Original Story: Freep.com
Jordan Sytsma misses his dad but says he worries most about his sister, Tyra.
Their father, Craig Sytsma of Livonia, was mauled to death by a pair of exotic dogs while out jogging in Lapeer County after work Wednesday evening. And at 16, Tyra Sytsma will now have to face key life moments -- her prom, her high school graduation -- without his guiding influence. A Hackensack Personal Injury Lawyer is sadden that this could have been prevented.
"It's almost like she'll be growing up without a dad," Jordan Sytsma said Friday, the gravity of the loss of his father weighing heavy on his mind as he spoke from his front porch in Livonia.
For 23-year-old Jordan Sytsma, anger is mixed with mourning and disbelief.
He says he's angry that Sytsma -- a stepfather he considered blood despite a divorce -- was attacked by two Cane Corsos owned by a family with a history of their dogs attacking people.
"To know that there were two previous incidents ... and to know that on the third incident, they killed my dad, that's what pisses me off," Jordan Sytsma said. "They were looking to kill, they were looking to eat a human being."
Jordan Sytsma wants people to know his 46-year-old father was a solid man who "stayed in his lane."
"It's terrible when people like that get taken out that way," he said. A Honolulu Personal Injury Lawyer said big dogs can definitly
do a lot of damage including death especially when there is more than
one dog.
A colon cancer survivor, Craig Sytsma stayed active. He jogged, golfed and played hockey. He and his buddy Mark Raitanen would ride their mountain bikes in Westland or play beach volleyball at the Livonia Family YMCA whenever they had time. And on Friday nights, they would head to Merri-Bowl in Livonia to play foosball.
"He was very competitive," Raitanen said of the dear friend he has known for 23 years.
Music was a big part of his life, too -- Santana, the Allman Brothers, Gov't Mule. Raitanen remembered a Deep Purple concert the two attended at DTE Energy Music Theatre and a Buddy Guy show in downtown Detroit.
And Sytsma still listened to cassette tapes, he said.
Above all, he loved his children: Tyra, Jordan and 28-year-old Luis.
"He was a dad, he was a family man," Raitanen said. A Macomb County Dog Bite Lawyer said this tragedy could have been prevented.
Craig Sytsma also had a Harley-Davidson motorcycle that he rode occasionally. Before he learned the gruesome details about his friend's death, Raitanen assumed there had been a motorcycle accident.
"If he were to get bumped off his motorcycle, it would make sense. This just doesn't make sense," Raitanen said of the fatal mauling.
Although he grew up in Grand Rapids and lived in Odessa, Texas, for a time, Craig Sytsma loved Detroit's sports teams. Jordan and his father had planned to get season tickets for the Pistons when the time came.
"Sports was kind of like our way of communicating," Jordan Sytsma said.
Craig Sytsma beat colon cancer within the last year or so but did not like to talk about it.
"I'd say, 'I'm here for you, Pop,' but I wouldn't ask questions," Jordan Sytsma said, noting that it was a difficult topic for him.
Neighbors on Sytsma's quiet, tree-lined street in Livonia appreciated how he maintained his lawn, even though he was renting his house. Harold Peruski, who lives a few houses away, said he finds the tragedy hard to comprehend.
"It's unbelievable. I saw him cleaning his yard, and then 24 hours later he's dead," Peruski said.
Neighbors also noticed how he would leave early to drive to his job at Eltro Services in Oxford Township, where he worked as a metallurgical engineer, plasma-heat treating metal parts like crankshafts, camshafts and gun barrels. It was a path he began during his days at Michigan Technological University in Houghton, where he received a bachelor's degree in metallurgical and materials engineering in 1992.
Cheryl Hurick lives across the street from Sytsma's brown ranch-style house, which has a pool in the backyard.
"How ridiculously needless," she said of his death. A Mt. Clemens Dog Bite Lawyer agreed.
Services have been set for Craig Sytsma.
Visitation is 4-8 p.m. Wednesday at Harry J. Will Funeral Home, 37000 Six Mile Road, Livonia, and 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. Thursday at Cook Funeral Home's Jenison Chapel, 1889 Baldwin, Jenison, Mich., near Grand Rapids.
Sytsma will lie in state Friday from 10 a.m. until the start of the funeral service 11 a.m. at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, 1481 Baldwin in Jenison.
Visitation is 4-8 p.m. Wednesday at Harry J. Will Funeral Home, 37000 Six Mile Road, Livonia, and 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. Thursday at Cook Funeral Home's Jenison Chapel, 1889 Baldwin, Jenison, Mich., near Grand Rapids.
Sytsma will lie in state Friday from 10 a.m. until the start of the funeral service 11 a.m. at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, 1481 Baldwin in Jenison.
Monday, July 28, 2014
WALGREENS EYES LOOPHOLE END RUN AROUND TAXES
Original Story: USAToday.com
DIXON, Ill. — The Walgreens drugstore chain proudly touts itself as "the pharmacy America trusts."
But many here in this small river town where the founder of the company got his start complain that the drugstore chain is on the precipice of turning its back on the USA.
Walgreens, the USA's largest drugstore chain, with more than 8,500 stores, soon will decide whether to take advantage of a loophole in U.S. tax law that would allow it to save billions of dollars by moving its headquarters to Europe, where it is on the verge of acquiring controlling interest in Alliance Boots, a Swiss-based company that operates drugstores in Britain. A Tulsa Business Tax Lawyer said that giant corporations often look to move overseas for the purpose of cutting there taxes.
From the shareholders' perspective, making the move is a no-brainer: It could save the company roughly $4 billion over the next five years.
But here in this town of 16,000 where just about everybody can tell you about company founder Charles Walgreen's impact on the community, such a move seems out of step with how the Walgreen family conducted business.
"I think he'd be rolling in his grave if he knew what was going on today," says Bill Jones, who runs the Northwest Territory Historic Center in Dixon and worked closely with the Walgreen family on building an exhibit at the museum honoring the founder.
The loophole is known as tax inversion, a controversial tactic that allows a company that does most of its business in the USA to cut its federal tax bill by merging or buying an overseas company in a lower-tax country and then nominally relocating its headquarters there.
Despite years of on-and-off efforts by lawmakers in Washington and the IRS to close the loophole, dozens of American companies have used it — several in recent months.
The first corporate inversion to capture attention occurred in 1982, when oil-and-gas company McDermott moved its headquarters to Panama. It wasn't until 1994, after cosmetics company Helen of Troy moved to Bermuda, that the IRS raised concerns that such restructurings were motivated by the desire to dodge taxes.
This year alone, eight major U.S. companies — including AbbVie, Medtronic and Mylan — have announced plans to shift their headquarters overseas in an effort to trim their corporate tax rate, which hovers around 35% in the U.S. and is among the highest in the world.
Earlier this week, President Obama called inversion an "unpatriotic tax loophole" and pressed Congress to pass legislation to stem the flow of corporations that are effectively renouncing their U.S. citizenship. Inversion could cost the Treasury nearly $19.5 billion over the next decade, according to Congress' Joint Committee on Taxation.
Analysts say perhaps no company with a Main Street profile that matches Walgreens' — the country's largest pharmaceutical chain, with $72 billion in annual sales — has used the loophole, and Walgreens' pending decision is bringing unprecedented attention to the issue.
"I don't know how this inversion doesn't happen," says Christopher Geier, of the Chicago-based investment banking firm Sikich. "They'll get some bad press, but I don't see a big enough reaction from consumers on this to change where this appears to be heading."
Here in Dixon, the talk of Walgreens moving to Switzerland resonates in a personal way.
Charles Walgreen moved to Dixon as a teenager and got his start in the business working at a pharmacy, a job he took after injuring himself working at a shoe factory in town. Residents here recall Walgreen taking Boy Scouts up on his Sikorsky S-38 amphibian aircraft, which he would fly back and forth from the Chicago area and land on the Rock River, near the family's estate here.
As a young man, he moved to Chicago to seek his fortunes and eventually started his drugstore chain. But he opened his second pharmacy here in his adopted hometown — where he became revered as the city's second-favorite son. (President Ronald Reagan, who grew up here and caddied for Walgreen at the Timber Creek Country Club, is Dixon's most celebrated hometown boy.)
Walgreen, who died in 1939, saved the Dixon National Bank from going out of business during the Great Depression. The family also led fundraising for a statute erected in 1930 along the Rock River depicting a young volunteer named Abraham Lincoln, who spent time here during the Black Hawk War.
Charles Walgreen Jr., the founder's son, won the bid during World War II to open a store at the newly built Pentagon by giving all store profits to the Pentagon Post Restaurant Council, which supervised food service in the complex.
"Walgreens' attitude was so patriotically generous that no competitor could possibly better it," declared a weekly publication from the War Department.
Myrtle Walgreen, the wife of the company's founder, also was a good friend of the people of Dixon. James Burke, Dixon's mayor, says legend has it that at one of the regular coffee klatches at Dixon's Walgreens, she offered an extraordinary stock tip to some of the city's most prominent citizens.
"She told them we are getting ready to introduce a new line of product that you might consider investing in," says Burke, who has called on Walgreens to ditch the tax inversion plan. "That product was the tampon."
TRADING WALGREENS FOR CVS?
Larry Dunphy, who owns an independent bookstore in Dixon, says he takes pride in buying stocks in Illinois companies such as McDonald's, John Deere and Walgreens. But he says he's told his financial adviser to dump his stock in Walgreens and buy CVS if the company goes through with the inversion.
In the end, Dunphy says the public outcry may not have an impact on Walgreens' decision, but it could have a long-term effect on how companies approach inversion in the future and spur Congress to change laws to give companies an incentive to stay put.
"Will there be enough people who go to CVS or the local pharmacy that will offset the $4 billion that Walgreens will make by moving?" Dunphy says. "Maybe not. But I hope the damage this is doing to Walgreens' image is something that companies in the future will consider before moving to cut their share of taxes."
