Illinois Deserves the Truth

Illinois News Roundup

Just over the state border in Whiting, Ind., federal regulators are taking BP to task for expanding its refinery in violation of the Clean Air Act.

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The Tribune rolled out an editorial about the shady connections between "unbiased" medical experts and the drug companies that pay them.

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Schaumburg-based Motorola must answer to former employees who claim toxic chemicals from their workplace caused birth defects in their children.

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In St. Louis, a sixteen-year-old girl was harassed online to the point that she had to seek help from a mental health clinic.  Her father is asking the court to force several social networking sites, which hosted the abusive exchanges, to help him find out exactly who was responsible.

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Another Chicago priest is accused of child molestation.  His victims brought a suit against him last year, and now he faces a criminal trial.

Illinois News Roundup

A coalition of Bridgeton, MO residents forced an airport in St. Louis to admit it broke federal regulations when it used a cheap method of asbestos-removal in tearing down houses.

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AFSCME is taking on Gov. Blagojevich over what they see as his illegal decision to close the correctional center in Pontiac.

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LA Times employees filed a lawsuit against Tribune Company CEO and Chicago pooh-bah Sam Zell over a moneymaking scheme that came at the expense of his employees.

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Various lawmakers held a town hall meeting in Marion about their VA medical center, where at least nine patients died from poor care.  At least one development came out of it:

Rep. Jerry Costello, an Illinois Democrat, told reporters Saturday he would push to have the government's final investigative findings sent to the Justice Department for consideration of criminal charges.

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In St. Louis, BJC Healthcare agreed to compensate uninsured patients who the hospital charged as much as three times more than patients with insurance.

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Thanks to the tenacity of environmental groups, ConocoPhillips has agreed to “green up” communities downstate.

Illinois News Roundup

Down in the southern Chicago suburb of Harvey, a terrible tragedy has the family of a fifteen-year-old girl seeking justice through the courts. After a school bus driver made the kids on her watch get off the bus and walk home, the girl was abducted and raped repeatedly by three masked men.  Her family is trying to hold the bus company and driver accountable for their negligence.

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This recent article from BusinessWeek is a disturbing read.  Lesson learned: before you pay a hospital bill, make sure it’s for services you actually owe.

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Chicago-based drug-maker Abbott got caught falsely reporting drug prices and has to pay Texans back $28 million.  These guys wouldn’t appear on our blog so often (like here) if they’d just stop defrauding people.

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The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed discrimination lawsuits in Illinois against two corporations.  One claims that management at Chicago’s Swissotel hotel mocked and eventually fired a learning-disabled janitor.  According to the other, a Rockford Wal-Mart illegally fired an employee because of her epilepsy.

Illinois News Roundup

I'm beginning to wonder if Chicago-based drug-maker Abbott Labs cares at all about its customers, its employees, or—God forbid—its public image.  First, a judge ordered them to stand trial for unlawfully slashing employee benefits packages. Then, they settled a lawsuit with AIDS patients after boosting the price of one of their HIV drugs by 400%.   Now, they’re laying off 1,000 workers in another "cost-cutting" move.  No news on whether those 1,000 will come from their sizable Illinois workforce.

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Yesterday, we posted on the Chicago Urban League's effort to reform our school funding system, which they say discriminates against blacks and Latinos.  Mayor Daley wasted no time in coming out in support of their lawsuit.

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The Belleville Diocese joins Chicago’s Archdiocese in cover-up.  A former diocesan official testified in court that the diocese hushed allegations of sex abuse and continued bouncing a suspected molester from parish to parish.  They let “bygones be bygones”, to use his phrase.  Not only that, but now the diocese says one of the victims cannot seek justice in court because his statute of limitations has expired.  Hmm.  It seems we've heard this argument before.  Lets not forget where that led…

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More fallout from the Marion VA horror story.  IL Rep. Jerry Costello reacted strongly to the VA’s latest report, which exposed negligent management at the hospital.  Costello says the Justice Department needs to step in and investigate what happened to the nine (or more) veterans who suspiciously died at the hospital.

“When an administrator hears about nine people dying in one of their hospitals, I’d be on a plane immediately saying ‘what the hell went wrong,’” he said. “That didn’t happen.”

We feel the same way.

