May a college legally refuse, for budgetary reasons, to renew the contracts of non-tenured faculty? The New Mexico Court of Appeals has held that the College of Santa Fe could do so without breaching faculty contracts.

As we reported last fall, just after the recall election then-Governor Davis signed into law what has become known as the "Sue Your Boss" or "Bounty Hunter" law, effective January 1, 2004. Formally known as the Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act (S.B. 796), Labor Code § 2699, this law creates an incentive for lawsuits against employers by rewarding the suing party with 25 percent of any recovery against an employer for labor code violations

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has published a proposed rule that would require persons responsible for site rehabilitation (PRSR) to promptly notify the agency of any off-site contamination. The agency then will determine whether to provide notice to neighbors, including adjacent property owners and residents. The proposal reflects a significant change to the earlier proposal, which would have required the PRSR to directly notify neighbors.

With February's decision by the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals upholding New York’s prohibition on interstate wine shipments, the debate over direct shipping may be headed for the Supreme Court. Two circuits have now upheld direct shipment prohibitions (7th Circuit upheld Indiana's law), while four circuits (Texas, North Carolina, Virginia, and Michigan) have struck them down.

CMS has posted a bulletin on its Recovery Audit Contract (RAC) Initiative demonstration project. RACs are private companies that will contract with CMS to conduct analyses and audits of claims beyond those conducted by the Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) (formerly, Carriers and Fiscal Intermediaries).

In the case <I>Hayut v. S.U.N.Y. New Paltz, et al</I>., 352 F.3d 733 (2d Cir. 2003), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit addressed a student’s claim against the State University of New York (SUNY) and four individuals – her professor, department chair, associate dean and dean – for sexual harassment allegedly committed by her professor. The student claimed, among other things, that the professor continually called her "Monica" in the classroom because she looked like Monica Lewinsky

Shin v. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, et al., a Massachusetts Superior Court judge found that the parents of Elizabeth Shin could proceed with their claims against two MIT administrators and four MIT medical professionals in a lawsuit over their daughter’s suicide.

Compliance deadlines for the Security Rules implemented under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) are fast approaching. In fact, the rules require compliance no later than April 20, 2005, for all covered entities except small health plans.

In what some are calling the "condemnation case of the year," the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that Wayne County’s proposed land condemnation and transfer in support of economic redevelopment was unconstitutional.

Your company may be eligible for a partial refund of the 3 percent federal telecommunications excise taxes it has paid for the three years preceding the filing of a refund claim. A federal district court recently held that the Internal Revenue Service is not entitled to collect the telecommunications excise tax on certain telecommunications services because those particular services are not covered by the telecommunications excise tax statute.