Walgreens CEO Gregory Wasson, who, along with his board, has come under intense pressure from shareholders to move the headquarters to Switzerland, says the company will decide soon whether to move its headquarters.
Early in 2014, Wasson said publicly that an inversion wasn't under consideration. The Deerfield, Ill., company bought 45% of Switzerland-based Alliance Boots in 2012 and has an option to buy the rest of the company next year, which would create the opportunity to make the move.
But after a private meeting in France with a shareholder group — including Goldman Sachs Investment Partners and hedge funds Jana Partners, Corvex and Och-Ziff — Wasson began to change his tune.
He made clear in a call with Wall Street analysts last month that an inversion was very much a possibility as Walgreens restructures the company ahead of completing the Alliance Boots deal.
Michael Polzin, a company spokesman, says Walgreens will do "what is in the best long-term interests of our customers, employees and shareholders."
Polzin won't comment about the impact a tax inversion would have on the company's image. The company also declined to make Kevin Walgreen, the great-grandson of the company's founder and the only member Walgreen family currently involved in day-to-day operations, available for an interview.
"Whether we do an inversion or not, we're still going to pay over $2 billion a year in federal, state, employer and property taxes," Polzin says. "We will still be one of the top job providers in America, with roughly 250,000 employees. We're going to continue to make capital investments in the U.S. and expand our business here for decades to come."
That argument hasn't assuaged some Illinois lawmakers. A Tax Lawyer Tulsa representative is actively watching the case unfold.
In a letter to Walgreens' board of directors this week, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., warned that the company was in danger of sullying its reputation as a community-minded corporation. She also sought to remind the Walgreens board that roughly a quarter of its $2.5 billion in profits last year were directly connected to federal programs — such as Medicare, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act.
"Everywhere you look, the success of Walgreens is tied to the opportunities it has been afforded by this country," she wrote. "To benefit from those resources and then to refuse to pay your fair share of taxes needed to fund them is inexcusable."
In a separate letter, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., took a shot at Walgreens' folksy motto. "Is 'the corner of happy and healthy' somewhere in the Swiss Alps?" Durbin wrote. He added, "I believe you will find that your customers are deeply patriotic and will not support Walgreens' decision to turn its back on the United States."
Burke, the Dixon mayor, says he hopes Walgreens will stay put. But if it pushes ahead with the inversion, Burke notes there are three other drugstores in his town.
"I think Walgreens will see that a lot of Americans will take their business elsewhere," Burke says. "At some point, how much profit is enough?"
DIXON, Ill. — The Walgreens drugstore chain proudly touts itself as "the pharmacy America trusts."
But many here in this small river town where the founder of the company got his start complain that the drugstore chain is on the precipice of turning its back on the USA.
Walgreens, the USA's largest drugstore chain, with more than 8,500 stores, soon will decide whether to take advantage of a loophole in U.S. tax law that would allow it to save billions of dollars by moving its headquarters to Europe, where it is on the verge of acquiring controlling interest in Alliance Boots, a Swiss-based company that operates drugstores in Britain. A Tulsa Business Tax Lawyer said that giant corporations often look to move overseas for the purpose of cutting there taxes.
From the shareholders' perspective, making the move is a no-brainer: It could save the company roughly $4 billion over the next five years.
But here in this town of 16,000 where just about everybody can tell you about company founder Charles Walgreen's impact on the community, such a move seems out of step with how the Walgreen family conducted business.
"I think he'd be rolling in his grave if he knew what was going on today," says Bill Jones, who runs the Northwest Territory Historic Center in Dixon and worked closely with the Walgreen family on building an exhibit at the museum honoring the founder.
The loophole is known as tax inversion, a controversial tactic that allows a company that does most of its business in the USA to cut its federal tax bill by merging or buying an overseas company in a lower-tax country and then nominally relocating its headquarters there.
Despite years of on-and-off efforts by lawmakers in Washington and the IRS to close the loophole, dozens of American companies have used it — several in recent months.
The first corporate inversion to capture attention occurred in 1982, when oil-and-gas company McDermott moved its headquarters to Panama. It wasn't until 1994, after cosmetics company Helen of Troy moved to Bermuda, that the IRS raised concerns that such restructurings were motivated by the desire to dodge taxes.
This year alone, eight major U.S. companies — including AbbVie, Medtronic and Mylan — have announced plans to shift their headquarters overseas in an effort to trim their corporate tax rate, which hovers around 35% in the U.S. and is among the highest in the world.
Earlier this week, President Obama called inversion an "unpatriotic tax loophole" and pressed Congress to pass legislation to stem the flow of corporations that are effectively renouncing their U.S. citizenship. Inversion could cost the Treasury nearly $19.5 billion over the next decade, according to Congress' Joint Committee on Taxation.
Analysts say perhaps no company with a Main Street profile that matches Walgreens' — the country's largest pharmaceutical chain, with $72 billion in annual sales — has used the loophole, and Walgreens' pending decision is bringing unprecedented attention to the issue.
"I don't know how this inversion doesn't happen," says Christopher Geier, of the Chicago-based investment banking firm Sikich. "They'll get some bad press, but I don't see a big enough reaction from consumers on this to change where this appears to be heading."
Here in Dixon, the talk of Walgreens moving to Switzerland resonates in a personal way.
Charles Walgreen moved to Dixon as a teenager and got his start in the business working at a pharmacy, a job he took after injuring himself working at a shoe factory in town. Residents here recall Walgreen taking Boy Scouts up on his Sikorsky S-38 amphibian aircraft, which he would fly back and forth from the Chicago area and land on the Rock River, near the family's estate here.
As a young man, he moved to Chicago to seek his fortunes and eventually started his drugstore chain. But he opened his second pharmacy here in his adopted hometown — where he became revered as the city's second-favorite son. (President Ronald Reagan, who grew up here and caddied for Walgreen at the Timber Creek Country Club, is Dixon's most celebrated hometown boy.)
Walgreen, who died in 1939, saved the Dixon National Bank from going out of business during the Great Depression. The family also led fundraising for a statute erected in 1930 along the Rock River depicting a young volunteer named Abraham Lincoln, who spent time here during the Black Hawk War.
Charles Walgreen Jr., the founder's son, won the bid during World War II to open a store at the newly built Pentagon by giving all store profits to the Pentagon Post Restaurant Council, which supervised food service in the complex.
"Walgreens' attitude was so patriotically generous that no competitor could possibly better it," declared a weekly publication from the War Department.
Myrtle Walgreen, the wife of the company's founder, also was a good friend of the people of Dixon. James Burke, Dixon's mayor, says legend has it that at one of the regular coffee klatches at Dixon's Walgreens, she offered an extraordinary stock tip to some of the city's most prominent citizens.
"She told them we are getting ready to introduce a new line of product that you might consider investing in," says Burke, who has called on Walgreens to ditch the tax inversion plan. "That product was the tampon."
TRADING WALGREENS FOR CVS?
Larry Dunphy, who owns an independent bookstore in Dixon, says he takes pride in buying stocks in Illinois companies such as McDonald's, John Deere and Walgreens. But he says he's told his financial adviser to dump his stock in Walgreens and buy CVS if the company goes through with the inversion.
In the end, Dunphy says the public outcry may not have an impact on Walgreens' decision, but it could have a long-term effect on how companies approach inversion in the future and spur Congress to change laws to give companies an incentive to stay put.
"Will there be enough people who go to CVS or the local pharmacy that will offset the $4 billion that Walgreens will make by moving?" Dunphy says. "Maybe not. But I hope the damage this is doing to Walgreens' image is something that companies in the future will consider before moving to cut their share of taxes."
Walgreens CEO Gregory Wasson, who, along with his board, has come under intense pressure from shareholders to move the headquarters to Switzerland, says the company will decide soon whether to move its headquarters.
Early in 2014, Wasson said publicly that an inversion wasn't under consideration. The Deerfield, Ill., company bought 45% of Switzerland-based Alliance Boots in 2012 and has an option to buy the rest of the company next year, which would create the opportunity to make the move.
But after a private meeting in France with a shareholder group — including Goldman Sachs Investment Partners and hedge funds Jana Partners, Corvex and Och-Ziff — Wasson began to change his tune.
He made clear in a call with Wall Street analysts last month that an inversion was very much a possibility as Walgreens restructures the company ahead of completing the Alliance Boots deal.
Michael Polzin, a company spokesman, says Walgreens will do "what is in the best long-term interests of our customers, employees and shareholders."
Polzin won't comment about the impact a tax inversion would have on the company's image. The company also declined to make Kevin Walgreen, the great-grandson of the company's founder and the only member Walgreen family currently involved in day-to-day operations, available for an interview.
"Whether we do an inversion or not, we're still going to pay over $2 billion a year in federal, state, employer and property taxes," Polzin says. "We will still be one of the top job providers in America, with roughly 250,000 employees. We're going to continue to make capital investments in the U.S. and expand our business here for decades to come."
That argument hasn't assuaged some Illinois lawmakers. A Tax Lawyer Tulsa representative is actively watching the case unfold.
In a letter to Walgreens' board of directors this week, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., warned that the company was in danger of sullying its reputation as a community-minded corporation. She also sought to remind the Walgreens board that roughly a quarter of its $2.5 billion in profits last year were directly connected to federal programs — such as Medicare, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act.
"Everywhere you look, the success of Walgreens is tied to the opportunities it has been afforded by this country," she wrote. "To benefit from those resources and then to refuse to pay your fair share of taxes needed to fund them is inexcusable."
In a separate letter, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., took a shot at Walgreens' folksy motto. "Is 'the corner of happy and healthy' somewhere in the Swiss Alps?" Durbin wrote. He added, "I believe you will find that your customers are deeply patriotic and will not support Walgreens' decision to turn its back on the United States."
