Judge Berman Overrules NFL’s Suspension of Tom Brady

The NFL has already announced that they will appeal the ruling; however it means that Brady will be permitted to start the first game of the NFL season, which begins next week. Depending on the success of the NFL’s appeal, it is still possible that Brady will have to serve the suspension at a later time.


California Joins Solitary Confinement Prison Reform Trend

As per terms of the agreement, those who have been in solitary due to gang-affiliations will have to undergo a two-year program that allows for some privileges before entering the general population. The agreement also calls for restructuring of the SHU facilities for those who are deemed too dangerous to return to the general population. These include prisoners with histories of extreme violence including murder, narcotics possession, attempted escape, and those with severe mental health problems.


Dole Executives Fined $148 Million for Valuation Fraud

Laster believed that the executives fraudulently created grim sales forecasts, as well as drove the stock price down by understating the cost savings of Dole’s 2012 sale of its Asian operations, as well as cancelling a planned stock buyback. These activities led to Murdock purchasing the remaining shares for $13.50 each in a $1.2 billion purchase. Laster ruled that the executives undervalued the shares by $2.74 apiece, ordering that they pay the difference, a total of $148.2 million to the investors, many of them pension funds, that filed the class-action lawsuit.


If Mike Could be Like Me

Jordan told reporters, “This shows I will protect my name to the fullest. It’s my name and I worked hard for it, and I’m not just going to let someone take it.”

According to Jordan’s attorneys, the use of his likeness for advertising should have been valued at roughly $10 million, whereas Dominick’s attorney Steven Mandel argued that the Jordan’s legal team is overvaluing the amount, and that the jury should award Jordan $126,900 for his likeness in the ad.


Appeals Court Rules in Favor of Labor Department and Home Care Workers

Calling it a “tremendous victory,” Sarah Leberstein, senior staff attorney for the National Employment Law Group said, “Paying workers less than the minimum wage for their work hours, and not paying an overtime premium after 40 hours a week benefits no one.” According to the advocacy group Caring Across Generations, domestic care is one of the U.S.’s lowest paying industry, with an average hourly wage of $9.61.



NLRB Claims Lack of Jurisdiction, Dismisses Northwestern Football Players’ Petition to Unionize

In the dismissal, the NLRB wrote, “the Board held that asserting jurisdiction would not promote labor stability due to the nature and structure of NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS).” The NLRB wrote that the dismissal is specific to this particular petition saying, “This decision is narrowly focused to apply only to the players in this case and does not preclude reconsideration of this issue in the future.”


Two Citigroup Subsidiaries reach $180 Million Hedge Fund Fraud Settlements

As part of to the settlements, Citigroup does not admit, nor deny the SEC charges. The proceeds of the agreement will be diverted to investors who were harmed by the funds. Both investments were sold through Citigroup Private Bank as well as through Smith Barney. Citigroup spokesperson Danielle Romero-Apsilos said in an emailed statement, “We are pleased to have resolved this matter,” although offering little elaboration.


Connecticut High-Court Rules against Death Penalty

The Connecticut legislature voted in 2012 to abolish the death penalty, however, that measure only affected future crimes committed in the state. Calling it unconstitutional, Associate Justice Richard Palmer wrote the majority opinion, stating that the death penalty “no longer comports with contemporary standards of decency and no longer serves any legitimate penological purpose.”


New York’s “Responsible Banking” Law Ruled Unconstitutional

In U.S. District Court in Manhattan on Monday, Judge Katherine Polk Failla issued New York’s mayor Bill De Blasio a notable defeat of a law intended to regulate the community-mindedness of the many financial institutions that inhabit the city. New York’s city council passed the Responsible Banking Act (RBA) in 2012, requiring banks in the