Daily Record (St. Louis, MO/St. Louis Countian) articles from June 2002

Daily Record (St. Louis, MO/St. Louis Countian) archives from June 2002

Death by suicide not eligible for death benefits.
June 1, 2002... Byline: Erin Suess A man who committed suicide is not eligible for death benefits, even though his depression may have stemmed from a work-related injury, ruled the Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday in a unanimous decision. The court held...

Discrimination action may still be pursued despite no probable cause finding.
June 4, 2002... Byline: Erin Suess Three years after filing a discrimination petition with the Missouri Commission on Human Rights, a woman is still able to pursue the action with the MCHR, even though her action is barred from civil court since the...

Prisoner's suit overturned due to lack of expert testimony.
June 5, 2002... Byline: Erin Suess Without expert witness testimony, a prisoner who suffered a stroke cannot show direct cause between the stroke and a lapse in his medication, ruled the 8th U.S. Court of Appeals, even though he made numerous written and...

Insurer, not Wal-Mart, liable in lamp injury suit.
June 6, 2002... Byline: Deborah Fauver The final bill for a $10 million products liability settlement goes to a lamp supplier's excess insurance carrier and not to Wal-Mart Stores Inc. or its carrier, found a unanimous panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court...

Evidence sufficient to impeach mayor of Potosi, MO.
June 6, 2002... Byline: Erin Suess A court battle over the impeachment of the mayor of Potosi, Mo. came to a conclusion this week, with the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, finding the Potosi Board of Aldermen presented enough evidence to...

Lease-purchase offers option for sellers and buyers.
June 7, 2002... Byline: Mike Nixon The real estate market is beginning to shift with an easing off in overall sales. As a result, some buyers and sellers are expected to reconsider a method of moving residential property that has not been widely...

Home shoppers shy away from online mortgages.
June 7, 2002... Byline: Mike Nixon Although online home shopping has been available for several years, professionals in cyber real estate sales admit that financing property over the Internet has been slow in securing the trust of consumers. "Five...

Unemployment benefits denied due to one-year requirement.
June 7, 2002... Byline: Erin Suess A woman fired eight days before her one-year anniversary at a company is not eligible for unemployment benefits, ruled the Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District, last Thursday, reversing a decision by the Labor...

District court erred in sexual harassment judgment.
June 8, 2002... Byline: Deborah Fauver Even though Air Midwest Inc. may have acted promptly on a sexual harassment complaint against a ramp supervisor, the district court erred in granting judgment as a matter of law for the airline, held an unanimous...

Attorney General's office wins two national awards for best legal briefs.
June 11, 2002... Byline: Erin Suess The Missouri Attorney General's office received two of the four national Best Brief Awards by the National Association of Attorneys General last week, an award it hasn't won in eight years. The competition, judged by...

Juries a hot topic at annual Bench & Bar Conference.
June 12, 2002... Byline: Donna Walter Does jury composition create venue shopping in the St. Louis area, and should the city-county boundary be eliminated for the purpose of jury selection? These topics were among the most hotly debated at the Bar...

Failure-to-promote verdict split on appeal.
June 13, 2002... Byline: Deborah Fauver Only one failure-to-promote verdict should have been awarded to an African-American employee of Kansas City Power & Light, held a unanimous panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday, reversing a second...

Legal Services of Eastern MO elects new president.
June 13, 2002... Byline: Erin Suess Legal Services of Eastern Missouri announced this week that Susan N. Rowe, attorney at The Stolar Partnership, was elected president of its board of directors. Rowe, who served as vice president of the board last year,...

8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals updates Web site.
June 14, 2002... Byline: Deborah Fauver After nearly a year of preparation, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unveiled a newly designed Web site on Monday. "It's not so much about putting new information on the site, as providing new ways to access...

Jefferson County drug court finds ways to change more lives.
June 14, 2002... Byline: Donna Walter After just six months in operation, Jefferson County's drug court is already looking for ways to expand. The first group to go through the drug court stands at six participants, but in mid-May the court adopted a...

Construction pros address drug screening with different concerns.
June 14, 2002... Byline: Mike Nixon The greatest threat to workplace safety and productivity continues to be the use of illicit drugs. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, 14.8 million Americans use some form of narcotics or alcohol on a regular...

Apartment managers increase their use of online background service.
June 14, 2002... Byline: Mike Nixon "People in our industry are frightened," said David Carner, vice president of marketing and development for RealPage Inc. Following a terrorist warning last month in which federal officials said international terrorists...

Court upholds 15 percent `major extremity' disability.
June 15, 2002... Byline: Donna Walter A workers' compensation claimant who made a claim against the Second Injury Fund for an arm injury will not receive benefits from the fund because her permanent partial disability did not meet the 15 percent disability...

Conference looks at Jewish law in war, life.
June 15, 2002... Byline: Erin Suess With the war on terrorism continuing daily and with the capture of American citizens fighting for al Qaida, the American justice system is facing hard questions about what are the rights of Americans who plot to harm...

Glenn Norton sworn in as Eastern District appellate judge.
June 18, 2002... Byline: Donna Walter Amid good wishes from friends and colleagues, Glenn Norton was sworn in as a judge on the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, in a ceremony held Friday afternoon in the Wainwright Building. Missouri...

High court rejects punitive damages in disability, rights claims against federally funded recipients.
June 19, 2002... Byline: Deborah Fauver The U.S. Supreme Court handed cities and towns a victory Monday, finding that federal funding recipients are not liable for punitive damages under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act or Title...

