DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

The deal ends nearly all of the litigation brought against the tobacco giant over Juul by local government bodies and individuals across the United States. Altria expects to record a pre-tax charge of $235 million in the second quarter of 2023 and intends to exclude it from adjusted earnings per share. As of December, its share of Juul was valued at $250 million, down from $12.8 billion in 2018. They said Altria helped the strategy by letting Juul use its sales force and place its products next to Altria's on shelves. Juul previously settled most of the cases against it, paying more than $1 billion to 48 states and territories and $1.7 billion to individuals and local government entities.

☆ Lawyer for Tiger Woods' ex-girlfriend, Erica Herman, alleges in court she has more details about sexual harassment claims against the golfer but says NDA is keeping her silent
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Under the federal law, judges can rule NDAs unenforceable in instances of sexual harassment or assault. Herman has alleged sexual harassment occurred during her relationship with Woods, both in how it started and how it ended. They've asked for the lawsuit to be dismissed and called the sexual harassment claims "utterly meritless." "A boss imposing different work conditions on his employee because of their sexual relationship is sexual harassment," Herman's attorneys argue in the court filing. She was then locked out of the house, away from her personal property and pets, court documents allege.

☆ Michael Cohen seeks damages from Trump, U.S. over prison return
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Karen Freifeld | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan that the judiciary has a responsibility to remediate the harm done by Trump and his subordinates. Liman said that while his decision did "violence" to Cohen's constitutional rights, Cohen was not entitled to damages under U.S. Supreme Court precedent. Michael Cohen, former attorney for former U.S. President Donald Trump, arrives to the New York Courthouse in New York City, U.S., March 13, 2023. Former U.S. Attorney General William Barr and various prison officials are also defendants in Cohen's lawsuit. He is also suing Cohen for $500 million in damages in federal court in Miami, accusing him of "spreading falsehoods" and failing to keep attorney-client communications confidential.

☆ Smartmatic could be Fox’s next big problem
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Jennifer Korn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —Fox News’ legal battle with Dominion Voting Systems is over. It now has to deal with Smartmatic, which is seeking billions of dollars more than its rival wanted in damages. Dominion wanted “only” $1.6 billion and settled with Fox for $787 million Tuesday. Both lawsuits focus on Fox News’ coverage of the 2020 election, including lies about voter fraud. “Dominion’s litigation exposed some of the misconduct and damage caused by Fox’s disinformation campaign,” Smartmatic lawyer Erik Connolly said in a statement after the settlement.

☆ Fox has more headaches coming after agreeing to pay $787.5 million to settle Dominion's defamation lawsuit
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

After shelling out $787.5 billion to settle Dominion's lawsuit, Fox has more troubles on the way. Atop the list is a separate lawsuit from Smartmatic, another election technology company that sued Fox News Network and its parent company, Fox Corp., in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election. Smartmatic's defamation lawsuit asks for $2.7 billion in damages and was filed against Fox Corp.; Fox News Network; hosts Jeanine Pirro, Maria Bartiromo, and Lou Dobbs; and Powell and Giuliani. Aside from the Smartmatic case, Fox News has to deal with potential shareholder lawsuits. The overall value of Fox Corp. — which also includes Fox Sports and the streaming service Tubi — is more than $17.6 billion.

☆ What’s next for Fox and Dominion? More lawsuits seeking accountability for corrosive 2020 election lies
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Marshall Cohen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Wilmington, Delaware CNN —Dominion Voting Systems’ blockbuster defamation case against Fox News is over after the right-wing network cuts a check for a staggering $787 million, but there’s still an avalanche of pending lawsuits that are seeking accountability from the right-wing figures who championed false claims about the 2020 election. Smartmatic, another voting technology company, sued Fox for defamation following the 2020 election and is seeking $2.7 billion in damages from Fox and other defendants. Dominion still has a bevy of pending lawsuits against 2020 election deniers. “All of those decisions will have a huge bearing on those lawsuits as they play out,” Dominion lawyer Davida Brook told CNN Tuesday night. Dominion lawyer Justin Nelson added in a CNN interview that the Fox News settlement “sends a message to the other seven lawsuits that accountability is coming.”