Burke, the Dixon mayor, says he hopes Walgreens will stay put. But if it pushes ahead with the inversion, Burke notes there are three other drugstores in his town.
"I think Walgreens will see that a lot of Americans will take their business elsewhere," Burke says. "At some point, how much profit is enough?"
Friday, July 25, 2014
1 OF THE EXOTIC DOGS THAT KILLED LIVONIA MAN ATTACKED WOMAN IN 2012
Original Story: Freep.com
One of two dogs that fatally mauled a Livonia man this week as he jogged along a road in southern Lapeer County had been involved in at least one prior attack, according to a woman who said she sued the owners after being bitten two years ago.
Craig Sytsma, 46, died Wednesday evening after he was attacked by a pair of Cane Corsos — an exotic breed of dogs bred to hunt wild boar in their native Italy — along a quiet, dirt road in rural Metamora Township, just north of the Oakland County line.
“He was jogging, doing what everybody else does out there, running and riding bikes,” said Metamora Township Police Officer Sean Leathers, who was one of the first on the scene.
Sytsma, a divorced father of three, was unconscious and undergoing CPR when Leathers arrived. He died of his injuries at a local hospital, police said.
Oxford resident April Smith said she was attacked in 2012 by one of the dogs and is horrified that the owner is still in possession of the dogs.
“It’s just crazy to me,” Smith said. “Animal control should have done something. It should have never gone this far. The fact this has led to a death, it’s sickening.”
? Related: Michigan officials search for dog pack after Saginaw attack
? Related: Flint owners of dogs that attack could face jail time
Sytsma worked for Eltro Services in nearby Oxford in northern Oakland County and had apparently decided to jog after leaving work.
Cane Corsos are an Italian mastiff-type breed that the American Kennel Club says were property watchdogs that hunted wild boar in their native country. Their name derives from the Latin “Cohors,” meaning guardian or protector, according to information on the club’s website.
The dogs, which are younger than 5 years old, are quarantined at the Lapeer County Animal Shelter while the investigation continues. Lapeer County Sheriff’s Detective Jason Parks said the dogs were brought in by their owner, a 45-year-old man, and authorities will seek to have the dogs destroyed if he relinquishes his rights to them or they will take the matter to court if he fights to keep them. Parks said it would be in the public’s best interest to destroy the dogs, given the nature of the attack.
No decision has been made on criminal charges, but the Lapeer County Prosecutor’s Office is involved, and the owner has retained an attorney. The owner could not be reached for comment Thursday evening.
Under Michigan law, a person may be charged with involuntary manslaughter if he or she owns a dog involved in a fatal attack on a human. In 2008, a Livingston County woman was sentenced to 3½ years in prison after her American bulldogs mauled to death a neighbor man and a woman who was jogging along the road.
The Cane Corsos involved in this week’s attack were described by Parks as black and brindle in color, well-muscled and aggressive. Cane Corsos typically weigh 90-110 pounds, Parks said, noting that the dogs involved in the attack appear to be of average weight for the breed.
“They definitely react when people are inside the room. … They’re aggressive dogs,” Parks said.
Katherine Houpt, the principal consultant of the Animal Behavior Consultants of Northern Michigan and a board-certified American College of Veterinary Behaviorist, said aggressive behavior among Cane Corsos is not uncommon.
“They are banned in some countries, like England,” Houpt said. “I don’t think they’re known for attacking familiar people as much as unfamiliar people. These dogs were obviously not under control.”
Houpt said experts recommend that only someone who has a great sense of responsibility should own a dog of this breed.
“You have to wonder why someone would get a dog who is known to be so aggressive,” she said.
The dogs were apparently running free on the 5500 block of Thomas Road where the attack took place. Neighbors fired shots into the air to try to scare the dogs off the jogger.
Afterward, the dogs retreated to their owner’s home, where there is at least one other dog and an unknown number of puppies, although Parks said authorities do not know the breed.
Authorities have been called to the area at least twice for dog bites in the past, with one incident happening in 2013, Parks said. He did not have information about the result of the calls.
Smith said she and her sister were walking two dogs in the 5500 block of Thomas Road in May 2012 when she was attacked by one of the Cane Corsos.
“When I was attacked, I didn’t even see it running up to us until it was directly behind me with its teeth out and growling viciously. We were about three houses past the yard the dog lives in, so he ran 50 yards to catch up to us. He tore my leg in three different places and I had to get medical attention. There was a lot of bloodshed and it was very severe. I had bruising for months and had to endure physical therapy. This caused me a lot pain.”
Smith said the attack was stopped by the owner’s son who was around 14 or 15 at the time.
“He called the dog and it came off of me,” she said. “Obviously it’s very territorial.”
She said she filed a lawsuit against the owners, which has been settled. She said she was represented by Sam Bernstein’s law office but declined to give out any more details. She said the owners have no fence around their house, which was one of the stipulations in the lawsuit.
“I cannot believe this happened to someone,” Smith said. “I’m not mad at the dogs, I’m so upset with the owners. I thought something would be done with these dogs, but nothing was done. Nothing was ever done. Those dogs are vicious. It’s not a joke.”
Parks said authorities have not been able find anyone who recalls another fatal attack on a human by an animal in Lapeer County in at least 50 years.
“It’s something that is out of the norm, and it’s something you’d hope would never happen,” Parks said.
One of two dogs that fatally mauled a Livonia man this week as he jogged along a road in southern Lapeer County had been involved in at least one prior attack, according to a woman who said she sued the owners after being bitten two years ago.
Craig Sytsma, 46, died Wednesday evening after he was attacked by a pair of Cane Corsos — an exotic breed of dogs bred to hunt wild boar in their native Italy — along a quiet, dirt road in rural Metamora Township, just north of the Oakland County line.
“He was jogging, doing what everybody else does out there, running and riding bikes,” said Metamora Township Police Officer Sean Leathers, who was one of the first on the scene.
Sytsma, a divorced father of three, was unconscious and undergoing CPR when Leathers arrived. He died of his injuries at a local hospital, police said.
Oxford resident April Smith said she was attacked in 2012 by one of the dogs and is horrified that the owner is still in possession of the dogs.
“It’s just crazy to me,” Smith said. “Animal control should have done something. It should have never gone this far. The fact this has led to a death, it’s sickening.”
? Related: Michigan officials search for dog pack after Saginaw attack
? Related: Flint owners of dogs that attack could face jail time
Sytsma worked for Eltro Services in nearby Oxford in northern Oakland County and had apparently decided to jog after leaving work.
Cane Corsos are an Italian mastiff-type breed that the American Kennel Club says were property watchdogs that hunted wild boar in their native country. Their name derives from the Latin “Cohors,” meaning guardian or protector, according to information on the club’s website.
The dogs, which are younger than 5 years old, are quarantined at the Lapeer County Animal Shelter while the investigation continues. Lapeer County Sheriff’s Detective Jason Parks said the dogs were brought in by their owner, a 45-year-old man, and authorities will seek to have the dogs destroyed if he relinquishes his rights to them or they will take the matter to court if he fights to keep them. Parks said it would be in the public’s best interest to destroy the dogs, given the nature of the attack.
No decision has been made on criminal charges, but the Lapeer County Prosecutor’s Office is involved, and the owner has retained an attorney. The owner could not be reached for comment Thursday evening.
Under Michigan law, a person may be charged with involuntary manslaughter if he or she owns a dog involved in a fatal attack on a human. In 2008, a Livingston County woman was sentenced to 3½ years in prison after her American bulldogs mauled to death a neighbor man and a woman who was jogging along the road.
The Cane Corsos involved in this week’s attack were described by Parks as black and brindle in color, well-muscled and aggressive. Cane Corsos typically weigh 90-110 pounds, Parks said, noting that the dogs involved in the attack appear to be of average weight for the breed.
“They definitely react when people are inside the room. … They’re aggressive dogs,” Parks said.
Katherine Houpt, the principal consultant of the Animal Behavior Consultants of Northern Michigan and a board-certified American College of Veterinary Behaviorist, said aggressive behavior among Cane Corsos is not uncommon.
“They are banned in some countries, like England,” Houpt said. “I don’t think they’re known for attacking familiar people as much as unfamiliar people. These dogs were obviously not under control.”
Houpt said experts recommend that only someone who has a great sense of responsibility should own a dog of this breed.
“You have to wonder why someone would get a dog who is known to be so aggressive,” she said.
The dogs were apparently running free on the 5500 block of Thomas Road where the attack took place. Neighbors fired shots into the air to try to scare the dogs off the jogger.
Afterward, the dogs retreated to their owner’s home, where there is at least one other dog and an unknown number of puppies, although Parks said authorities do not know the breed.
Authorities have been called to the area at least twice for dog bites in the past, with one incident happening in 2013, Parks said. He did not have information about the result of the calls.
Smith said she and her sister were walking two dogs in the 5500 block of Thomas Road in May 2012 when she was attacked by one of the Cane Corsos.
“When I was attacked, I didn’t even see it running up to us until it was directly behind me with its teeth out and growling viciously. We were about three houses past the yard the dog lives in, so he ran 50 yards to catch up to us. He tore my leg in three different places and I had to get medical attention. There was a lot of bloodshed and it was very severe. I had bruising for months and had to endure physical therapy. This caused me a lot pain.”
Smith said the attack was stopped by the owner’s son who was around 14 or 15 at the time.
“He called the dog and it came off of me,” she said. “Obviously it’s very territorial.”
She said she filed a lawsuit against the owners, which has been settled. She said she was represented by Sam Bernstein’s law office but declined to give out any more details. She said the owners have no fence around their house, which was one of the stipulations in the lawsuit.
