| Volume 132 Number 8 |
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The People’s Lawyer’s Tip of the Day
If you have a dispute with someone over how much money you owe, a check marked, “accepted in full and complete satisfaction” can settle the dispute. If the check is cashed you will not owe any additional money. But if the amount you owe in not in dispute, putting payment in full on a check has no legal effect.
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Tyson now says it will phase out all antibiotics in its chickens
Tyson Foods, the largest chicken producer in the United States, on Tuesday announced that it would completely phase out the use of any antibiotics in its livestock by June. The corporation framed their decision as one driven by market forces. Researchers warn that the overuse of antibiotics on farm animals could have a devastating effect on human health by creating antibiotic-resistant bacteria. By 2010, research suggested that as much as 80 percent of antibiotics sold in the United States went straight to farm animals. Already, government researchers have detected strains of bacteria resistant to antibiotics present in the meat on grocery store shelves.
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Your Money
4 Smart Ways to Spend a $1,000 Tax Refund: (1) Put the refund into a savings account (2) Use the refund to pay off credit card debt (3) Put the refund toward your retirement (4) Use the refund for car or home maintenance. Click here for more.
For the Lawyers
Luring consumers into switching to its service by offering teaser rates that are much lower than its regular rates is a claim under Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. The Seventh Circuit held that the consumer sufficiently alleged that an electric power company breached a contract and engaged in deceptive business practices since the consumer alleged that the company failed to comply with an offer to provide new customers lower rates and instead charged the consumer its prevailing rate for service. The Court further held that a district court had jurisdiction to consider a claim that an electric power company charged improper rates since a state agency did not have exclusive jurisdiction over such claim and the district court had jurisdiction to apply state law available to the state courts to address the claim. Zahn v. N. Am. Power & Gas, LLC (7th Cir. 2017). Click here for more.