Members of the public wait to enter the Leonard Williams Justice Center where the Dominion Voting Systems defamation trial against FOX News is taking place on April 18 in Wilmington, Delaware. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images)The court is back in session after a lunch break and opening statements are expected to begin soon in the historic defamation lawsuit brought by election technology company Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News. Here’s what you need to know about the high-stakes case:Why is Dominion suing Fox News? The company alleges that people at Fox News acted with actual malice and "recklessly disregarded the truth" when they spread this disinformation about Dominion. According to Dominion’s theory of the case, Fox promoted these election conspiracy theories because "the lies were good for Fox’s business."

☆ Fox News settles with Dominion, averting defamation trial over its 2020 election lies
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Marshall Cohen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Wilmington, Delaware CNN —The judge just announced in court that a settlement has been reached in the historic defamation case between Fox News and Dominion Voting Systems. “The parties have resolved their case,” Superior Court Judge Eric Davis said. By settling with Dominion, influential Fox News executives and prominent on-air personalities will be spared from testifying about their 2020 election coverage, which was filled with lies about voter fraud. They denied Dominion’s claim that they promoted these election conspiracies to save their falling ratings after the 2020 election. While the Dominion case is now over, Fox News is still facing a second major defamation lawsuit from Smartmatic, another voting technology company that was smeared on Fox shows after the 2020 election.

What they alleged: Election fraud, algorithm flips, Venezuela ties, kickbacks. What they alleged: Election fraud, algorithm flips, Venezuela ties. #MAGA @realDonaldTrump #AmericaFirst #Dobbs,” Dobbs wrote. #MAGA #AmericaFirst #Dobbs,” Dobbs wrote. Key false quote: “Every outlet in the country, they go, ‘Mike Lindell, there’s no evidence, and he’s making fraudulent statements.’ No.

[1/2] A Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) sign is at the U.S. headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan, U.S. May 25, 2018. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook/File PhotoWASHINGTON, April 17 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a bid by General Motors Co (GM.N) to revive its racketeering lawsuit against rival automaker Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), now part of Franco-Italian automaker Stellantis NV , over bribery allegations involving the United Auto Workers union. Stellantis in a statement praised the court's decision to turn away what it described as "baseless claims" by GM. "Today's decision upholding the district court's dismissal of GM's lawsuit is another reaffirmation that its claims are meritless," Stellantis said. FCA paid a $30 million fine while the UAW agreed to independent oversight to resolve the U.S. Justice Department investigation.

☆ Fox News defamation trial will begin Tuesday, judge says, without explaining one-day delay
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Marshall Cohen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis said Monday that the delay in the Fox-Dominion defamation trial “is not unusual” and told the parties that he expects them back on Tuesday to finish jury selection and start the trial. “I made the decision to delay the start of the trial until tomorrow,” Davis said in court, later adding that “it’s a six-week trial. The high-stakes defamation trial against Fox News, initially set to begin with opening statements on Monday, was abruptly delayed on Sunday evening, in an eleventh-hour twist. What to know about the high-stakes trialThe historic defamation lawsuit brought against Fox News by Dominion Voting Systems could have significant ramifications for the right-wing cable channel. But in a major blow to the right-wing network last month, the judge overseeing the case allowed it to go to trial.

☆ Dominion can’t bring up January 6 at Fox News defamation trial, judge rules
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Marshall Cohen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Wilmington, Delaware CNN —Dominion Voting Systems can’t bring up the January 6 insurrection during its upcoming defamation trial against Fox News, a Delaware judge ruled Tuesday, who also revealed at a hearing that he has been receiving death threats. The judge ruled that Fox can’t bring up broadcasts where reporters accurately fact-checked Trump’s lies about the 2020 election, to prove that other broadcasts that amplified those lies weren’t defamatory. The judge also ruled that Fox can’t use internal Dominion emails where its staffers said their products “suck” and were “riddled with bugs,” to prove that there were real concerns about Dominion machines, and therefore Fox didn’t defame Dominion. The judge overseeing Dominion’s case against Fox News also revealed Tuesday that he has received death threats. If Dominion wins, it wants Fox to pay for the beefed-up security measures that it implemented after 2020.