“I cannot believe this happened to someone,” Smith said. “I’m not mad at the dogs, I’m so upset with the owners. I thought something would be done with these dogs, but nothing was done. Nothing was ever done. Those dogs are vicious. It’s not a joke.”
Parks said authorities have not been able find anyone who recalls another fatal attack on a human by an animal in Lapeer County in at least 50 years.
“It’s something that is out of the norm, and it’s something you’d hope would never happen,” Parks said.
MAN OUT FOR JOG MAULED TO DEATH BY 2 DOGS IN MICHIGAN
Original Story: USAToday.com,
DETROIT — A pair of dogs attacked and mauled to death a man as he jogged down a quiet, dirt road in rural Michigan. A Mt. Clemens dog bite lawyer said dogs often attack in packs.
Craig Sytsma, 46, of Livonia died of his injuries Wednesday night at a local hospital, police in Metamora Township said.
"He was jogging, doing what everybody else does out there, running and riding bikes," said Metamora police Officer Sean Leathers, who was one of the first on the scene. Sytsma, a divorced father of three, was unconscious and undergoing CPR when Leathers arrived.
Sytsma worked in nearby Oxford and had apparently decided to go for a jog after leaving work.
The dogs were apparently running free on the road where the attack took place. Neighbors fired shots into the air to try to scare the dogs off the jogger.
Afterward, the dogs retreated to their owner's home.
The dogs are cane corsos, an Italian mastiff-type breed that the American Kennel Club says were property watchdogs that hunted wild boar in their native country. Their name derives from the Latin "cohors," meaning guardian or protector, according to information on the club's Website.
The dogs, which are younger than 5-years-old, are currently quarantined at the Lapeer County Animal Shelter while the investigation continues. Lapeer sheriff's Detective Jason Parks said the dogs were brought in by their owner. Authorities will seek to have the dogs destroyed if the owner relinquishes his rights to them or they will take the matter to court if he fights to keep them.
No decision has been made on criminal charges, but the Lapeer County Prosecutor's Office is involved and the owner has possibly retained a Warren dog bite lawyer.
Given the nature of the attack, Parks said, it would be in the public's best interest to destroy the dogs.
Parks described the dogs as black and brindle in color, well-muscled and aggressive. Cane corsos typically weigh 90-110 pounds, Parks said, noting that the dogs involved in the attack appear to be of average weight for the breed.
"They definitely react when people are inside the room. … They're aggressive dogs," Parks said.
Parks said authorities have not been able find anyone who recalls another fatal attack on a human by an animal in Lapeer County in at least 50 years.
"It's something that is out of the norm, and it's something you'd hope would never happen," Parks said.
DETROIT — A pair of dogs attacked and mauled to death a man as he jogged down a quiet, dirt road in rural Michigan. A Mt. Clemens dog bite lawyer said dogs often attack in packs.
Craig Sytsma, 46, of Livonia died of his injuries Wednesday night at a local hospital, police in Metamora Township said.
"He was jogging, doing what everybody else does out there, running and riding bikes," said Metamora police Officer Sean Leathers, who was one of the first on the scene. Sytsma, a divorced father of three, was unconscious and undergoing CPR when Leathers arrived.
Sytsma worked in nearby Oxford and had apparently decided to go for a jog after leaving work.
The dogs were apparently running free on the road where the attack took place. Neighbors fired shots into the air to try to scare the dogs off the jogger.
Afterward, the dogs retreated to their owner's home.
The dogs are cane corsos, an Italian mastiff-type breed that the American Kennel Club says were property watchdogs that hunted wild boar in their native country. Their name derives from the Latin "cohors," meaning guardian or protector, according to information on the club's Website.
The dogs, which are younger than 5-years-old, are currently quarantined at the Lapeer County Animal Shelter while the investigation continues. Lapeer sheriff's Detective Jason Parks said the dogs were brought in by their owner. Authorities will seek to have the dogs destroyed if the owner relinquishes his rights to them or they will take the matter to court if he fights to keep them.
No decision has been made on criminal charges, but the Lapeer County Prosecutor's Office is involved and the owner has possibly retained a Warren dog bite lawyer.
Given the nature of the attack, Parks said, it would be in the public's best interest to destroy the dogs.
Parks described the dogs as black and brindle in color, well-muscled and aggressive. Cane corsos typically weigh 90-110 pounds, Parks said, noting that the dogs involved in the attack appear to be of average weight for the breed.
"They definitely react when people are inside the room. … They're aggressive dogs," Parks said.
Parks said authorities have not been able find anyone who recalls another fatal attack on a human by an animal in Lapeer County in at least 50 years.
"It's something that is out of the norm, and it's something you'd hope would never happen," Parks said.
Thursday, July 24, 2014
GM REPORT CITES MORE DEATH CLAIMS IN RECALLED CARS
Original Story: USAToday.com
General Motors tells federal safety regulators in a routine quarterly filing that it has reports of more deaths in the small cars it recalled earlier this year for defective ignition switches. A Toledo Product Liability Lawyer is talking to clients affected by this issue.
The reports are raw data, GM cautions, neither investigated nor verified.
They do not mean GM has upped its official count of fatalities linked to the recalled cars, though GM CEO Mary Barra has said the total eventually could go higher.
The Early Warning Report, required quarterly by all car companies to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, lists 17 deaths and 167 injuries in Chevrolet Cobalts and Saturn Ions reported to GM in the first quarter, according to a tally published today by trade publication Automotive News.
GM said it has no reason to doubt that count. A Tulsa Product Liability Lawyer is concerned the count is much higher
Those two vehicles made up most of the 2.19 million 2003 through 2011 small cars recalled by GM in February and March for defective ignition switches that could disable air bags. GM has linked 13 deaths to the recalled cars.
Regardless of whether the recently reported deaths can be directly tied to the GM recall, they show that the the case seems to be following a frequent pattern: High-profile recalls tend to generate growing numbers of death and injury reports.
In the Toyota unintended-acceleration recall, for example, Toyota critics were claiming that more than 100 people had been killed in runaway Toyota vehicles. A special investigation by NHTSA, however, found only five deaths it could unquestionably attribute to the stuck-throttle problem.
GM spokesman Jim Cain said the reports it compiles and sends to NHTSA quarterly come from a variety of sources, including lawsuits, newspaper reports and direct complaints to the automaker. A Baltimore Product Liability Lawyer said he may have a lawsuit as well.
Cain said, "If any of those people were injured, or suffered a loss of loved ones, because of the ignition switch, we want them to be part of the (victims) compensation fund."
GM has established a victims fund and hired compensation expert Kenneth Feinberg to administer it, independently. He and GM emphasize that it's entirely up to him who gets paid and how much.
He has, however, set a formula involving the age of the victim, income at the time of the accident, and likely income over a lifetime. Examples he's given have been from a few hundred thousand dollars to a few million dollars.
Feinberg begins taking claims Aug. 1 and halts Dec. 31. He says all valid claims should be paid by the middle of next year.
General Motors tells federal safety regulators in a routine quarterly filing that it has reports of more deaths in the small cars it recalled earlier this year for defective ignition switches. A Toledo Product Liability Lawyer is talking to clients affected by this issue.
The reports are raw data, GM cautions, neither investigated nor verified.
They do not mean GM has upped its official count of fatalities linked to the recalled cars, though GM CEO Mary Barra has said the total eventually could go higher.
The Early Warning Report, required quarterly by all car companies to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, lists 17 deaths and 167 injuries in Chevrolet Cobalts and Saturn Ions reported to GM in the first quarter, according to a tally published today by trade publication Automotive News.
GM said it has no reason to doubt that count. A Tulsa Product Liability Lawyer is concerned the count is much higher
Those two vehicles made up most of the 2.19 million 2003 through 2011 small cars recalled by GM in February and March for defective ignition switches that could disable air bags. GM has linked 13 deaths to the recalled cars.
Regardless of whether the recently reported deaths can be directly tied to the GM recall, they show that the the case seems to be following a frequent pattern: High-profile recalls tend to generate growing numbers of death and injury reports.
In the Toyota unintended-acceleration recall, for example, Toyota critics were claiming that more than 100 people had been killed in runaway Toyota vehicles. A special investigation by NHTSA, however, found only five deaths it could unquestionably attribute to the stuck-throttle problem.
GM spokesman Jim Cain said the reports it compiles and sends to NHTSA quarterly come from a variety of sources, including lawsuits, newspaper reports and direct complaints to the automaker. A Baltimore Product Liability Lawyer said he may have a lawsuit as well.
Cain said, "If any of those people were injured, or suffered a loss of loved ones, because of the ignition switch, we want them to be part of the (victims) compensation fund."
GM has established a victims fund and hired compensation expert Kenneth Feinberg to administer it, independently. He and GM emphasize that it's entirely up to him who gets paid and how much.
He has, however, set a formula involving the age of the victim, income at the time of the accident, and likely income over a lifetime. Examples he's given have been from a few hundred thousand dollars to a few million dollars.
Feinberg begins taking claims Aug. 1 and halts Dec. 31. He says all valid claims should be paid by the middle of next year.
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
INVESTIGATORS OBTAIN OBAMACARE COVERAGE, SUBSIDIES USING FAKE IDENTITIES
Story first appeared: FoxNews.com
Undercover government investigators were able to obtain thousands of dollars in taxpayer subsidies under ObamaCare using fake identities, according to findings being presented to Congress on Wednesday.
The probe by the Government Accountability Office has raised fresh concerns about the ability of the sprawling health care program to prevent or intercept costly fraud schemes. In the case of the GAO investigation, 11 out of 12 applications submitted using "fictitious identities" were accepted, resulting in subsidized health coverage.
"For each of our 11 approved applications, we paid the required premiums to put policies into force, and are continuing to pay the premiums. For the 11 applications that were approved for coverage, we obtained the advance premium tax credit in all cases," the report said.