Motion for relief lacked evidence of fraud.
June 19, 2002... Byline: Erin Suess A circuit court's decision granting a motion for relief was erroneous because there was no evidence of fraud, ruled the Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District, last week. The appeals court also found that the...

St. Louis County Family Court teaches legal professionals about family violence issues.
June 20, 2002... Byline: Linda Meyers Violence and abuse has a profound impact on many families and has far-reaching implications in the community. Professionals who work with and for Family Court of St. Louis County gathered at Ritenour High School on...

Disability discrimination verdict upheld despite man's ability to lift heavy objects.
June 20, 2002... Byline: Deborah Fauver Sam Duty may be able to work his own farm, including feeding cattle, baling hay, driving a dump truck and a tractor and working on farm machinery, but because his back injury renders him "disabled" from the whole...

Chief Judge Jackson to update court, keep tradition.
June 20, 2002... Byline: Erin Suess Judge Carol E. Jackson of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri became the new chief judge for the district on June 11, when Judge Jean C. Hamilton ended her seven-year term. Jackson, a 16-year...

Commentary: Death tax lives despite repeal bills.
June 21, 2002... Byline: Mike Nixon For anyone who might have been concerned that Congress was beginning to agree too much on issues good for the nation, do not worry because they have not. Last week the House of Representatives and the Senate...

Funds reauthorized for juvenile court permanency project.
June 21, 2002... Byline: Donna Walter The Jefferson County Juvenile Court will be able to continue its permanency planning project for at least one more year. Just two weeks ago, the court got word that the project has been approved for the second year....

Standing found in securities class action against Ernst & Young.
June 21, 2002... Byline: Deborah Fauver A shareholders' class-action lawsuit against the accounting firm of Ernst & Young was revived this week when a panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously found that all shareholders who can trace...

Sewer rehab building project secures long-term contract.
June 21, 2002... Byline: Mike Nixon Chesterfield-based Insituform Technologies USA Inc. has secured a $2.8 million, one-year contract for sewer line inspection and rehabilitation by the New York City Department of Design and Construction. Leaders of...

Settlement reached after judgment nullifies trial court decision.
June 22, 2002... Byline: Linda Meyers A settlement reached after a judgment in a third-party negligence case nullifies the trial court decision; therefore, the elements of the trial court decision should not be used when considering the appropriate...

Court rejects per se negligence action against real estate agents.
June 22, 2002... Byline: Deborah Fauver Real estate agents are relieved this week to learn that the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, has issued an opinion rejecting a negligence per se cause of action by unhappy homeowners. The homeowners...

Appeals court clarifies outdoor advertising ordinance.
June 25, 2002... Byline: Linda Meyers The definition of the word "street" and the permanency, or lack thereof, of trees were key in a recent decision affirming a determination that Cousin's Advertising Inc. cannot place a billboard in a corner of recently...

Lawyers learn how to connect with juries at MO Assn. of Trial Attys. conference.
June 26, 2002... Byline: Erin Suess Although lawyers and juries may not have frequent direct verbal interaction, it cannot be denied that a relationship exists and a rapport is developed during the course of a trial. However, many times that rapport can be...

General American Life Insurance pays govt. $76M in fraud case.
June 27, 2002... Byline: Kathleen Brady On Tuesday, Raymond W. Gruender, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri, announced that the U.S. government settled a $76 million lawsuit filed against General American Life Insurance Co. Inc. under the...

Judge Teitelman sworn in as new MO Supreme Court judge.
June 27, 2002... Byline: Erin Suess After several months of waiting, the highly anticipated swearing in of Judge Richard B. Teitelman as a judge of the Supreme Court of Missouri was held on Tuesday amid more than 700 friends, family, colleagues and...

Prepayment penalties surprise consumers, protect lenders.
June 28, 2002... Byline: Mike Nixon With low interest rates, nothing-down mortgages and short-term loans flooding the real estate market, many borrowers do not realize that the once phased out practice of prepayment penalties has also made a return to the...

Insurance policies identical, coverage found in only one.
June 28, 2002... Byline: Linda Meyers Improperly prepared paperwork may leave AAA liable in an insurance case involving a fatal collision between a newspaper delivery van and two joggers. The Automobile Club Inter-Insurance Exchange (AAA) appealed a...

Changing hiring policy evidences bias.
June 28, 2002... Byline: Deborah Fauver A constantly changing hiring policy is direct evidence of racial discrimination, held a divided panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday, refusing to grant summary judgment for Phillips Community...

Home buyers, sellers rely on 'open house' as primary tool.
June 28, 2002... Byline: Mike Nixon Despite online listings, electronic house tours and personal appointments, the viewing preference for buyers, sellers and real estate agents continues to be the open house when it comes to moving a piece of property....

Officer lacked probable cause to arrest man sleeping in car.
June 29, 2002... Byline: Linda Meyers Just because a man says he was driving does not give a police officer reasonable grounds to assume that he was, in fact, driving. That determination by a trial court in a case involving a DWI arrest and a subsequent...

Missouri's grandparent visitation statute constitutional.
June 29, 2002... Byline: Deborah Fauver Missouri's grandparent visitation statute is constitutional, according to a unanimous Missouri Supreme Court opinion issued on Tuesday upholding a lower court order directing supervised grandparent visitation for two...

`Last exposure rule' makes final employer responsible for workers' compensation benefits.
June 29, 2002... Byline: Deborah Fauver The Missouri Supreme Court clarified a tricky point of workers' compensation law this week with a pair of repetitive motion injury cases under the "last exposure rule," governing which of multiple employers is liable...