Tag Archives: federal

The Fire Rises: Hells Angels Lawsuit Heats Up

Fire rises

Hells Angels, the infamous motorcycle group from southern California, are filing suit in federal court against the United States. The dispute stands over the US’s ban of foreign members of the gang entering the country. Members of the Hells Angels have been convicted of multiple crimes, including drug trafficking, extortion, and other felonies in North America, South America, Europe.  The U.S. has classified the Hells Angels as a “known criminal organization,” but due to the suit the government is in the process of fielding the request for an injunction in which they cannot associate the Hell’s Angels with violence and crime.

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A pregnant woman, by Flickr user "karolajnat", licensed via Creative Commons.

Maternity Leave No Reason to Discriminate for Mortgage Insurer

Maternity v. Mortgage

The mortgage insurer MGIC Investment Group has settled a federal lawsuit alleging that they refused to sell mortgage insurance to women on maternity leave.  The suit claimed that the company required 70 women to return to work before they would sell them the insurance, which “allows homebuyers to take out loans with down payments of less than 20%”, according to the Wall Street Journal.  Yesterday, the company settled for $550,000, with $511,000 to be compensation for the women and $39,000 as a civil penalty to the government.  In addition, MGIC will have to train its employees on discrimination law and revamp its policies concerning customers on maternity leave.  The company has also entered a preliminary settlement in a related class action suit in order to avoid spending any more money on a lawsuit they will likely lose.

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Foreclosure Settlement Finally Official

It’s gone. It’s done. I can see the Shire.

The US District Court judge for the District of Columbia signed off, finally, on the big $25 billion foreclosure settlement between five banks, the federal government, and most of the states.  On Wednesday, Judge Rosemary Collyer approved the settlement, which was announced two months ago.  The $25 billion settlement will be divvied up by the states and is suggested to be used to ease financial burden on improperly foreclosed homes and help pursue negligence in the future.  However, as I’ve mentioned before, some states are going to use it for whatever they feel like.  Georgia in particular is using the money to support local infrastructure, presumably telling the federal government “you can’t tell me what to do, you’re not my real dad”, slamming its door and hiding under the covers afterwards.

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