According to the GAO, the total amount for these credits was $2,500 monthly, adding up to $30,000 a year.
GAO officials were to testify about the findings before a House Ways and Means subcommittee Wednesday.
"We are seeing a trend with ObamaCare information systems: under every rock, there is incompetence, waste, and the potential for fraud," Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., chairman of the committee, said in a statement. "This law is already hitting Americans where it hurts the most - their pocketbooks. Now, this administration is forcing the American taxpayer to foot the bill for ObamaCare's waste and fraud."
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, added: "Ironically, the GAO has found ObamaCare is working really well -- for those who don't exist."
The inquiries were carried out in several different states.
The administration pointed out that six of the GAO's fake online applications were blocked by eligibility checks built into computer systems at HealthCare.gov. Still, the GAO says its undercover agents found a way around that by phoning the call centers and were able to enroll anyway.
In six other applications, GAO investigators also tried to sign up fake applicants with in-person representatives. But in five of those cases, GAO was "unable to obtain in-person assistance" for various reasons, including one representative saying they could not help because HealthCare.gov was down.
"We are examining this report carefully and will work with GAO to identify additional strategies to strengthen our verification processes," administration spokesman Aaron Albright said. At least on paper, fraudsters risk prosecution and heavy fines.
The GAO said its investigators concocted fake identities using invalid Social Security numbers and falsely claiming citizenship or legal residence. In other cases, they made up income figures that would disqualify them from getting subsidies.
Among the findings:
--Contractors processing applications for the government told the GAO their role was not to ferret out potential fraud.
--Five of six bogus phone applications went through successfully. The one exception involved an applicant who refused to provide a Social Security number.
--Six online applications were snagged by an identity checking system. But investigators just dialed a call center and all six were approved. That seemed to be an open pathway to coverage.
Undercover government investigators were able to obtain thousands of dollars in taxpayer subsidies under ObamaCare using fake identities, according to findings being presented to Congress on Wednesday.
The probe by the Government Accountability Office has raised fresh concerns about the ability of the sprawling health care program to prevent or intercept costly fraud schemes. In the case of the GAO investigation, 11 out of 12 applications submitted using "fictitious identities" were accepted, resulting in subsidized health coverage.
"For each of our 11 approved applications, we paid the required premiums to put policies into force, and are continuing to pay the premiums. For the 11 applications that were approved for coverage, we obtained the advance premium tax credit in all cases," the report said.
According to the GAO, the total amount for these credits was $2,500 monthly, adding up to $30,000 a year.
GAO officials were to testify about the findings before a House Ways and Means subcommittee Wednesday.
"We are seeing a trend with ObamaCare information systems: under every rock, there is incompetence, waste, and the potential for fraud," Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., chairman of the committee, said in a statement. "This law is already hitting Americans where it hurts the most - their pocketbooks. Now, this administration is forcing the American taxpayer to foot the bill for ObamaCare's waste and fraud."
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, added: "Ironically, the GAO has found ObamaCare is working really well -- for those who don't exist."
The inquiries were carried out in several different states.
The administration pointed out that six of the GAO's fake online applications were blocked by eligibility checks built into computer systems at HealthCare.gov. Still, the GAO says its undercover agents found a way around that by phoning the call centers and were able to enroll anyway.
In six other applications, GAO investigators also tried to sign up fake applicants with in-person representatives. But in five of those cases, GAO was "unable to obtain in-person assistance" for various reasons, including one representative saying they could not help because HealthCare.gov was down.
"We are examining this report carefully and will work with GAO to identify additional strategies to strengthen our verification processes," administration spokesman Aaron Albright said. At least on paper, fraudsters risk prosecution and heavy fines.
The GAO said its investigators concocted fake identities using invalid Social Security numbers and falsely claiming citizenship or legal residence. In other cases, they made up income figures that would disqualify them from getting subsidies.
Among the findings:
--Contractors processing applications for the government told the GAO their role was not to ferret out potential fraud.
--Five of six bogus phone applications went through successfully. The one exception involved an applicant who refused to provide a Social Security number.
--Six online applications were snagged by an identity checking system. But investigators just dialed a call center and all six were approved. That seemed to be an open pathway to coverage.
Monday, July 21, 2014
ST. CLAIR SHORES SUED OVER KILLING OF DOG BY 2 OFFICERS
Original Story: freep.com
A St. Clair Shores woman whose dog was shot multiple times by city police last year has filed a federal lawsuit alleging two police officers responding to a barking dog complaint set out from the start to kill the mixed breed even though it was posing no danger. A St. Clair Shores Dog Bite Lawyer is appalled by the case.
Brittany Preston charges in the lawsuit that her dog, Lexie, was shot four times by police and then dragged away wounded to an animal control truck. Instead of being taken to a veterinarian for treatment, the dog was shot four more times, the lawsuit alleges.
Preston filed the lawsuit this week in U.S. District Court against the City of St. Clair Shores, police Officers David Jacquemain and Jeremy Moskwa, and animal control officer Tom Massey.
Interim City Manager Michael Smith did not return calls Friday seeking comment. City Council is to address the lawsuit during its meeting Monday, when Smith recommends denying the claim and referring it to the city attorney for a response, according to council’s online agenda packet.
Preston is claiming constitutional rights violations in the Nov. 22 death of her 44-pound, 18-month-old, female dog, which was shot outside her home on Princeton. Preston lived in the home with her grandfather, Thomas Warunek.
The lawsuit alleges that immediately upon arriving on the scene, one of the two officers was recorded on a dash cam as saying he was going to shoot the dog. The lawsuit claims the officers shot the dog three times as it stood on the side porch and then, after it ran into the bushes, yelping in pain, shot it a fourth time.
Officers used a neck noose on a pole to drag the wounded dog to an animal control truck, where the lawsuit says it was left for at least 90 minutes. A police report said the dog died as it was being transported to get medical help, according to the lawsuit. A Warren Dog Bite Lawyer said this was animal cruelty.
But Christopher Olson, Preston’s attorney, said a later necropsy conducted by a veterinarian hired by Preston showed the dog at some point had been shot four more times.
“What really is shocking to me and upsetting to Brittany is after it was taken … it has 15 (entry and exit wounds).”
Warunek accidentally left the dog outside the home in the early morning hours of Nov. 22. About 7:15 a.m., a neighbor reported a loose pitbull at Princeton and Walton that had been barking for 90 minutes and was on someone’s porch.
Officers arrived and while the dog was barking from Preston’s front porch, an officer was recorded on police dash cam stating “The only thing I’m gonna do is shoot it. I do not like dogs.” Subsequent dash cam audio recording revealed an officer stating “I don’t do snares, I don’t do dogs … I’ll shoot the (expletive) thing.”
Police claimed the dog was shot because it attacked them, but the lawsuit alleges the dog was merely barking, not targeting the officers.
At a Jan. 6 City Council meeting, police presented preliminary findings from an internal affairs investigation that concluded no wrongdoing based, in part, because no witnesses contradicted the officers’ accounts, according to the lawsuit.
Aside from monetary damages, Olson said he wants to “make sure this doesn’t happen again.” He said because of the incident, which has gone viral and has a Facebook page “Justice for Lexie,” he is receiving many calls from people across the country relaying experiences of officers shooting dogs.
A St. Clair Shores woman whose dog was shot multiple times by city police last year has filed a federal lawsuit alleging two police officers responding to a barking dog complaint set out from the start to kill the mixed breed even though it was posing no danger. A St. Clair Shores Dog Bite Lawyer is appalled by the case.
Brittany Preston charges in the lawsuit that her dog, Lexie, was shot four times by police and then dragged away wounded to an animal control truck. Instead of being taken to a veterinarian for treatment, the dog was shot four more times, the lawsuit alleges.
Preston filed the lawsuit this week in U.S. District Court against the City of St. Clair Shores, police Officers David Jacquemain and Jeremy Moskwa, and animal control officer Tom Massey.
Interim City Manager Michael Smith did not return calls Friday seeking comment. City Council is to address the lawsuit during its meeting Monday, when Smith recommends denying the claim and referring it to the city attorney for a response, according to council’s online agenda packet.
Preston is claiming constitutional rights violations in the Nov. 22 death of her 44-pound, 18-month-old, female dog, which was shot outside her home on Princeton. Preston lived in the home with her grandfather, Thomas Warunek.
The lawsuit alleges that immediately upon arriving on the scene, one of the two officers was recorded on a dash cam as saying he was going to shoot the dog. The lawsuit claims the officers shot the dog three times as it stood on the side porch and then, after it ran into the bushes, yelping in pain, shot it a fourth time.
Officers used a neck noose on a pole to drag the wounded dog to an animal control truck, where the lawsuit says it was left for at least 90 minutes. A police report said the dog died as it was being transported to get medical help, according to the lawsuit. A Warren Dog Bite Lawyer said this was animal cruelty.
But Christopher Olson, Preston’s attorney, said a later necropsy conducted by a veterinarian hired by Preston showed the dog at some point had been shot four more times.
“What really is shocking to me and upsetting to Brittany is after it was taken … it has 15 (entry and exit wounds).”
Warunek accidentally left the dog outside the home in the early morning hours of Nov. 22. About 7:15 a.m., a neighbor reported a loose pitbull at Princeton and Walton that had been barking for 90 minutes and was on someone’s porch.
Officers arrived and while the dog was barking from Preston’s front porch, an officer was recorded on police dash cam stating “The only thing I’m gonna do is shoot it. I do not like dogs.” Subsequent dash cam audio recording revealed an officer stating “I don’t do snares, I don’t do dogs … I’ll shoot the (expletive) thing.”
Police claimed the dog was shot because it attacked them, but the lawsuit alleges the dog was merely barking, not targeting the officers.
