Jones Brown Law Blog

Party City Corporation, a Rockaway, N.J.-based national discount and costume retailer, will pay $155,000 and provide other nationwide and regional relief to settle a discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today. The EEOC’s lawsuit, filed in September 2018, charged that Party City violated federal law by failing to hire a qualified employee with a disability at its Nashua, N.H., location after it became aware that she required a job coach as a reasonable accommodation for her disability. According to the... Read More →

Map Pesqueira said he came to UT to pursue his dream of becoming a filmmaker and serving in the army. He was awarded a national three-year Reserve Officers’ Training Corps scholarship to help fund his studies. However, Pesqueira is a transgender man, and under President Donald Trump’s new policy banning transgender people from serving in the military, effective last Friday, Pesqueira is not allowed to serve in the military. Therefore, the U.S. Department of Defense voided his scholarship, Pesqueira said. He may not be able to continue his education at UT because he cannot afford it.... Read More →

The two men who operate the Oklahoma Predator Prevention say that their only mission is to keep Oklahoma kids safe but, now, the men are who try and expose sexual predators to the law, are facing the law. NBC made Chris Hanson famous for identifying, then setting up and busting active internet sexual predators that were on the prowl. We saw both professional and blue-collar men show up at a strange house with liquor, drugs, and sex toys in hand ready to meet and engage with a 13-year-old girl. When busted they would cry, beg and plea with Hanson not to “ruin their lives,” by... Read More →

Divorce is complicated when you have all the facts, but it is even more complicated when you do not. Your spouse may have taken care of the finances throughout the marriage, and now you may not feel confident that you know key facts necessary for an equitable divorce. Adding to the confusion, some spouses try to hide assets during divorce proceedings. How can you know whether or not your spouse is honestly presenting you with all of your assets? Hidden Assets People can hide assets in a number of different ways. Here are some of the common ways that your spouse may try to hide assets:... Read More →

There is a new scam that you need to be aware of, especially if you have older relatives. The phone rings a lot at Sandra Hampel’s home. Robocalls to her cell phone mostly. No kidding. While we were there she received the 12th and 13th so far and the day was still young. So as you might imagine, she’s long since learned to ignore most and screen all, accepting only familiar numbers and remaining skeptical of the rest. Last week, though, she found a message on her land line’s voicemail. It was different and it began with a threat. “We suspect it is an identity... Read More →

William Barr, U.S. Attorney General, said he was ordering Justice Department offices to investigate possible discrimination targeting gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender employees following an internal gay affinity group complained of low morale. In a letter to the DOJ dated April 4th, Barr said he was “troubled” by the group’s concern, and was directing the FBI and the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to “investigate and address allegations of discrimination.” Barr also released a formal Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) statement declaring that no department... Read More →

Oklahoma Bed Bug Infestation Bed Bug infestations are a legitimate concern in Oklahoma and in many areas in the United States. In fact, the Rogers County Courthouse here in Oklahoma was recently evacuated and closed for two days surrounding an attorney that reportedly had bed bud swarming all over his briefcase and clothes. These infestations could result in the loss of thousands of dollars. Furniture, clothing, and electronics all must be incinerated to dispose of these menacing bugs. Whether you have encountered bed bugs in an apartment, hotel, motel, public facility, or another... Read More →

Just two days after 10-year-old RaNiya Wright was so severely injured in a classroom fight she had to be airlifted to a hospital, where the fifth-grader later died, has people asking tough questions. Forest Hills Elementry School in Waterloo, South Carolina saw its parents gather in a library Wednesday evening where the conversation was focused on bullying that is going on at the school. “The school has yet to notify any of the parents except the ones involved that something happened. We all found out on social media,” Forest Hills parent Paige Garris said, according to WCIV. “People on... Read More →

Tax season is here and the refunds are rolling out. If you are expecting your tax refund and you should happen to get double what you are expecting back, don’t plan a spending spree just yet. 66,000 Louisiana resident taxpayers recently discovered they received double their state tax refund. According to WAFB-TV in Baton Rouge, Louisiana has accidentally paid double tax refunds to some of its residents totaling almost $26 million. Jacques Berry, a spokesman for the Division of Administration told the CBS-affiliate that the state is the process of trying to recover the money. The... Read More →

