The Chicago Tribune reports that Commonwealth Edison in Chicago has confirmed that three of its newly installed Smart Meters have started fires in consumers' homes.  Smart Meters are electricity meters that provide both ComEd and homeowners with wireless information on electric usage patterns and allow ComEd to save on "meter maids" who read electric meters.  

Smart Meters also can interact with appliances, allow ComEd to force shutdown of appliances during peak consumption times, and carry a number of concerns ranging from privacy concerns to health concerns from the wireless signals they emit to communicate with ComEd and appliances within the consumer's home.

The Chicago Tribune reports that two mothers of children staying at two different Marriott hotels were bitten by bedbugs during recent stays.  The lawsuit filed recently alleges that when the guests stayed at the hotel they slept on the beds and bedding provided by the hotel and awoke to bumps and bites all over her their “arms, hands, back, legs and scalp.”  They were diagnosed as bedbug bites.

As the operator of a hotel, Marriott and its management owes their guests special duties, much like common carriers such as Amtrak.  This special duty is a relic from early Anglo-law aimed at ensuring safety for travelers. Marriott, the lawsuit alleges, breached this special duty to its guests when it failed to provide guests with sanitary rooms, failed to inspect and exterminate rooms, and failed to recognize the signs of bed bug attacks.

The NY Times reports that a whistleblower lawsuit was fully dismissed against Infosys.  The whistleblower is an idled Infosys employee working in the US who reported H1-B visa fraud and was subsequently denied promotions, demoted, and eventually idled.  After the internal report to his supervisors, the whistleblower plaintiff received at least five threats. 

While these facts may succeed in Illinois, the judge in Alabama found that their state law did not support a retaliation claim.  The standard in Alabama is that the retaliation must be “so severe that no reasonable person could be expected to endure it.”

The Chicago Tribune has reported an amusing, but common, story of neighbors who use their respective property in incompatible ways that create conflict.  According to a lawsuit filed, likely based on nuisance, breach of contract, and violations of the Condominium Property Act, 765 ILCS 605/1 et seq., a set of owners that had a condo in the building before the new owner ("Cat Lady"), have allergies to cats.  Cat Lady has allegedly accumulated 20 cats in her single bedroom condo.  The smell from the urine and feces has wafted, through shared ventilation, into the neighboring condos.  The affected condo owners have sent letters notifying both the Cat Lady and the association (and its Board) of the issue.  Even with notice, all parties failed to cure the issue and the offended parties sued.

The ABA Journal reports that a Massachusetts judge faces larceny charges after she misrepresented an item listed and sold through the popular online classifieds craigslist.com.  The judge told the buyer that her item, a kids playset, was in good working order and a complete set. The buyer discovered afterwards that those claims were false.  When the buyer attempted to return the set, the judge claimed she was not a store and would not accept the set back and that the item was being sold "as is."

Debt collectors are getting even more aggressive in the wake of the Great Financial Collapse of 2008.  As more and more Americans lose their jobs, homes, and livelihoods, debt collectors have expanded their "playbook" to collect on the debts created by the moribund economic state.

The Chicago Tribune has posted an article describing the aggressive, and often illegal, tactics that debt collectors have employed since 2008.  Some states, such as California, are pushing back through lawsuits, both public and private, as well as proposed new state laws to counter some of the more egregious tactics, including harassing phone calls, intimidation, and a flood of lawsuits where they mostly obtain judgments by default and seek to enforce their judgments by freezing assets or garnishing wages (if any).

The Chicago Tribune has an article about a Second District Appellate ruling, Spanish Court Two Condominium Association v. Lisa Carlson, that has remarkably altered the status quo in condominium law regarding a condo association's right, under the Forcible Entry and Detainer Act,  to seize an owner's condo for failure to pay association assessments until, through rental of the property, the assessment arrears are satisfied.   2012 Ill. App. LEXIS 544, *7-8 (Ill. App. Ct. 2d Dist. 2012); 735 ILCS 5/9-111 (West 2010).  

The novel issue in the case revolved around whether the owner can countersue and claim as an affirmative defense that the association's "failure to maintain the common elements of the property as required in the condominium instrument."  Id. at *8.

Everyday products injure consumers in ways that could and could not have been foreseen. All of the various products we encounter in daily life usually have some kind of a warranty, either express or implied, in their use and operation. Most people are familiar with warranties when an object breaks or injures someone.

A jury awarded a University of Michigan student $4.5 million based on the actions of a former Michigan assistant attorney general who wrote negatively about the student on his personal blog.

You know the old saying, an attorney who represents himself has a fool for a client.  Well, the foolish former assistant attorney general represented himself and stubbornly went down with his own ship.  Relying entirely on a First Amendment defense, he refused to accept a settlement offer to apologize and retract his comments that the student used alcohol to entire minors to have sex with him.

Employment litigation can often enter the news when it involves salacious or outrageous details, but newsworthy or not, not every employment dispute can be resolved through litigation.  Retaliatory discharge (or demotion) claims can often be messy, but employers are not allowed under Federal and Illinois law to retaliate against employees for protected conduct.  Employers can insulate themselves from liability by developing procedures and documentation.  We can discuss with any size company measures that protect everyone from potential harm.

The anti-retaliation provision of Title VII of The Civil Rights Act of 1964 ("Title VII") prohibits an employer from "discriminat[ing] against any of his employees . . . because he has made a charge" under Title VII.  42 U.S.C. § 2000e-3(a).  Title VII allows "a person claiming to be aggrieved" to file a charge with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (the "EEOC") alleging that the employer committed an unlawful employment practice, and, if the EEOC declines to sue the employer, the statute permits a civil lawsuit to "be brought . . . by the person claiming to be aggrieved . . . by the alleged unlawful employment practice."  42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5 (b), (f)(1).