At a Jan. 6 City Council meeting, police presented preliminary findings from an internal affairs investigation that concluded no wrongdoing based, in part, because no witnesses contradicted the officers’ accounts, according to the lawsuit.
Aside from monetary damages, Olson said he wants to “make sure this doesn’t happen again.” He said because of the incident, which has gone viral and has a Facebook page “Justice for Lexie,” he is receiving many calls from people across the country relaying experiences of officers shooting dogs.
Friday, July 18, 2014
FEDEX CHARGED WITH ASSISTING ILLEGAL PHARMACIES
Original Story: ABC15.com
SAN FRANCISCO - Federal authorities have charged FedEx Corp. with assisting illegal pharmacies by knowingly delivering dangerous drugs to customers without prescriptions.
The Department of Justice announced the charges Thursday. The charges allege the Memphis, Tennessee, shipping company conspired with two related online pharmacies for 10 years ending in 2010.
FedEx is accused of shipping the powerful sleeping aid Ambien, anti-anxiety drugs Valium and Xanax, and other drugs to customers with no legitimate medical need and lacking valid prescriptions.
FedEx insists it did nothing wrong. A company spokesman says it will plead not guilty and "defend against this attack" on its integrity.
FedEx first disclosed the federal investigation in a regulatory filing in November 2012. The company said at that time it had done nothing wrong and intended to fight any charges.
SAN FRANCISCO - Federal authorities have charged FedEx Corp. with assisting illegal pharmacies by knowingly delivering dangerous drugs to customers without prescriptions.
The Department of Justice announced the charges Thursday. The charges allege the Memphis, Tennessee, shipping company conspired with two related online pharmacies for 10 years ending in 2010.
FedEx is accused of shipping the powerful sleeping aid Ambien, anti-anxiety drugs Valium and Xanax, and other drugs to customers with no legitimate medical need and lacking valid prescriptions.
FedEx insists it did nothing wrong. A company spokesman says it will plead not guilty and "defend against this attack" on its integrity.
FedEx first disclosed the federal investigation in a regulatory filing in November 2012. The company said at that time it had done nothing wrong and intended to fight any charges.
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
2 EX-UTAH ATTORNEYS GENERAL CHARGED WITH BRIBERY
Original Story: USAToday.com
Two former Utah attorneys general were arrested Tuesday on bribery and other charges stemming from the biggest political corruption investigation in state history.
John Swallow and Mark Shurtleff, both Republicans, are accused of accepting gold coins, resort vacations, other gifts and campaign contributions from several businessmen who faced possible scrutiny by the attorney general's office between 2008 and last year. They then allegedly tried to cover up the alleged graft by tampering with evidence or witnesses.
Shurtleff and Swallow were arrested at their homes in Sandy, outside Salt Lake City, and released hours later after posting bail. Both denied the allegations.
Gov. Gary Herbert, a Republican, called it "a sad day for Utah" and "a black eye" for the state "regardless of how the legal process plays out."
The scandal forced Swallow from office in December, less than a year after he took office. He was the anointed successor of the 56-year-old Shurtleff, who served a dozen years as the state's top law enforcer, the longest of any Utah attorney general.
Swallow, 51, faces 11 felonies and two misdemeanors. The charges include receiving or soliciting bribes, accepting gifts, tampering with evidence, obstructing justice and participating in a pattern of unlawful conduct.
Shurtleff, 56, was charged with 10 felony counts, including witness tampering.
The two-year investigation was conducted by state and federal authorities, including the FBI, the Utah Legislature and the lieutenant governor's office. It's not clear whether federal corruption charges will be filed; the head of the FBI's Salt Lake City office said agents would pursue leads generated by the state probe.
Salt Lake County District Attorney Sam Gill, a Democrat, said additional charges would likely be filed against them and others. He denied that the case is politically motivated, citing cooperation from state Republican officeholders.
"We have filed what we think are appropriate and minimal charges," he told reporters. "We could have filed more, but we chose at this time to just file what we did."
At a news conference in his attorney's office, Shurtleff admitted making judgment errors while in office but denied that he had ever "intentionally committed any violation of the ethics."
"I have never misused or abused the public's trust. And I certainly have not violated any of the criminal laws of the state of Utah," he said.
Swallow reiterated his innocence as he walked out of jail.
"I look forward to my day in court to confront my accusers and to share my side of the story for, really, the first time," he said.
Two former Utah attorneys general were arrested Tuesday on bribery and other charges stemming from the biggest political corruption investigation in state history.
John Swallow and Mark Shurtleff, both Republicans, are accused of accepting gold coins, resort vacations, other gifts and campaign contributions from several businessmen who faced possible scrutiny by the attorney general's office between 2008 and last year. They then allegedly tried to cover up the alleged graft by tampering with evidence or witnesses.
Shurtleff and Swallow were arrested at their homes in Sandy, outside Salt Lake City, and released hours later after posting bail. Both denied the allegations.
Gov. Gary Herbert, a Republican, called it "a sad day for Utah" and "a black eye" for the state "regardless of how the legal process plays out."
The scandal forced Swallow from office in December, less than a year after he took office. He was the anointed successor of the 56-year-old Shurtleff, who served a dozen years as the state's top law enforcer, the longest of any Utah attorney general.
Swallow, 51, faces 11 felonies and two misdemeanors. The charges include receiving or soliciting bribes, accepting gifts, tampering with evidence, obstructing justice and participating in a pattern of unlawful conduct.
Shurtleff, 56, was charged with 10 felony counts, including witness tampering.
The two-year investigation was conducted by state and federal authorities, including the FBI, the Utah Legislature and the lieutenant governor's office. It's not clear whether federal corruption charges will be filed; the head of the FBI's Salt Lake City office said agents would pursue leads generated by the state probe.
Salt Lake County District Attorney Sam Gill, a Democrat, said additional charges would likely be filed against them and others. He denied that the case is politically motivated, citing cooperation from state Republican officeholders.
"We have filed what we think are appropriate and minimal charges," he told reporters. "We could have filed more, but we chose at this time to just file what we did."
At a news conference in his attorney's office, Shurtleff admitted making judgment errors while in office but denied that he had ever "intentionally committed any violation of the ethics."
"I have never misused or abused the public's trust. And I certainly have not violated any of the criminal laws of the state of Utah," he said.
Swallow reiterated his innocence as he walked out of jail.
"I look forward to my day in court to confront my accusers and to share my side of the story for, really, the first time," he said.
Thursday, July 10, 2014
STOW JURY ABSOLVES FRANK MCCOURT
original Story: ESPN.go.com
LOS ANGELES -- A San Francisco Giants fan who suffered brain damage in a beating in a Dodger Stadium parking lot won his negligence lawsuit Wednesday, with a jury agreeing that the Dodgers didn't provide adequate security and were partly to blame for the attack.
Bryan Stow's father said his son probably wouldn't understand the details of the settlement that will give him about $14 million from the Dodgers, "but Bryan will know that he got some help today."
"He's not going to be 100 percent, maybe for a long time, maybe never. What he gets is going to help him through now, and that's what he needs," Dave Stow said.
The jury delivered its verdict in a Los Angeles courtroom after weeks of testimony about the assault after the opening day game in 2011 between the rival teams.
Stow, 45, was left with disabling brain damage and became a symbol of violence at sporting events. He was in the courtroom for part of the trial, his wheelchair positioned front and center so jurors could see the ghastly scars on his head where his skull was temporarily removed during efforts to save his life.
Experts testified that the former Northern California paramedic Stow will never work again and has suffered repeated strokes and seizures. They said he will require around-the-clock care.
Lawyers for Stow claimed the team and former owner Frank McCourt failed to provide adequate security. In split decisions, jurors found that the Dodgers were negligent but absolved McCourt. In civil cases, only nine of 12 jurors must agree on the verdict.
The Dodgers "did have a (security) plan but somewhere along the line that plan broke. And it needed to be fixed," juror Carlos Munoz said after the verdict. "Hopefully we helped to fix it. ... If you're going to own a stadium, do it right."
Jurors determined that Stow suffered about $18 million in damages in the form of lost earnings, medical expenses and pain and mental suffering. The Dodgers must pay $13.9 million of that because while finding the team negligent, jurors assigned it only a portion of the responsibility for Stow's harm.
Stow's attackers shared the rest of the responsibility for Stow's harm, jurors determined. However, they weren't sued and so cannot be required to pay a share of the damages.
Stow's parents pronounced themselves satisfied with the jury's award even though it is less than half of what they had sought.
"We'll make it work for him," said Stow's mother, Ann Stow.
The defense had argued that security was stronger than ever at an opening day contest and contended that Stow was partially to blame because he was drunk.
But jurors were unanimous in deciding that Stow's own negligence wasn't a substantial factor in causing his harm. Stow's mother said she held her husband's hand as the court read that part of the verdict form.
"I was so ecstatic because we know our son and we know that the picture the defense was trying to portray was not Bryan at all," Ann Stow said.
They said they had not spoken to their son, who did not attend the hearing, but did talk to his sisters and expected they would talk to him.
In San Francisco, Giants manager Bruce Bochy said he was happy for the family that there was finally a verdict.
"What happened shouldn't have happened. We have to keep that in mind. But also for the fans coming to the ballpark, you need the proper security," he said. "It shouldn't be a situation where you're afraid to go to a game or you can't enjoy yourself."
Dodgers fans Louie Sanchez and Marvin Norwood pleaded guilty to the attack in criminal court after a lengthy preliminary hearing in which witnesses said security guards were absent from the parking lot where Stow was attacked.
The complicated civil case even threw jurors at one point, who announced last week that they were deadlocked. The judge ordered them to resume deliberations.
"They struggled through it," Dana Fox, an attorney for the Dodgers, said after the verdict. "Remember, after four days they had not found liability on the part of the defendants. That is quite telling, I think, in and of itself."