It looks as if the long-fought battle in the courts between UBER and its drivers could be coming to an end. The ride-hailing company has agreed to pay $20 million to settle a lawsuit first instigated by drivers nearly six years ago. According to drivers for the company, they are employees of the company and not contractors as UBER sees them, and therefore they should be entitled to expenses and wage protections. UBER’s proposed settlement sees drivers receive a payout for expenses, but will not change their status as independent contractors. The settlement amount is considerably... Read More →

An airbag inflator made by Takata and used by Honda that was once believed to be safe has now come under fire after a crash and explosion in Maryland injured the driver of a minivan that was made by Honda. This incident in Maryland has forced the auto titan to recall more than 1.1 million vehicles in North and Central America from 2001 to 2016 model years to replace inflators that had not been included in the massive string of Takata recalls for airbags that can hurl shrapnel into the passenger compartment. Takata used ammonium nitrate to create a small explosion and inflate airbags in a... Read More →

An Oklahoma man is demanding answers after he said a man driving uninsured and without a license hit his car but is not facing any major repercussions. Antonio Vasquez-Romero was driving to work last week when he claims that a man driving eastbound along I-44 slammed into his car. “I can’t get on the highway now. I’m just so scared. I don’t like driving period now,” Vasquez told News 4. A few physical pains aside, Vasquez-Romero said that he considers himself rather lucky. Vasquez-Romero’s new car however not so lucky. The repairs are going to cost him... Read More →

In June 2018, in Bradenton, Florida, a Gulf Coast community south of Tampa. A couple answered their front door after hearing an officer’s knock and soon realized something strange was happening. Bradenton Police Seargent Leonel Marines was standing at the door and asked if he could speak with the couples adult daughter. Sgt. Marines had momentarily encountered the young woman earlier that day in a parking lot and then followed her home. Now, standing at the parent’s door, Sgt. Marines, 36, said that he needed to speak with the couple’s daughter due to a “domestic... Read More →

Several franchisees of the popular IHOP restaurant chain in Nevada and New York will pay $700,000 and furnish other relief to settle a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today. The U.S. District Court of Nevada has approved a consent decree filed by the EEOC. According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, IHOP owners, supervisors, managers, and co-workers subjected female employees to ongoing egregious sexual harassment in both Nevada and New York locations. The harassment included groping;... Read More →

Commercial Truck Accidents Did you know there are over eleven million trucks operating actively across the United States, many with overworked drivers carrying hazardous materials? In 2016 alone, there were 475,000 large truck accidents with human error accounting for roughly ninety percent of them. And while a Harvard study found that about a quarter of drivers have fallen asleep at the wheel, 50% of professional truck drivers have reported the same issue. With so many drivers relying on highways to get to work every day, it takes just one overworked truck driver for your life to change... Read More →

Earlier this month, seven men and women sitting on a federal jury in San Jose, California unanimously found in favor of Mark Pajas Sr., 56, who died while in custody of the Monterey County Jail on January 20, 2015. The jury found that the county of Monterey did, in fact, violate Pajas’ right to adequate medical care under the United States Constitution when Monterey County Sheriff’s Office deputies failed to adequately monitor Mr. Pajas as he detoxed from heroin, resulting in Pajas’ death within twenty hours of his arrival at the Monterey County Jail in January of 2015.... Read More →

A January 28 drug raid that left 2 people dead and 5 officers injured is surrounded with questions. An incomplete search warrant led to the drug raid that has left 2 people dead and 5 Houston Police Department officers injured. Officer David Goines, of the Houston Police Department, obtained a search warrant by using an unnamed confidential informant to confirm that drugs were being sold in a Houston home. After the shooting occurred, Goines named informants to investigators. Those informants told authorities that they had worked with the officer “in the past on several narcotics... Read More →

