt, the executive director for the Michigan Freedom Fund, had originally submitted two separate lawsuits that later joined together claiming that the voter-backed redistricting commission violated their constitutional rights, including right to association.

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Government Retaliation Prompts Expansion of Lawsuit Against Mayor Cooper and Governor Lee Over COVID-19 Orders

Laura Baigert

A legal complaint brought by a local bar owner against Nashville Mayor John Cooper and Tennessee Governor Bill Lee for violating constitutional rights with their respective orders related to COVID-19 has since expanded due to more recent retaliatory events.

The original complaint was filed in late May, The Tennessee Star reported, with an amended version filed with the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee about a month later.

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Judge Rules Nashville Soccer Stadium Vote Violated Open Meetings Act, Requires Revote

Jason M. Reynolds

A Chancery Court judge ruled that Metro Nashville’s contract to build the Major League Soccer stadium on The Fairgrounds Nashville is invalid because the meeting approving it violated the Tennessee Open Meetings Act, WSMV reported.

The Sports Authority gave only 48 hours’ notice before holding a special meeting to sign off on the $192 million contract with M.A. Mortenson Co./Messer Construction Co. on November 1, 2018.

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‘Cancel the Cancel Culture’: Sauk Rapids Bar Owner Sues Liberal Group for Defamation

Anthony Gockowski

The owner of a Sauk Rapids bar and restaurant has sued a local activist group for defamation after it boasted about getting the business removed from a tourism website.

Rollie Hogrefe, owner of Rollie’s Rednecks and Longnecks, filed a defamation and tortious interference lawsuit Wednesday against the “radical agitators” of UniteCloud and its executive director Natalie Ringsmuth.

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Judge Declines to Pause Order Reopening Gyms, Despite Whitmer Request

Jordyn Pair

A federal judge refused on Monday to pause an order to reopen indoor gyms in Michigan, despite Gov. Gretchen Whiter filing an appeal in a higher court.

U.S. District Court Judge Paul Maloney ruled on Friday that indoor gyms could reopen on June 25. Gyms are not explicitly permitted in the MI Safe Start plan, which denotes when certain industries can reopen in Michigan. Maloney said in his opinion that gyms would be held to the same standard as other workplaces.

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Gov. Lee Considers Calling Special Session of Legislature to Pass Bill Giving Businesses Protection From COVID-19 Lawsuits

Jason M. Reynolds

Gov. Bill Lee is thinking about calling the Legislature in for a special session to pass a bill to provide retroactive COVID-19 legal protection for businesses, the Chattanooga Times Free Press said.

The General Assembly ended their session on Friday without the House passing the Tennessee Recovery and Safe Harbor Act. It received 46 of 50 votes needed. House Majority Leader William Lamberth (R-Portland) questioned whether the measure was legal under Tennessee’s Constitution regarding the impairment of contracts. (The Senate had approved the bill.)

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Republicans Say Gov. Walz Has Failed to Provide Legal Justification for Coronavirus Shutdown

Anthony Gockowski

Republican lawmakers who sued Gov. Tim Walz said Friday that he has failed to provide legal justification for his response to the coronavirus pandemic.

“We are winning on this issue, and Gov. Walz knows it,” said Rep. Jeremy Munson (R-Lake Crystal), one of 13 Republican lawmakers who joined a lawsuit against Walz over his use of emergency powers during the pandemic.

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Eight Bars, Restaurants Sue Acton, DeWine Over ‘Constitutionally Vague’ Restrictions

Jason M. Reynolds

A lawsuit has been filed against Ohio Health Director Dr. Amy Acton and Gov. Mike DeWine in Lake County Common Pleas Court over “constitutionally vague” restrictions on restaurants and bars, The News-Herald reported.

The case has been assigned to Lake County Common Pleas Court Judge John P. O’Donnell. The plaintiffs are eight bars and restaurants, all but one being located in Northeast Ohio.

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Judge Sides with Whitmer in State of Emergency Extension Fight

Jordyn Pair

A Michigan Court of Claims judge has ruled in the favor of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, saying that she had the authority to extend Michigan’s state of emergency order.

Judge Cynthia Stephens said that while Whitmer had the authority to extend the order under the Emergency Powers of the Governor Act of 1945, she did overstep by trying to extend it under the Emergency Management Act of 1976, which requires legislative authority, according to reporting by The Detroit News.

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Minnesota Churches, Business Owners File Second Lawsuit Against Walz’s ‘Draconian’ Shutdown Orders

Anthony Gockowski

A second lawsuit was filed Wednesday against Gov. Tim Walz on behalf of multiple Minnesota churches and small business owners.

The complaint asks the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota to strike down Walz’s emergency executive orders issued during the coronavirus pandemic as unconstitutional under the First, Fifth, and 14th Amendments.

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GOP Congressman Sues Whitmer, Says Lockdowns Are Unconstitutional

Jordyn Pair

U.S. Rep. Paul Mitchell (R-MI) has sued Gov. Gretchen Whitmer over her executive orders concerning the coronavirus pandemic.