In the wake of the attack, the Dodgers and Los Angeles police increased their security at games, including adding more patrols and undercover officers wearing rival team jerseys.
LOS ANGELES -- A San Francisco Giants fan who suffered brain damage in a beating in a Dodger Stadium parking lot won his negligence lawsuit Wednesday, with a jury agreeing that the Dodgers didn't provide adequate security and were partly to blame for the attack.
Bryan Stow's father said his son probably wouldn't understand the details of the settlement that will give him about $14 million from the Dodgers, "but Bryan will know that he got some help today."
"He's not going to be 100 percent, maybe for a long time, maybe never. What he gets is going to help him through now, and that's what he needs," Dave Stow said.
The jury delivered its verdict in a Los Angeles courtroom after weeks of testimony about the assault after the opening day game in 2011 between the rival teams.
Stow, 45, was left with disabling brain damage and became a symbol of violence at sporting events. He was in the courtroom for part of the trial, his wheelchair positioned front and center so jurors could see the ghastly scars on his head where his skull was temporarily removed during efforts to save his life.
Experts testified that the former Northern California paramedic Stow will never work again and has suffered repeated strokes and seizures. They said he will require around-the-clock care.
Lawyers for Stow claimed the team and former owner Frank McCourt failed to provide adequate security. In split decisions, jurors found that the Dodgers were negligent but absolved McCourt. In civil cases, only nine of 12 jurors must agree on the verdict.
The Dodgers "did have a (security) plan but somewhere along the line that plan broke. And it needed to be fixed," juror Carlos Munoz said after the verdict. "Hopefully we helped to fix it. ... If you're going to own a stadium, do it right."
Jurors determined that Stow suffered about $18 million in damages in the form of lost earnings, medical expenses and pain and mental suffering. The Dodgers must pay $13.9 million of that because while finding the team negligent, jurors assigned it only a portion of the responsibility for Stow's harm.
Stow's attackers shared the rest of the responsibility for Stow's harm, jurors determined. However, they weren't sued and so cannot be required to pay a share of the damages.
Stow's parents pronounced themselves satisfied with the jury's award even though it is less than half of what they had sought.
"We'll make it work for him," said Stow's mother, Ann Stow.
The defense had argued that security was stronger than ever at an opening day contest and contended that Stow was partially to blame because he was drunk.
But jurors were unanimous in deciding that Stow's own negligence wasn't a substantial factor in causing his harm. Stow's mother said she held her husband's hand as the court read that part of the verdict form.
"I was so ecstatic because we know our son and we know that the picture the defense was trying to portray was not Bryan at all," Ann Stow said.
They said they had not spoken to their son, who did not attend the hearing, but did talk to his sisters and expected they would talk to him.
In San Francisco, Giants manager Bruce Bochy said he was happy for the family that there was finally a verdict.
"What happened shouldn't have happened. We have to keep that in mind. But also for the fans coming to the ballpark, you need the proper security," he said. "It shouldn't be a situation where you're afraid to go to a game or you can't enjoy yourself."
Dodgers fans Louie Sanchez and Marvin Norwood pleaded guilty to the attack in criminal court after a lengthy preliminary hearing in which witnesses said security guards were absent from the parking lot where Stow was attacked.
The complicated civil case even threw jurors at one point, who announced last week that they were deadlocked. The judge ordered them to resume deliberations.
"They struggled through it," Dana Fox, an attorney for the Dodgers, said after the verdict. "Remember, after four days they had not found liability on the part of the defendants. That is quite telling, I think, in and of itself."
In the wake of the attack, the Dodgers and Los Angeles police increased their security at games, including adding more patrols and undercover officers wearing rival team jerseys.
HIRING PROCESS JUST GOT DICIER
Original Story: WSJ.com
FOR FIRMS, APPLICANTS, ANY TALK OF EMPLOYER'S RELIGIOUS BELIEFS IS LEGAL MINEFIELD
Joey Holland, the president of a car dealership in West Virginia, spends an hour interviewing every job candidate who has impressed his hiring managers. If the topic of Mr. Holland's religious views doesn't come up during that hour, he makes sure to address it at the end of the conversation.
"I feel like they have a right to know what we stand for," said Mr. Holland, a born-again Christian whose company hosts voluntary prayer meetings for employees and maintains a policy of not covering certain forms of contraception through its health-insurance plan.
Monday's decision by the U.S. Supreme Court allowing some employers to opt out of covering contraception on religious grounds may now provide legal cover for companies like Joe Holland Chevrolet and Imports Inc. But for both companies and job applicants who wonder how managers' faiths may affect their benefits, having a candid discussion about religious beliefs can be a legal minefield.
The court's decision, which came about after a challenge by the Hobby Lobby chain of retail stores to a section of the Affordable Care Act, is at "the intersection of two categories that can get companies in trouble—religious views and family planning," said Pamela Skillings, a workplace expert in New York City who provides interview coaching to job seekers and employers.
It is illegal for companies to ask prospective employees about their religious views, but individuals are free to question hiring managers and human-resources representatives about anything at all, including owners' religious beliefs and their impact on anything from benefits to corporate culture, say employment lawyers.
That can open the door to legal hazards, particularly if the manager uses that opening to pry—or even appear to pry—into a candidate's personal life.
Religion "is off-limits for employers," said Daniel Davis, special labor and employment law counsel at management-side law firm Proskauer Rose LLP.
At the same time, he said, "it's up to the job applicant what information they want to know about the company. With our clients, we do a lot of training around how, if an applicant asked a [sensitive] question, you should answer as directly as possible but you shouldn't engage in any type of follow-ups that would go to someone's religious beliefs or other type of protected information."
It can also be risky for job candidates to bring up these questions.
"As a rule, employees should avoid any explicit discussion of religion in the context of their hiring," said R. Scott Oswald, managing principal with the Employment Law Group, which represents workers. The company "will give you a summary of its health plan and that can be enough to make a decision if contraceptive coverage is critical to the applicant's decision."
Since candidates frequently ask for details about a prospective employer's benefits, companies that choose to deny coverage for contraceptives will be tipping their hand about owners' views, said Mr. Oswald. In addition, the Internet provides many clues about corporate culture. Mr. Holland's website, for instance, prominently features a fish symbol that is associated with evangelical Christianity and notes that the company's purpose is "to glorify and honor God."
At Weingartz Inc., which sells lawn mowers and tractors at five retail shops in Michigan, an explanation of benefits is handed out to prospective employees when a job offer is made, or earlier if the candidate requests it. The firm doesn't cover certain types of contraception thanks to an injunction that has exempted it from the Affordable Care Act requirement since it went into effect.
"A lot of questions come up about the health insurance plan so I'm guessing the contraception issue has come up," said President Dan Weingartz. "But to my knowledge, it has never been an issue of contention."
FOR FIRMS, APPLICANTS, ANY TALK OF EMPLOYER'S RELIGIOUS BELIEFS IS LEGAL MINEFIELD
Joey Holland, the president of a car dealership in West Virginia, spends an hour interviewing every job candidate who has impressed his hiring managers. If the topic of Mr. Holland's religious views doesn't come up during that hour, he makes sure to address it at the end of the conversation.
"I feel like they have a right to know what we stand for," said Mr. Holland, a born-again Christian whose company hosts voluntary prayer meetings for employees and maintains a policy of not covering certain forms of contraception through its health-insurance plan.
Monday's decision by the U.S. Supreme Court allowing some employers to opt out of covering contraception on religious grounds may now provide legal cover for companies like Joe Holland Chevrolet and Imports Inc. But for both companies and job applicants who wonder how managers' faiths may affect their benefits, having a candid discussion about religious beliefs can be a legal minefield.
The court's decision, which came about after a challenge by the Hobby Lobby chain of retail stores to a section of the Affordable Care Act, is at "the intersection of two categories that can get companies in trouble—religious views and family planning," said Pamela Skillings, a workplace expert in New York City who provides interview coaching to job seekers and employers.
It is illegal for companies to ask prospective employees about their religious views, but individuals are free to question hiring managers and human-resources representatives about anything at all, including owners' religious beliefs and their impact on anything from benefits to corporate culture, say employment lawyers.
That can open the door to legal hazards, particularly if the manager uses that opening to pry—or even appear to pry—into a candidate's personal life.
Religion "is off-limits for employers," said Daniel Davis, special labor and employment law counsel at management-side law firm Proskauer Rose LLP.
At the same time, he said, "it's up to the job applicant what information they want to know about the company. With our clients, we do a lot of training around how, if an applicant asked a [sensitive] question, you should answer as directly as possible but you shouldn't engage in any type of follow-ups that would go to someone's religious beliefs or other type of protected information."
It can also be risky for job candidates to bring up these questions.
"As a rule, employees should avoid any explicit discussion of religion in the context of their hiring," said R. Scott Oswald, managing principal with the Employment Law Group, which represents workers. The company "will give you a summary of its health plan and that can be enough to make a decision if contraceptive coverage is critical to the applicant's decision."
Since candidates frequently ask for details about a prospective employer's benefits, companies that choose to deny coverage for contraceptives will be tipping their hand about owners' views, said Mr. Oswald. In addition, the Internet provides many clues about corporate culture. Mr. Holland's website, for instance, prominently features a fish symbol that is associated with evangelical Christianity and notes that the company's purpose is "to glorify and honor God."
At Weingartz Inc., which sells lawn mowers and tractors at five retail shops in Michigan, an explanation of benefits is handed out to prospective employees when a job offer is made, or earlier if the candidate requests it. The firm doesn't cover certain types of contraception thanks to an injunction that has exempted it from the Affordable Care Act requirement since it went into effect.
"A lot of questions come up about the health insurance plan so I'm guessing the contraception issue has come up," said President Dan Weingartz. "But to my knowledge, it has never been an issue of contention."