Serial Killer Samuel Little Draws Pictures of Victims. Now the FBI Needs Your Help Identifying Them The hand-drawn pictures of women that have come from the mind of the confessed serial killer Samuel Little are haunting – especially when you consider that all of the women are dead by Little’s own hands. The FBI has released Little’s drawing with the hope that the women will be identified. The FBI has released 16 of Little’s portraits, all of them drawn from memory by Little. The bureau said in a statement that they hoped “someone – family member, former... Read More →

R Wings R Wild, LLC, doing business as Buffalo Wild Wings, will pay $30,000 to three claimants who were denied jobs in Little Rock, Arkansas and Del City Oklahoma because they are male, as a part of a sex discrimination lawsuit brought down by the U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced. According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, the company refused to hire males into bartender positions in Oklahoma and Arkansas. Sex discrimination violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The EEOC filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of... Read More →

A suitcase found Tuesday along a road in an affluent Connecticut town held horrifying contents – the body of a young woman, hands and feet bound. The woman was between the ages of 18 and 30, according to police, and her death is now the subject of a homicide investigation. According to police, the body was found 10 to 15 feet off the road in a suitcase around 8:15 a.m. by a town worker. Police described the body as being “restrained and constrained.” Crime scene where woman’s body was found in suitcase in Greenwich (Credit: News 12 Connecticut) The body and red suitcase... Read More →

For decades the Roman Catholic Church has had to deal with allegations of sexual abuse. One would only need to look as far as the brilliant and terrifying reporting in Boston done by the Spotlight team to know how serious this issue is. In Texas Thursday the Roman Catholic Church identified approximately 300 priests and other church officials accused of sexually abusing children. This announcement by the Church was one of the largest group of names ever disclosed by the Church as it faces United State and federal investigations into the church’s handling of allegations of sexual... Read More →

Five of Houstons finest were injured and two suspects killed in a Monday afternoon shooting. Three officers remain hospitalized but all the officers are in stable condition according to a statement made by Houston’s Police Cheif Art Acevedo. At approximately 5 p.m. shots rang out on the 7800 block of Harding Street in southeastern Houston. According to Cheif Acevedo, 58-year-old Rhogena Nicholas and 59year-old Dennis Tuttle were killed after they attacked Houston officers as they attempted to serve a warrant. According to Acevedo, Nicholas was shot while trying to take a weapon away... Read More →

 A federal jury rendered a verdict on Dec. 19, 2018 awarding $850,000 in compensatory and punitive damages to a female farm-worker at Favorite Farms in Dover, Fla., who was raped by her supervisor and reported it to police and management that same day, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced today. The evidence at trial showed that management at Favorite Farms, which primarily grows strawberries, failed to properly investigate the complaint, and instead sent the victim home from work without pay the next work day. Favorite Farms took no action against the... Read More →

Not surprisingly, given how much our nation’s elderly lean on the program, there’s no announcement that garners more attention than the annual cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, during the second week of October. Social Security is easily our nation’s most important social program. According to an analysis from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, it’s keeping more than 22 million people out of poverty each month, including 15 million-plus seniors, many of whom are reliant on their Social Security benefit check in some capacity to make ends meet. In simple... Read More →

In the small country town of Franklin, Indiana, residents are seeing an alarming number in the rate of childhood cancers. Franklin, Indiana, located in Johnson County is a sleepy suburb just south of Indianapolis and was once an industrial center. It is these industrial centers that are believed to be linked to toxic chemicals dumped by the factories that used to be the economic mainstay of the region. Parents in this region are taking the issue of these toxic chemicals with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Kari Reinhart is one of the parents looking to the EPA for assistance.... Read More →

The U.S. Supreme Court has cleared POTUS Trump’s administration to start barring transgender persons from serving their country in the armed forces. The justices voted 5-4, put a hold on a lower courts decisions that had previously blocked the administration’s planned ban from taking effect. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan dissented. By allowing the ban to take effect, the court gave Trump’s administration a clear victory and may have tipped their hand that they would ultimately uphold the restrictions. There have been open... Read More →

