Blog

May 15, 2014 In Blog

Buyer Beware: “Humanely Raised” Meat and Poultry Might Not Be Cruelty Free

Peter aka anemoneprojectors – camera busted! via photopin cc By Leslie Brueckner Senior Attorney Have you ever paid more for chicken, beef, or pork because the package label said the animal was “humanely” or “sustainably” raised? I know I have. Well guess what? Turns out…

May 7, 2014 In Blog

Top Three Wage-Law Violators Are Fast Food Franchises

Thomas Hawk via photopin cc By Sarah Belton Cartwright-Baron Attorney Subway, McDonald’s, and Dunkin’ Donuts. Each company sells fast food to the public. Each company is doing well financially. And, according to data from the U.S. Department of Labor analyzed by CNN Money, they represent…

May 6, 2014 In Blog

Democracy Works Again: Second Company in Two Weeks Drops Threat to Customer Rights

Steve Rhodes via photopin cc By Aidan O’Shea Communications Specialist Another corporation has just noticed you’d like to keep your basic legal rights, please. For the second time in as many weeks, a company’s attempt to rip away a fundamental right from consumers ended after…

April 30, 2014 In Blog

Stolen Wages: Coming to a Workplace Near You

photo credit: WisconsinJobsNow via photopin cc By Vicky Ni Senior Attorney What do fast-food workers and high-tech workers have in common? Neither have any bargaining power in their workplaces or in their industry, as Pandodaily’s Mark Ames has recently observed. Both have wages stolen from…

April 22, 2014 In Blog

Winning the Fight to Protect Citizens from Sewage Sludge

By Jim Hecker Director, Environmental Enforcement Project A Pennsylvania appeals court has revived a nuisance lawsuit by 34 Pennsylvania residents who claim that the spread of 23 million pounds of sewage sludge on a neighboring farm created a repulsive, nauseating stench similar to that of a…

April 20, 2014 In Blog

Democracy Works: General Mills Drops Forced Arbitration After Outcry from Consumers

By Paul Bland, Senior Attorney@PblandBland Last week, General Mills was the latest corporation to adopt a forced arbitration clause – language that says that its customers can’t sue it or take it to court if they believe the corporation has cheated or injured them, but instead…

April 15, 2014 In Blog

Predatory Payday Lenders Try to Hide Behind Indian Tribal Immunity; Public Justice Urges High Court Review

By Leslie Bailey, Staff Attorney and Paul Bland, Senior Attorney In their quest to prey on vulnerable low-income consumers, internet payday lenders are now trying to use Indian tribal immunity to avoid being held liable under California’s consumer protection laws. We are urging the California…

April 7, 2014 In Blog

Hot Enough for You? The Scary Link Between Factory Farms and Global Warming

By Leslie Brueckner, Senior Attorney You’ve been hearing a lot from me lately about all the problems caused by the rampant overuse of antibiotics in the industrial animal industry. What I haven’t talked about yet is another equally scary problem that has been linked to factory…

April 4, 2014 In Blog

Fighting for Access to Justice, Part 2

Michelle Nemphos wanted to protect her child. What she found herself in was a little-understood legal fight for her right to a day in court. The Nemphos case highlights why Public Justice takes on cases to fight for the people we represent, protect and advance…

April 4, 2014 In Blog

Coal Ash Cleanup at Little Blue Run Requires Highest Bond Ever

By Richard Webster, Power-Cotchett Attorney, Environmental Enforcement Project The cleanup of the 1,000-acre Little Blue Run wet coal ash impoundment, the largest in the United States, took another step forward yesterday with the announcement that Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has approved the closure permit…