DATING APP TINDER SUED FOR SEXUAL HARASSMENT
Original Story: USAToday.com
SAN FRANCISCO — Popular mobile dating app Tinder is being sued for sexual harassment and discrimination by a former marketing executive.
Whitney Wolfe, Tinder's former marketing vice president, claims she was subjected to a pattern of abusive behavior including inappropriate private messages from a company co-founder while working at Tinder.
In the suit, she alleges Tinder co-founder and marketing chief Justin Mateen stripped Wolfe of her co-founder title, telling her that having a "24?year-old girl" as a co-founder made the company "seem like a joke."
Wolfe also alleges Mateen called her a "whore" in front of Chief Executive Officer Sean Rad. Mateen could not be reached for comment.
When she complained, Wolfe said she was forced out of the company. The case was filed on Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court.
"I had hoped this would be resolved confidentially, but after months of failed attempts, I have decided to pursue this suit," Wolfe said in a statement.
Tinder's parent companies, IAC and Match.com, are also named as defendants.
"Immediately upon receipt of the allegations contained in Ms. Wolfe's complaint, Mr. Mateen was suspended pending an ongoing internal investigation," IAC said in an emailed statement. "Through that process, it has become clear that Mr. Mateen sent private messages to Ms. Wolfe containing inappropriate content. We unequivocally condemn these messages, but believe that Ms. Wolfe's allegations with respect to Tinder and its management are unfounded."
The technology industry has come under fire for its lack of women in technical and executive ranks and for not creating a work environment that is more welcoming to women.
Ellen Pao, a former partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, filed a lawsuit against her former venture capital firm for harassment and discrimination in 2012. Kleiner Perkins has denied the allegations and is fighting the lawsuit.
Earlier this year, a female employee of GitHub accused the San Francisco startup, of harassment. The company investigated and said it found no evidence of harassment but that there had been "mistakes and errors of judgment."
Last month, Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel got into hot water when explicit emails he sent while a student at Stanford University surfaced. Spiegel apologized for the emails which contained statements that were demeaning to women.
SAN FRANCISCO — Popular mobile dating app Tinder is being sued for sexual harassment and discrimination by a former marketing executive.
Whitney Wolfe, Tinder's former marketing vice president, claims she was subjected to a pattern of abusive behavior including inappropriate private messages from a company co-founder while working at Tinder.
In the suit, she alleges Tinder co-founder and marketing chief Justin Mateen stripped Wolfe of her co-founder title, telling her that having a "24?year-old girl" as a co-founder made the company "seem like a joke."
Wolfe also alleges Mateen called her a "whore" in front of Chief Executive Officer Sean Rad. Mateen could not be reached for comment.
When she complained, Wolfe said she was forced out of the company. The case was filed on Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court.
"I had hoped this would be resolved confidentially, but after months of failed attempts, I have decided to pursue this suit," Wolfe said in a statement.
Tinder's parent companies, IAC and Match.com, are also named as defendants.
"Immediately upon receipt of the allegations contained in Ms. Wolfe's complaint, Mr. Mateen was suspended pending an ongoing internal investigation," IAC said in an emailed statement. "Through that process, it has become clear that Mr. Mateen sent private messages to Ms. Wolfe containing inappropriate content. We unequivocally condemn these messages, but believe that Ms. Wolfe's allegations with respect to Tinder and its management are unfounded."
The technology industry has come under fire for its lack of women in technical and executive ranks and for not creating a work environment that is more welcoming to women.
Ellen Pao, a former partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, filed a lawsuit against her former venture capital firm for harassment and discrimination in 2012. Kleiner Perkins has denied the allegations and is fighting the lawsuit.
Earlier this year, a female employee of GitHub accused the San Francisco startup, of harassment. The company investigated and said it found no evidence of harassment but that there had been "mistakes and errors of judgment."
Last month, Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel got into hot water when explicit emails he sent while a student at Stanford University surfaced. Spiegel apologized for the emails which contained statements that were demeaning to women.
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
HIRING PROCESS JUST GOT DICIER
Original story: WSJ.com
Joey Holland, the president of a car dealership in West Virginia, spends an hour interviewing every job candidate who has impressed his hiring managers. If the topic of Mr. Holland's religious views doesn't come up during that hour, he makes sure to address it at the end of the conversation.
"I feel like they have a right to know what we stand for," said Mr. Holland, a born-again Christian whose company hosts voluntary prayer meetings for employees and maintains a policy of not covering certain forms of contraception through its health-insurance plan.
Monday's decision by the U.S. Supreme Court allowing some employers to opt out of covering contraception on religious grounds may now provide legal cover for companies like Joe Holland Chevrolet and Imports Inc. But for both companies and job applicants who wonder how managers' faiths may affect their benefits, having a candid discussion about religious beliefs can be a legal minefield.
The court's decision, which came about after a challenge by the Hobby Lobby chain of retail stores to a section of the Affordable Care Act, is at "the intersection of two categories that can get companies in trouble—religious views and family planning," said Pamela Skillings, a workplace expert in New York City who provides interview coaching to job seekers and employers.
It is illegal for companies to ask prospective employees about their religious views, but individuals are free to question hiring managers and human-resources representatives about anything at all, including owners' religious beliefs and their impact on anything from benefits to corporate culture, say employment lawyers.
That can open the door to legal hazards, particularly if the manager uses that opening to pry—or even appear to pry—into a candidate's personal life.
Religion "is off-limits for employers," said Daniel Davis, special labor and employment law counsel at management-side law firm Proskauer Rose LLP.
At the same time, he said, "it's up to the job applicant what information they want to know about the company. With our clients, we do a lot of training around how, if an applicant asked a [sensitive] question, you should answer as directly as possible but you shouldn't engage in any type of follow-ups that would go to someone's religious beliefs or other type of protected information."
It can also be risky for job candidates to bring up these questions.
"As a rule, employees should avoid any explicit discussion of religion in the context of their hiring," said R. Scott Oswald, managing principal with the Employment Law Group, which represents workers. The company "will give you a summary of its health plan and that can be enough to make a decision if contraceptive coverage is critical to the applicant's decision."
Since candidates frequently ask for details about a prospective employer's benefits, companies that choose to deny coverage for contraceptives will be tipping their hand about owners' views, said Mr. Oswald. In addition, the Internet provides many clues about corporate culture. Mr. Holland's website, for instance, prominently features a fish symbol that is associated with evangelical Christianity and notes that the company's purpose is "to glorify and honor God."
At Weingartz Inc., which sells lawn mowers and tractors at five retail shops in Michigan, an explanation of benefits is handed out to prospective employees when a job offer is made, or earlier if the candidate requests it. The firm doesn't cover certain types of contraception thanks to an injunction that has exempted it from the Affordable Care Act requirement since it went into effect.
"A lot of questions come up about the health insurance plan so I'm guessing the contraception issue has come up," said President Dan Weingartz. "But to my knowledge, it has never been an issue of contention."
Joey Holland, the president of a car dealership in West Virginia, spends an hour interviewing every job candidate who has impressed his hiring managers. If the topic of Mr. Holland's religious views doesn't come up during that hour, he makes sure to address it at the end of the conversation.
"I feel like they have a right to know what we stand for," said Mr. Holland, a born-again Christian whose company hosts voluntary prayer meetings for employees and maintains a policy of not covering certain forms of contraception through its health-insurance plan.
Monday's decision by the U.S. Supreme Court allowing some employers to opt out of covering contraception on religious grounds may now provide legal cover for companies like Joe Holland Chevrolet and Imports Inc. But for both companies and job applicants who wonder how managers' faiths may affect their benefits, having a candid discussion about religious beliefs can be a legal minefield.
The court's decision, which came about after a challenge by the Hobby Lobby chain of retail stores to a section of the Affordable Care Act, is at "the intersection of two categories that can get companies in trouble—religious views and family planning," said Pamela Skillings, a workplace expert in New York City who provides interview coaching to job seekers and employers.
It is illegal for companies to ask prospective employees about their religious views, but individuals are free to question hiring managers and human-resources representatives about anything at all, including owners' religious beliefs and their impact on anything from benefits to corporate culture, say employment lawyers.
That can open the door to legal hazards, particularly if the manager uses that opening to pry—or even appear to pry—into a candidate's personal life.
Religion "is off-limits for employers," said Daniel Davis, special labor and employment law counsel at management-side law firm Proskauer Rose LLP.
At the same time, he said, "it's up to the job applicant what information they want to know about the company. With our clients, we do a lot of training around how, if an applicant asked a [sensitive] question, you should answer as directly as possible but you shouldn't engage in any type of follow-ups that would go to someone's religious beliefs or other type of protected information."
It can also be risky for job candidates to bring up these questions.
"As a rule, employees should avoid any explicit discussion of religion in the context of their hiring," said R. Scott Oswald, managing principal with the Employment Law Group, which represents workers. The company "will give you a summary of its health plan and that can be enough to make a decision if contraceptive coverage is critical to the applicant's decision."
Since candidates frequently ask for details about a prospective employer's benefits, companies that choose to deny coverage for contraceptives will be tipping their hand about owners' views, said Mr. Oswald. In addition, the Internet provides many clues about corporate culture. Mr. Holland's website, for instance, prominently features a fish symbol that is associated with evangelical Christianity and notes that the company's purpose is "to glorify and honor God."
At Weingartz Inc., which sells lawn mowers and tractors at five retail shops in Michigan, an explanation of benefits is handed out to prospective employees when a job offer is made, or earlier if the candidate requests it. The firm doesn't cover certain types of contraception thanks to an injunction that has exempted it from the Affordable Care Act requirement since it went into effect.
"A lot of questions come up about the health insurance plan so I'm guessing the contraception issue has come up," said President Dan Weingartz. "But to my knowledge, it has never been an issue of contention."
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