Afternoon Briefs: 5 Jones Day plaintiffs drop claims; no immunity for cop who shocked girl during seizure
Image from Shutterstock.com.
Only 1 plaintiff remains in Jones Day pay-bias suit
Five of six former associates suing Jones Day for gender bias have dropped their claims. The move follows a decision by all the plaintiffs in December to drop class action pay-bias claims in the suit. The five plaintiffs said in a statement Thursday they dropped the class claims after receiving payroll data that did not support them. “We remain committed to advancing the goal of having greater equity in the legal profession and have now concluded our case against Jones Day,” the statement said. The statement did not indicate whether there was a settlement. The only remaining plaintiff is Katrina Henderson, who alleges pay discrimination, disparate treatment, a hostile work environment and racial bias. (Law.com, Bloomberg Law, Law360, stipulation of remaining claims)
Cop who shocked girl during seizure not immune, 11th Circuit says
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Atlanta has ruled that an Alabama police officer isn’t protected by qualified immunity for using a stun gun on a teenager who was having a seizure at a concert. Judge Barbara Lagoa, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, wrote the opinion for the unanimous panel. (Courthouse News Service via How Appealing, the March 10 decision)
George Floyd’s family agrees to $27M settlement
The family of George Floyd has agreed to settle their civil suit against the city of Minneapolis for $27 million. The Minneapolis City Council approved the settlement Friday, and it was expected to be signed by the mayor. The settlement is the highest ever paid by Minneapolis. The deal was approved as jury selection continues in the trial of the former police officer who pressed his knee to Floyd’s neck before his death last May. The former officer, Derek Chauvin, is charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter. (The New York Times, USA Today, the Washington Post)
AG Garland pledges to follow DOJ ‘norms’
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland pledged to adhere to Department of Justice “norms” in a video speech to employees Thursday. “Those norms require that like cases be treated alike—that there not be one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans, one rule for friends and another for foes, one rule for the powerful and another for the powerless, one rule for the rich and another for the poor, or different rules depending upon one’s race or ethnicity,” Garland said. (The New York Times, Reuters, Garland’s prepared remarks)
Forced judicial retirements upheld
A New York appeals court has ruled against judges who contend that they were wrongly forced to retire. New York has a mandatory retirement age of 70 for judges, but they can apply for certification to remain on the bench. New York rejected certification applications for 46 judges, citing the need to cut budgets during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Appellate Division’s Third Judicial Department of the New York Supreme Court found no violation of the state constitution. (Courthouse News Service, Law360, the March 9 decision)
