Author Archives: Kristen Povolny

Billion Dollar Divorce for Oklahoma Oil Man

Money

Harold Hamm, named by Forbes as the 24th richest man in the world, is set to pay one of the biggest divorce settlements in history to former wife Sue Hamm. Mr. Hamm owns the largest piece of the nations most oil-rich land in North Dakota. “Mr. Hamm, who has described himself as “more hardheaded than other people,” did not have a particular document that is all but standard now whenever tycoons wed: a prenuptial agreement”. After the 9-week trial, Sue Hamm will now be amongst the richest women in the country. Mr. Hamm is required to pay his ex-wife one-third of the total settlement ($320 million) by the end of this year. Read More

Calling All Energy Drinkers!

Wings not included!

Contrary to popular belief, Red Bull does not actually give you wings. “The energy drink company recently agreed to pay consumers more than $13 million to settle a proposed U.S. class-action suit accusing the beverage maker of false advertising”. Anyone who purchased one can of Red Bull between January 1, 2002 and October 3, 2014 is entitled to $10 cash, or $15 in Red Bull products. There is no proof of purchase required to be included in the settlement. Final court approval of the proposed payouts is set to be decided May 1, 2015.  Read More

Exonerated Man Dies Suddenly Before Settlement

Locked up

55 year-old William Lopez was exonerated of a 1989 murder conviction in January 2013. Witness reports charged Lopez with the murder of a drug dealer, although no physical evidence was ever found. After 23 years in prison, “Jeffrey Deskovic Foundation for Justice, helped connect Lopez with his legal team and highlight his case”. The evidence that initially convicted Lopez was weak to begin with, one witness statement was even later recanted. A federal civil lawsuit was set to begin Tuesday October 1, demanding $124 million for false imprisonment. Read More

Snapchat Settles With Ousted Co-Founder

But first…

After a long legal battle, Snapchat has come to a settlement with Reggie Brown, who claimed he was a third co-founder of the wildly successful company. “His suit alleged that he had been a third co-founder alongside CEO Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy, the technology chief, and that they had kicked him out one month before the photo-sharing app launched in July 2011″. Spiegel and Murphy recently admitted that they did not come up with the idea for Snapchat on their own, and Brown was involved in the process. The company is now valued at $10 Billion, when Brown filed the lawsuit in February 2013 it was valued at $70 million. The terms of the settlement have not been released.

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Subway Franchise Facing Lawsuit for Unpaid Overtime

A toasted lawsuit

A former Subway employee has filed a lawsuit in Washington D.C. against his former employer for unpaid overtime wages. Erwin Zambrano Moya claims that his employer created fictional workers and put some of his hours worked under these “other employees” to avoid paying the additional overtime wages. ” According to the complaint, the owner accomplished this, in part, by paying Moya as if he were multiple workers, thereby keeping the real Moya under 40 hours each week”. Moya stated that he worked up to 70 hours per week, and should have been paid time and a half for 30 of those hours worked. Half of the hours worked were recorded under Moya, and half under another fictional employee name.

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