The Supreme Court's decision to throw out a sex-discrimination suit by a large group of female Wal-Mart employees may look like a mere procedural decision about the rules for class-action lawsuits. But it is in fact a much bigger deal: it significantly shifts power from workers to big employers. The ruling on Monday in Wal-Mart Stores v. Dukes puts a halt to a class-action lawsuit that could ultimately have included as many as 1.5 million current and former ...

Have two sisters ever been closer than Tricia and Julie Nixon? Tied by bonds of family, forged by political fires, they endured as daughters of the only American President to resign; they smile or wave or cry together in a thousand pictures, standing by their father and each other. Each was maid of honor for the other. Tricia, 56, says she trusted her sister so much that when Julie was writing her highly praised book about their ...

A new lawsuit alleges that convicted swindler Bernie Madoff financed a cocaine-fueled work environment and a "culture of sexual deviance," and he diverted money to his London, England, office when he believed federal authorities were closing in at home. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in New York's State Supreme Court, was brought on behalf of former investors and seeks unspecified punitive damages and compensation. Beyond that, it offers a look at what the plaintiffs' attorneys say was once Madoff's multimillion-dollar empire ...

Eric Dane and wife Rebecca Gayheart are suing the pants off the parent company of a blog that posted their nude tape last month. The couple, who appeared in the 12-minute home video with former teen beauty queen Kari Ann Peniche, 25, are suing Gawker Media for copyright infringement for more than $1 million. Nick Denton, publisher of Gawker, responded in a Twitter message: "To quote the great Marty Singer -- Eric Dane's lawyer -- if you don't want a ...

Michigan's Supreme Court issued an order Tuesday allowing lower state courts to "exercise reasonable control" over the appearance of witnesses and parties, a rule change proposed after a Muslim woman refused to remove an Islamic garment in a small claims court. The order allows courts "reasonable control over the appearance of parties and witnesses" so as to "ensure that the demeanor of such persons may be observed and assessed by the fact-finder and ensure the accurate identification of such person." ...

The bountiful harvest of California strawberries, melons, grapes, peaches and nectarines overflows the nation's summer tables. But that luscious crop mostly emerges from farm workers who labor in flat fields under a scorching sun — and has a price higher than the grocery store bill. Every year many farm workers become sick, and some die. Typical of the fatalities was Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez, who was just 17. In May 2008, she died after picking grapes in Merced County ...

A member of Congress Friday called on the State Department to stop doing business with Xe, the North Carolina-based security company formerly known as Blackwater Worldwide. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Illinois, asked Secretary of State Hillary Clinton whether the State Department had just signed a new $20 million dollar contract with Xe for Iraq, saying she is "very concerned" that the State Department may be signing new security contracts with Xe, both in Iraq and Afghanistan. "I urge you not to ...

Somali pirates released a German cargo ship Saturday that they have held since May, the German Foreign Ministry said. The suit alleges white officers post on and moderate the privately operated site, Domelights.com, both on and off the job. Domelights' users "often joke about the racially offensive commentary on the site ... or will mention them in front of black police officers," thus creating "a racially hostile work environment," according to lawyers for the all-black Guardian Civic League, the lead ...

A group of black Philadelphia police officers filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against their department, alleging an online forum geared toward city police is "infested with racist, white supremacist and anti-African-American content." The suit alleges white officers post on and moderate the privately operated site, Domelights.com, both on and off the job. Domelights' users "often joke about the racially offensive commentary on the site ... or will mention them in front of black police officers," thus creating "a racially hostile ...

Massachusetts sued the U.S. government on Wednesday, challenging the constitutionality of a federal law that defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman. "We're taking this action today because, first, we believe that [the Defense of Marriage Act] directly interferes with Massachusetts' long-standing sovereign authority to define and regulate the marital status of its residents," Attorney General Martha Coakley said Wednesday afternoon. "Massachusetts has a single category of married persons, and we view all married persons equally ...