The government shutdown continues and there is no clear end in sight. Employees all over the U.S. have turned to odd jobs, food pantries and online fundraising since the shutdown began on December 21, 2018. There are an estimated 800,000 federal employees that are either furloughed or working without pay. Currently, there are approximately 1,800 campaigns to raise money for those affected by the stalemate between Trump and the Dems on the popular website GoFundMe, and according to GoFundMe spokesperson Katherine Cichy, the campaigns have raised close to $400,000 total. The campaigns are... Read More →

NFL drops dementia claims appeal in concussion case There have been some recent developments in a landmark concussion case involving the NFL. The league has dropped its appeal over dementia claims brought forth in a class action suit. This comes after lawyers for players accused the league of trying to delay payments and re-write $1 billion settlement . The league had originally asked to challenge some dementia diagnoses made by settlement approved doctors. A U.S. District Judge ordered doctors to justify their findings in contested cases. “The NFL had projected at that time,... Read More →

Patent Infringement Without a Patent The world-famous magician David Copperfield was sued by fellow magician Davis Roller for patent infringement. Mr. Roller alleged that he had patented his seemingly other-worldly powers and that Copperfield had used them without his permission. In fact, Roller had neither applied nor obtained a patent for these so-called powers. Of course, Copperfield’s legal team filed a motion to have the case dismissed due to the fact that Rolled owned no such patents, this brought an amended complaint from Roller. This time Roller alleged that Copperfield and... Read More →

Jayme Closs escaped the Wisconsin residence where she had been held captive and now a man arrested on suspicion of killing the teen’s parents and abducting her three months earlier. The teen flagged down a woman who was walking her dog to help authorities have reported. The case of 13-year-old Jayme Closs has inspired 1000’s of tips from the public and numerous searches that paid off when the teen helped herself to freedom Tuesday afternoon. FBI Special Agent Justin Tomomeo told reporters Friday during a press conference in the teen’s hometown of Barron: “In cases... Read More →

While the Republicans and Democrats argue over POTUS Trump’s wall, many federal workers are finding it hard to make ends meet without a paycheck thanks to the partial government shutdown now in its third week. Unpaid federal workers that consist of 380,000 furloughed employees and 420,000 people working without pay, ow somewhere in the neighborhood of $438 million dollars in mortgage and rent payments for the month of January, according to a report published by Zillow. Zillow senior economist Aaron Tarrazas stated: “Like Americans in the private sector, many federal employees... Read More →

The EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) says the former owner of a carwash near Annapolis used Hispanic workers as personal servants by requiring them to clean his house and then forced them to endure conditions on the job far worse than other employees all the while paying them less money. In a complaint filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, the EEOC said complaints about abusive treatment at the hands of David Podrog and Manager Kyle Decker started in 2006. Podrog, Decker and the new owners are all named in the lawsuit. The lawsuit charges that Hispanic employees... Read More →

Local authorities are reporting a Mexia Junior High School teacher was arrested Wednesday, accused of trying to arrange for men in Morocco to have sex with an underage family member. A joint investigation led by the Freestone County Sheriff’s Office and the McLennan County Sheriff’s Office has ended in the arrest of Amber Michelle Parker, 37, of Fairfield, Texas. The investigation started when family members, concerned about Parker’s intentions with the girl contacted police, according to a statement from Freestone County Sheriff Jeremy Shipley. Freestone deputies... Read More →

Houston, Texas: A gunman opened fire at a Texas Walmart on a car containing a mother and her three children. As a result, 7 -year-old Jazmine Barnes was killed. Jazmine’s mother told CNN: “I just want anybody, whoever, out there that knows anything about the murder of my daughter, to just please step up as if it was your own,” an emotional Christopher Cevilla told reporters on Monday. “Just put yourself in my shoes, in my family’s shoes.” Jazmine Barnes was shopping at a Houston-area Walmart with her mother and two siblings when gunfire broke out close... Read More →

There was an emergency reported Monday afternoon to the Lexington police department in Kentucky. A Krispy Kreme delivery truck was engulfed in flames on the side of the road and the department responded. After Lexington Police and Fire department had the situation under control, Police officials took the opportunity to not only laugh at themselves but the age-old adage that “police love doughnuts” as well. The police department took to their social media and wrote there were no injuries in the accident — except for some doughnuts. The box truck happened to be a Krispy Kreme... Read More →