☆ Dominion can force Murdochs to testify at Fox News defamation trial, judge says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Marshall Cohen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

Washington, DC CNN —Dominion Voting Systems can force Fox Corporation executives Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch to testify on the witness stand at this month’s scheduled defamation trial, a Delaware judge said Wednesday. Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis said at a hearing that if Dominion subpoenas the Murdochs to testify in person, he would not quash those subpoenas, and the Murdochs would need to show up. “They are relevant to the case… if Dominion wants to bring them live, they need to issue a trial subpoena, and I would not quash it,” Davis said. He added that “it would be my discretion that they come” to testify in-person at the trial, which is scheduled to begin later this month in Wilmington, Delaware. Fox News denies wrongdoing and says the case is a meritless assault against the First Amendment.

☆ Trump indictment pulls DeSantis-leaning Republicans back to MAGA fold
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Tim Reid | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

"Now I am absolutely voting for Trump," said White, 75, a composer and musician in Nevada. "The indictment was the last straw for me, because Trump has suffered so much political abuse. The reason was the indictment, Longwell added. Steven Cheung, a Trump spokesman, said in an email to Reuters that the charges had "surged" support for Trump. "Americans from all backgrounds are sick and tired of the weaponization of the justice system against President Trump and his supporters," Cheung said.

Trump asked Raffensperger to "find" enough votes needed to overturn Trump's election loss in Georgia. Only the Justice Department can decide whether to charge Trump, who has called the Democratic-led panel's investigation a politically motivated sham. Trump has accused the Justice Department of engaging in a partisan witch hunt. NEW YORK ATTORNEY GENERAL CIVIL LAWSUITNew York Attorney General Letitia James sued Trump and his Trump Organization last September for fraud. The second lawsuit could go to trial on April 25, after a U.S. judge in January called Trump's bid to dismiss it "absurd."

"Phhhoto has failed in its 69-page amended complaint of 222 paragraphs to allege sufficient facts that cure the untimeliness of all of its federal claims," Matsumoto wrote. The court declined to allow Phhhoto to fine-tune its case and bring another complaint. Phhhoto's lawsuit, filed in 2021, alleged Facebook aimed to "crush" the photo-sharing application, which called itself in court filings "an innovative nascent competitor." Facebook is defending against claims from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission in Washington, D.C., federal court that the company abused its personal social networking dominance. The case is Phhhoto Inc v Meta Platforms, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, No.

Companies Qualcomm Inc FollowMarch 21 (Reuters) - A federal judge has ruled that shareholders suing chip maker Qualcomm Inc (QCOM.O) for allegedly hiding anticompetitive sales and licensing practices may bring their claims as a class action. U.S. District Judge Jinsook Ohta on Monday rejected Qualcomm's argument that the sales practices were already publicly known. The class covers investors who bought Qualcomm common stock between Feb. 1, 2012 and Jan. 20, 2017 and incurred losses. Qualcomm paid the Korea Fair Trade Commission 1.03 trillion won ($912.34 million) in 2017 for what the regulator called unfair business practices in licensing and chip sales. The case is Shah v. Qualcomm Incorporated et al., U.S. District Court, Southern District of California, No.

March 20 (Reuters) - Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) Google has denied intentionally destroying evidence in the U.S. Justice Department's antitrust lawsuit over the company's search business, in a response to the government's bid for sanctions in federal court. The Justice Department last month alleged Google failed to preserve certain internal corporate "chat" communications. A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment on Monday. Mehta last year denied an earlier Justice Department bid for sanctions against Google over claims it was shielding too many documents from review. The case is United States v. Google LLC, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, No.

☆ The Rise of Kickback Capitalism
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Andy Kessler | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

“I’m a capitalist,” President Biden said in the State of the Union address. He then added, “But pay your fair share.” He’s missing the fashionable modifiers for capitalism: late, sustainable, patrimonial, state-directed. Real capitalism is, by definition, a meritocracy in which money flows to those providing the highest returns. America’s rugged individualism makes it most compatible with real capitalism. But now we’ve entered an era of kickback capitalism, which has created a mangy mob of meritless mooches.