 

Illinois News Roundup

Chicago drug maker Abbott Labs settled a lawsuit with AIDS patients over a 400% price hike of one of their HIV drugs.  The settlement will pay between $10 and $27 million. (Crain’s Chicago)

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United Airlines wasn't too pleased with their pilots' organized challenges to staff cutbacks.  The airline filed a lawsuit against the pilot's union yesterday in Chicago. (Tribune)

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This nurse's aide was found guilty of stealing almost $20,000 from an Alzheimer’s patient at an Elmhurst senior care center.  (Tribune)  Meanwhile, this nurse's aide stole $7,000 from a quadriplegic Chicago woman. (Sun-Times)

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Without serious reforms, climate change could cost Illinois at least $43 billion annually by the 2030s. (Tribune)

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Hartford, IL residents won a battle against yet another oil company responsible for leaving toxic waste under the town.  This time it's Apex Oil.  The cost of cleaning up their mess?  $150 million. (Belleville News-Democrat)

Abbott, Making Money off the Backs of its Workers

Drug-maker Abbott Labs is one of Chicago’s biggest corporations.  They've done well recently, punctuated this week by a second quarter profit increase of 21%.  Now, there is nothing wrong with honest businesses making an honest buck, but it’s upsetting to see dishonest companies turn that kind of profit.  Ironically, news of Abbott's big surge came just a day after a judge ordered them to stand trial on claims that they unfairly slashed employee benefits packages.

Hospira, a maker of injectable drugs for hospital patients, was sued in November 2004, seven months after it became an independent company, by three workers complaining they were lured by Abbott executives to join the new venture on the promise their benefits package wouldn't change. Hospira eliminated a retiree medical-benefit program immediately and its pension plan as of Jan. 1, 2005, the plaintiffs said.

Ten thousand Abbott workers in the U.S. left the North Chicago-based company for Hospira, the plaintiffs said. Both companies now must defend the suit at trial.

Pretty crass, especially when you consider that both Abbott and Hospira have plenty of dough to go around.  By the way, Abbott's head, Miles White, earned $24.6 million last year, which officially makes him the highest paid CEO in Gotham City.

Walmart Busted

The Wall Street Journal reported (subscription required) that Walmart has settled a disability lawsuit brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on behalf of a disabled pharmacy technician that was fired from her job.  The employee, who had worked for Walmart since 1993, was injured after sustaining a gun shot wound to her spine at another job in 1994.  Because of her injuries, she was forced to walk with a cane.  Walmart claimed that she could not perform her job with or without reasonable accommodation, which the EEOC investigation found false

As part of the settlement Walmart will pay the victim $250,000 and institute policy changes to its employment practices.

This is yet another example how lawsuits help bring about positive changes for all employees. 

There may be hope yet for the Supreme Court

Cross posted from The Pop Tort by John Guyette

From an AP story:

The Supreme Court found in favor of workers who were retaliated against after reporting race and/or age discrimination to their employer.  

The court, by a 7-2 vote, said a provision of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 covers claims of retaliation that follow complaints about discrimination on the basis of race. 

In a 6-3 ruling, the court likewise held that the part of the major anti-age bias law covering federal employees also protects them from retaliation after complaining about discrimination.

But lets not go too overboard praising this court.  Most of the time, they're more like the court in the satirical TV show, Boston Legal, before whom James Spader's character argued in a recent show. While his case concerned the death penalty, justifiably wound-up Spader told the "Roberts court" exactly what he thought of them - on the corporate side of things, too!  If only.  Check it out, for a truly vicarious thrill.

In the News: McDonald's settles sexual harrassment

McDonald's settled a sexual harassment suit today for $505,000.  The suit was brought by four former employees and alleged their manager made sexual advancements including, biting their breasts, grabbing their buttocks and making numerous sexual comments, when the girls were teens. 

The civil justice system strikes another blow for victims against powerful wrongdoers. 

Walgreen Settlement - Better Shape Up!

Here is yet another example of how the civil justice system helps us all.

A judge approved a settlement to a racial discrimination suit filed on behalf of 14 current and former African American employees of Chicagoland's Walgreen. The suit alleged that Walgreen would place their black mangers, management trainees and pharmacists in low performing stores or in stores in majority black areas, as well as deny these employees promotions based on race.  Under the terms of the settlement current and former black employees will split $20 million for damages and the company has to implement new employment policies to ensure fairness in employment and hiring practices.

Walgreen employs 230,000 people in its company.  Now all of these people will benefit from better and more fair place to work thanks the brave people who stood up against wrongdoing.