One of the most talked about docuseries that is on Netflix would have to be “Making a Murderer.” The series now in its second season has bin binged by millions of people all over the world and the madness of the case continues to raise questions and be a source of debate over many a bartop and coffeehouse table. Retired Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Andrew Colburn is suing Netflix and “Making a Murderer” producers for defamation, saying that he has been subject to worldwide ridicule, contempt, and disdain since the release of the series three years... Read More →

Authorities in Oklahoma County say they are investigating a woman’s death after she died at the county jail. On Monday, officials with the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office announced that they were investigating the death of 24-year-old Sindi Lucille Spray. Investigators say Spray was arrested in Pottawatomie County for an outstanding warrant out of Oklahoma County. Officials say she was wanted for failure to appear on a misdemeanor charge of offering to engage in prostitution and a felony charge of using access to computers. She was booked into the Oklahoma County Jail on Dec. 13. Just... Read More →

Sandy Hook Elementary was evacuated this morning after receiving a bomb threat. According to the Newtown Police Department, it received a phone call around 9 a.m ET saying that a bomb was at the school. Officers were sent to the school to perform a search just a precaution as none of the officers in the department felt the threat was credible. Police Lt. Aaron Bahamonde said that the school was evacuated as a precaution and the school’s superintendent thought it best to send students and staff home for the day. It has been 6 years to the day since Adam Lanza, 20-years-old, walked... Read More →

Two months have passed since the horrific Texas bus crash that involved a group of Norman elementary school students, and now a battle over medical bills is underway. Jones Brown reported on the bus crash that took place in September involving the Cleveland Elementary 5th Grade field trip to Sea World. While the class was driving through Lampasas, Texas, the bus driver lost control, wrecked and rolled the bus multiple times. There were 25 students and three faculty members on the bus at the time of the accident. According to Norman Public Schools, five students and two faculty members... Read More →

A 58-year-old Ontario, Calif., woman who has already been awarded $3 million in compensatory damages is now entitled to $28 million more after age discrimination jury in Los Angeles Superior Court determined she faced repeated and pervasive age discrimination from her former employer. The jury decided defendants acted with malice against plaintiff and landed on the figure of $28 million during the punitive stage of the lawsuit. Comments against the plaintiff during her employment with the company allegedly included “We need younger workers here,” “Dumb female,” and “You are outdated.” The... Read More →

We reported earlier on the shooting death of an Alabama man, Emantic Bradford on Thanksgiving at an Alabama mall. According to a forensic examination commissioned by the family, Emantic Bradford was shot three times from behind by police that night. The announcement came by way of a press conference on Monday, and the new information is telling the family and their attorneys that Emantic was running away from the police that night and therefore posed no threat to the officer that shot him. Enmatic Fitzgerald Bradford, 21, was fatally shot in the middle of a chaotic, panic-stricken crowd... Read More →

The holidays are upon us and that means shopping, shopping, and more shopping. Malls, stores, and businesses will be inundated with shoppers, and just as the number of shoppers increases, so does the number of accidents that can and will happen. It’s sad but true: Most people will suffer a slip and fall accident at some point in their lives. Sadder yet: The accident likely won’t even be their fault. Because slip and falls can happen anywhere—and to anybody—it’s important to know what steps to take following an accident. By law, buildings, homes, parking lots, and... Read More →

Nothing could have surprised a blind couple, Cynthia Morales and her boyfriend Linwood Boyd, when a routine trip to their local Walmart in Owing Mills, Maryland, in 2017,  ended with the police being involved. That is exactly what happened whenever Morales tried to use one of the self-service checkout kiosks located at the retail titan’s Maryland store. The entire premise behind these self-service kiosks that you will find in Walmart locations all over the U.S. is to offer shoppers an alternative to waiting in line for a cashier. The kiosks do offer shoppers some... Read More →

