A federal judge on Thursday advanced three lawsuits claiming a Bay Area city’s ban on the handling and storage of coal and petroleum coke is based on faulty science, preempted by federal laws and interferes with foreign and interstate commerce.
Read moreFollowing a similar suit by police unions, labor reps for state troopers and correctional officers sued Wednesday to overturn New York City’s ban on chokeholds. They say the ban criminalizes the maneuver even if no injury occurs, and that it encroaches on the authority of the state police superintendent.
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The city of Berkeley’s five-year battle with the wireless industry over cellphone radiation warnings came to a head Thursday before a federal judge, who will decide whether the city’s 2015 ordinance requiring retailers to provide guidance on avoiding radio-frequency exposure is pre-empted by federal law.
Read moreAn emergency regulation in New York limiting “risk adjustment funding” for health care insurers was preempted by the Affordable Care Act, the Second Circuit ruled.
Read morePushing to defeat a class action claiming Apple failed to warn consumers about dangerous radiation from iPhones, an Apple attorney told a federal judge Thursday that bringing the case to a jury will undermine the Federal Communications Commission’s authority.
Read moreR.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. et al. sued Edina, Minn. in federal court, claiming its ban on sales of flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes, is preempted by federal law.
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A federal judge tossed with prejudice an influential anti-tax group’s challenge to California’s state-sponsored retirement plan for private workers.
Read moreA federal court in Ohio ruled in favor of a class of Sudanese refugees, finding that the state’s policy denying driver’s licenses to individuals who hold a valid refugee admission form that is more than two years old is pre-empted by federal law. The REAL ID Act does not require an I-94 to be issued within the last two years to prove lawful presence in the country.
Read moreA group of California truck drivers may pursue their claims that federal rules on interstate commerce preempt a labor law that makes it more difficult for companies to classify workers as independent contractors, a federal court in the state ruled. However, the driver’s dormant Commerce Clause and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration preemption claims were dismissed.
Read moreThe National Labor Relations Board sued Oregon in federal court, claiming its 2010 law against “Discrimination for nonparticipation in employer-sponsored meetings about religious or political matters” is pre-empted by the National Labor Relations Act, which allows for mandatory meetings.
Read moreA landmark California labor law barring mandatory arbitration agreements remains in doubt as a federal judge on Friday extended a ban of the bill business groups claim would shatter longstanding hiring practices and flood the courts with employment disputes.
Read moreA new California law banning private prisons in the state interferes with federal supremacy by blocking the U.S. government from detaining undocumented immigrants in privately run facilities within the state’s borders, a private prison firm claims in a lawsuit filed Monday.
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Granting a last-second motion brought by a host of business groups, a federal judge on Monday halted a pro-worker California law set to take effect Wednesday that would bar new mandatory arbitration agreements.
Read moreThe National Electrical Manufacturers Association sued the California Energy Commission in federal court, claiming its energy conservation standards for five types of light bulbs are pre-empted by federal laws.
Read moreThe Supreme Court declined Monday to hear a case over Voice Over Internet Protocol regulations, but two justices called for another case to test whether states can step in the absence of federal law.
Read moreA lawyer for Kansas faced an uphill battle Wednesday in defending identity-theft charges against undocumented workers who use other people’s Social Security numbers to gain employment.
Read moreThe BNSF Railway sued the cities of Edmond and Davis, Okla., and the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, claiming the state’s “Blocked Crossing Statute,” limiting the time a railroad can block a road crossing, is pre-empted by federal law.
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