☆ Student-loan borrowers are gearing up to camp overnight outside the Supreme Court ahead of arguments on Biden's debt relief to 'make sure that the justices look into the eyes of borrowers'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Advocates are planning to camp out at the Supreme Court the night before the student debt arguments. The Supreme Court will be taking on the two lawsuits that blocked Biden's debt relief on February 28. "We're going to move forward and stay in this fight"The Supreme Court will be taking on two lawsuits that blocked Biden's debt relief. One was filed by two student-loan borrowers who sued because they did not qualify for the full $20,000 amount of debt relief. "It's simple: our Administration is confident that our student debt relief program is fully legal," Biden wrote on Twitter.

☆ Inside Tracy Anderson's cutthroat fitness empire: Legal threats, paranoia, and trainers who say their bodies were 'breaking apart'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Katie Warren | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +29 min

One day around 2015, a dozen or so gift boxes showed up at the Brentwood, California, studio of the celebrity fitness trainer Tracy Anderson. "It was an exclusive boutique fitness studio," the former New York trainer said. Darren Gerrish/WireImageThe method demanded that TA trainers, most of whom were also professional dancers, perform the strenuous workouts full out, every time. Let's help you do it correctly so you don't get injured,'" the former New York trainer said. "This is at a time where everyone is already overworked," one of the former New York trainers said.

Say hi to Snow White," Staley emailed Epstein in July 2010, according to filings on Wednesday with the U.S. District Court in Manhattan. "Beauty and the Beast," Staley allegedly responded, to which Epstein replied: "Well one side is available," according to the filing. According to the lawsuit, Staley exchanged around 1,200 emails with Epstein from his JPMorgan email account between 2008 and 2012. Staley allegedly wrote to Epstein on Nov 1, 2009, describing his relationship with Epstein as "profound". One month later, Staley allegedly wrote to Epstein to say how great it had been to give him "a long, heartfelt hug", after which Epstein allegedly sent Staley two pictures of young women.

☆ Adani Group reels after report from U.S. short-seller Hindenburg
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

It says it holds short positions in Adani Group companies through U.S.-traded bonds and non-Indian-traded derivative instruments. JAN. 26* Adani Group says it is evaluating "remedial and punitive action" against Hindenburg under U.S. and Indian laws. JAN 28* Index provider MSCI says it is seeking feedback on Adani Group and associated securities and is aware of the Hindenburg report. JAN 30* Adani Group issues a detailed riposte to the Hindenburg report, saying it complies with all local laws and had made the necessary regulatory disclosures. * Index provider MSCI says it will cut weightings of four Adani Group companies, including Adani Enterprises, in its indexes after reassessing the number of freely traded shares.

☆ Trump's NY fraud trial starts on time 'come hell or high water,' judge warns warring lawyers at hearing
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Oral arguments focused on whether something called the "Trump Organization" legally exists. The judge, meanwhile, warned that "come hell or high water" an October trial will not be delayed. "Come hell or high water, and pardon my French," the judge added of his set-in-stone trial start time: 10 a.m. on Monday, October 2, 2023. It's shorthand for them, as well — James' lawsuit references "the Trump Organization," for convenience's sake, some 300 times in its 222 pages. The judge urged the attorney general's office and the defendants' lawyers to avoid a protracted argument over sanctions.

☆ Trump's go-to attorney Alina Habba is withdrawing from E. Jean Carroll's rape claim. Last month, a federal judge sanctioned her $1 million for bad lawyering.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | Ashley Collman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Alina Habba is withdrawing from representing Donald Trump in E. Jean Carroll's rape claim. Habba told Insider she continues to be dedicated to Trump. The move comes two weeks after a federal judge in Florida sanctioned Habba and Trump in a separate case and fined them $1 million. In a statement provided to Insider, Habba told Insider she was dedicated to representing Trump in court. "While I appreciate the left-wing media's attempt to fabricate any story to fit their narrative, I am so happy to have Joe step in and assist," Habba told Insider.

Search resuls for: "meritless"

25 mentions found