The lawsuit alleges that Whitmer’s stay-at-home order and businesses restrictions have violated his rights and those of all Michigan residents.

“Michiganders can and do take reasonable, private action to protect themselves from infection without the need to shut down civil society,” Mitchell said in the lawsuit.

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ACLU Sues State of Ohio Over Heartbeat Bill

Jason M. Reynolds

  The American Civil Liberties Union has sued the State of Ohio over the recently signed “Heartbeat Bill” (SB 23), which is set to take effect on July 10. [pdf-embedder url=”http://battlegroundstatenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/OhioHeartbeatBillComplaint.pdf”]   The lawsuit seeking declaratory and injunctive relief was filed in the U.S. District Court Southern District of Ohio Western Division. The lawsuit, filed in support of a handful of abortion clinics in the state, says abortion is a constitutional right under the Roe v. Wade ruling. According to the lawsuit: The Ban has only two very limited exceptions. The Ban permits abortion after cardiac activity is detected only if the abortion is necessary (1) to prevent the patient’s death, or (2) to prevent a “serious risk of the substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function.” Citizens for Community Values (CCV) issued a statement in support of the Heartbeat Bill. This life-saving law will prohibit abortion once a heartbeat is detected in an unborn child. Preterm-Cleveland, Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio, Planned Parenthood of Southwest Ohio and the Capital Care Network of Toledo will all be plaintiffs in the suit filed in the US District Court, Southern District of Ohio. “Ohio’s abortion industry is seeking nothing more…

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Feds Plan to Add State Rep. Dickerson to Pain Management Company Fraud Lawsuit, Reports Say

Jason M. Reynolds

  A federal judge has granted prosecutors’ requests to intervene in whistleblower complaints against Comprehensive Pain Specialists (CPS), and Tennessee Sen. Steve Dickerson (R-TN-20) is being added as a defendant, multiple media outlets report. Judge Aleta Trauger of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee granted the federal and state prosecutors’ requests, according to MSN. They have 90 days to file their own complaints. Several lawsuits filed by former employees of CPS were unsealed Tuesday, accusing the leaders, including Dickerson, of a fraud scheme, NewsChannel 5 said. They allegedly made millions of dollars in payments from Medicare and violated the False Claims Act. Suzanne Alt of Missouri is a former CMS employee who alleges in the main complaint that the company made false claims for lab tests that were not needed. The court document said she “was personally told to increase the frequency of the drug screens” that were most costly instead of a cheaper alternative. The lawsuits have been consolidated into one case, and although the main complaint does not specifically mention the lawmaker, Dickerson is named in one of the suits alongisde co-founder Dr. Peter Kroll and former CEO John Davis. On April 8,…

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Ohio Attorney General Pushes to Reform Drug Pricing By Focusing on Middlemen

Andrew Shirley

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost blasted the middlemen responsible for negotiating drug prices on behalf of the state Monday, calling for immediate legislative action. The move comes a month after the state formally launched a lawsuit against the pharmacy benefit managers (PBM) responsible for the negotiations. Currently, Ohio cannot directly negotiate with major prescription drug manufacturers. The only means by which the prices of prescription drugs can be addressed in the Buckeye State is through PBMs or drug negotiators. Since they are compensated by the state, it’s expected of them to put the priority of Ohioans above all else. In June of last year, then Attorney General Mike DeWine, now governor, formally launched an investigation into the organizations, alleging that they were putting their own interests before the state. DeWine noted: Since the end of 2017, my office has been reviewing and investigating issues regarding PBMs and their contracts with Ohio agencies, such as the Ohio Department of Medicaid, the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, the Ohio Department of Administrative Services, and our numerous pension systems. It is clear that the conduct by PBMs in these areas remains a major concern, and we anticipate that our investigation will result in…

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Last of Lordstown Auto Parts Manufacturing Ends Two Months Early: More Layoffs to Follow

Andrew Shirley

The last manufacturing orders left for the rapidly shuttering Lordstown Auto Plant finished up on April 5. The project – metal stamping replacement parts for the Chevy Cruze – was slated to last until June, ensuring work for those few employees still not laid off.  With the job wrapping up early, the workers are facing an uncertain future. As previously reported: Since its opening in 1966, Lordstown, Ohio has been the backbone of the local economy. Providing plentiful high-paying jobs, working at the plant ensured, at a minimum, a direct entree to the middle-class regardless of education level. Thousands of workers were employed by the plant at its peak. Over time those numbers dropped to below 2,000. In 2019 alone, 1,633 Lordstown auto workers and 72 members of the facilities support staff have been laid off. The majority of these layoffs occurred between March and April. There are currently less than 100 workers still active at the plant but with the completion of this project, it is likely that they will be laid off in the coming weeks as well. According to UAW Local 1112 president Dave Green, the work that is being done is mostly administrative. “We are going through and cleaning…I’m currently working in material handling.…

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