One child had died and at least 45 other children were injured after a youth football team bus traveling from Texas to Memphis, Tennessee, crashed in the early morning hours Monday. According to a press release from the Arkansas police, the charter bus was traveling on Interstate 30 near the city of Benton, Arkansas., around 2:40 a.m. Monday morning when it left the surface of the road and overturned. The bus was carrying the Orange Mound Youth Association’s football team, which had attended an All-Star game in Dallas, Texas during the weekend. The team was on its way back to... Read More →

A Dallas grand jury has indicted a former Dallas police officer, Amber Guyger for murder. Guyger allegedly shot and killed Botham Jean, an unarmed black male at his apartment on September 6. Guyger shot and killed Jean in his apartment after returning from a late night shift. According to Guyger’s arrest affidavit, she entered Jean’s apartment thinking that she was entering her own apartment and that she shot and killed Jean because she thought he was an intruder in her apartment. Guyger’s apartment was actually located on the floor directly above Jean’s apartment.... Read More →

Four St. Louis police officers were indicted on Federal charges this week in connection with the assault of an undercover officer during the Jason Stockley court ruling protests that took place in 2017. The four St. Louis Metropolitan Police officers that are named in the indictment are Dustin Boone, 30, Bailey Colletta, 25, Randy Hays, 31, and Christopher Meyers, 27. All four of the officers have been suspended without pay from the St. Louis Metropolitan Police force. In a statement to the press, Public Safety Director Jimmie Edwards praised the department and its dedicated officers by... Read More →

EEOC Sues Kansas City Wedding Venue for Retaliation Against Black Employee ST. LOUIS – 28 Event Space, LLC, a popular Kansas City, Mo., wedding event space in the Crossroads district, violated federal law by retaliating against a black employee for supporting a coworker’s claims of race discrimination, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today. According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, Doug Lytle, owner of 28 Event Space, retaliated against Theopilis Bryant, who is African-American, after Bryant was a witness in an earlier race... Read More →

In November of 2017,  A Claremore doctor, Orthopedic Surgeon Dr. Jeremy Thomas was under investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Rogers County District Attorney’s Office. When investigators contacted the Dr., they were surprised that Dr. Thomas admitted to writing prescriptions to patients for hydrocodone pills with the understanding the patients would give him some of the pills in return. Thomas gave investigators permission to search his phone and that they found text messages revealing he would engage in drug deals at various locations in Claremore, including... Read More →

Did you know that injuries following a car accident might not rear their ugly head for some time following the initial wreck? That’s right, car accident victims do not always know the full extent of their injuries for hours, days and even weeks after a wreck. The actual collision itself will cause the body to be rushed by adrenaline, and this rush will often mask the symptoms that you might feel otherwise. These delayed symptoms can make it very difficult to receive compensation for car accident-related injuries. However, delayed injuries are common following a car accident and you... Read More →

Thanksgiving is a time when families give thanks for all the many blessing that they enjoy in life. They unite to break bread, spend time with family and of course shop until you drop.  This was not the case for a family in Alabama who’s Thanksgiving day turned into a nightmare. An Alabama police officer fatally shot and killed a 21-year-old black man, Emantic Fitzgerald Bradford Jr., on Thursday night at a mall near Birmingham, turning a festive holiday shopping scene into a tragedy. Late Thursday evening, the holiday hustle and bustle of the Riverchase Galleria in Hoover, about 10... Read More →

No one knows his name, in fact, nothing is known about a mystery man that visited a Vermont Walmart on November 15th, 2018 and paid for a lot of families Christmas list items – including layaway item for customers who were not even there. As one shopper, Julie Gates approached the register with a delivery box a man asked if “she was putting anything on layaway.” She said yes, referring to the package she was carrying, but she was not done with her shopping yet. The man told her he’d wait until she was done and then he would pay for everything. Gates chuckled to... Read More →

Holiday Travel Safety Tips 2018 Are you and your family planning to drive to a holiday get-together this year? Whether you’re heading to Grandma’s cottage or a favorite vacation spot to celebrate holidays with family or friends, Jones Brown Law has simple tips to help make your drive a smooth one, so you can arrive at your destination safely and without incident. Ensure your vehicle is properly maintained. If maintenance is not up to date, have your car and tires inspected before you take a long drive. Map your route in advance and be prepared for busy roads during the most popular times... Read More →

