| Volume 100 Number 6 |
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The People’s Lawyer’s Tip of the Day
In Texas, it is unlawful for a business to charge more to someone who uses a credit card. On the other hand, it is legal to give a discount for someone who pays cash. Why? Credit card companies discount the amount they pay a merchant when you pay with a credit card. A store receives "more" when a customer pays cash. Giving a discount to cash customers is a way to treat both cash and credit card customers the same.
For more general information about the law, check out my website.
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Jury Awards $23.6B to Widow of Smoker
Last week, a jury in Florida awarded $23.6 billion to the widow of a smoker who died of lung cancer.
R.J. Reynolds, the defendant in the case, called the damages excessive, impermissible under the law, and unconstitutional. Saying the verdict is inconsistent with the evidence and goes beyond the realm of reasonableness, R.J. Reynolds plans to file motions to the court with the hope that it won't allow the verdict to stand.
Recently, the Supreme Court of the United States has refused to hear appeals from tobacco companies challenging large verdicts in death cases.
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New TSA Fees Start Today
New TSA (Transportation Safety Administration) fees start today. Previously, passengers paid $2.50 for a non-stop or $5.00 for a connecting flight. Now,
all passengers will be charged $5.60, with layovers of more than four hours counting as a separate flight. TSA has already received more than 300 comments criticizing the fee increase, but plans to leave the comment period open through August 19.
Is the fee increase unreasonable?
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Your Money
What are my business financial ratios?
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For the Lawyers
Arbitration provision did not cover dispute.
Plaintiff briefly had a checking account with Bank and had signed a signature card binding her to arbitration. Years after closing her account, plaintiff was injured in an automobile accident. The lawyer she retained allegedly embezzled plaintiff's portion of the settlement and she sued Bank, where the lawyer maintained his accounts, for negligence and conversion. Bank moved to compel arbitration based on the arbitration agreement.
On appeal, the Fifth Circuit noted that because the events leading to plaintiff's claim had nothing to do with her checking account opened years earlier for only a brief time, the notion that her claim falls within the scope of the arbitration agreement is "wholly groundless." The court stated that “The mere existence of a delegation provision in the checking account’s arbitration agreement, however, cannot possibly bind Douglas to arbitrate gateway questions of arbitrability in all future disputes with the other party, no matter their origin.”
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