Chris Watts Receives Life Sentence For Killing His Two Daughters and Pregnant Wife Chris Watts sat in a Colorado court awaiting his fate with his mom telling him she loves him while the family of his deceased wife cursed his very existence. Judge Marcelo Kopcow gave Watts five life sentences, three consecutive and two concurrent, with no possibility of parole in the deaths of Watt’s two daughters and pregnant wife. Before the sentence was handed down, Judge Kopcow called the case “the most inhumane and vicious crime that I have handled out of the thousands of cases that I have... Read More →

Applebee’s Franchisee to Pay $100,000 To Settle EEOC Sex Discrimination and Retaliation Suit Apple-Metro, Inc. and Hawthorne Apple, LLC, which operates a franchise of the popular restaurant chain Applebee’s Neighborhood Bar & Grill in Hawthorne N.Y., will pay $100,000 and furnish other relief to settle a lawsuit for sex-based harassment and retaliation filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced. According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, restaurant staff verbally harassed the employee, a transgender woman, making crude and... Read More →

Oklahoma Jury Delivers $25.5 Million Dollar Verdict Against Insurance Titan Aetna An Oklahoma jury has decided that the family of a cancer patient who was denied coverage by Aetna will be rewarded $25.5 million. The jurors said that the insurer Aetna, acted “recklessly” and the verdict was meant to serve as a message for Aetna. The astounding $25.5 million dollar verdict is believed to be the largest “bad faith” case in Oklahoma history one court observer said, and could have a major impact across the U.S. for a form of cancer treatment called proton beam therapy.... Read More →

Jones Brown Law continues to report on the crash that killed three children at their bus stop in Indiana. Alyssa Shepherd is currently charged with three counts of reckless homicide and one count of passing a school bus when an arm signal device is extended causing bodily injury. The prosecutor in the case said the current charges the possibility of a maximum of 19 years. Shepherd is scheduled to appear in court today. The prosecutor declined to go on camera for local and national cameras but did say that this is an “unbelievable tragedy.” Detectives in the case spoke with... Read More →

Winter Driving Safety Tips 2018 Today the winter weather has arrived all over the nation and the slipping and sliding will begin. We here at Jones Brown want all of you to take a few minutes and refresh your knowledge on the best ways to make your way safely when driving conditions are less than favorable. Severe weather can be both frightening and dangerous for automobile travel. Motorists should know the safety rules for dealing with winter road emergencies. Avoid driving while you’re fatigued. Getting the proper amount of rest before taking on winter weather tasks reduces driving... Read More →

A California veteran who escaped the mass shooting in Las Vegas at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in October of 2017 was one of the 12 people murdered at Borderline Bar & Grill Wednesday, November 7th in Thousand Oaks, California. Telemachus Orfanos was one of those in attendance for “college country night” Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks, California when former U.S. Marine and veteran of the Afganistan war, Ian David Long entered the packed bar, deployed smoke devices and without muttering one word, began slaughtering patrons. Orfanos, 27, was ... Read More →

Scientists have been studying our genetic code to better determine why some people develop chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the Alzheimer’s-like disease that has been associated with sports and repeated hits to the head. Boston University’s CTE Center reports that a variant gene TMEM106B could influence why some people experience more severe forms of the disease than other in a newly released study. “Among people who have CTE, people with this [genetic] variation are 2.5 times more likely to develop dementia,” said Dr. Jesse Mez, assistant professor of neurology... Read More →

Hundreds Attend Vigil for Girl Scouts, Mother Killed Collecting Trash from Side of the Road in Wisconsin For the families and residents of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin there is a dark cloud looming and the sadness was palpable Sunday night as hundreds gathered to remember the four lives that were taken in the flash of an eye in a hit-and-run crash. The victims, three young girls scouts and a proud mother were killed Saturday while cleaning garbage out of a ditch in Lake Hallie, Wisconsin. Police reported to CBS News that 21-year-old Colten True was driving a pickup that left the road and hit... Read More →