The manufacturer of the ET-Plus guardrail system that has been under much scrutiny was found guilty Monday by a Texas jury of defrauding the federal government. Trinity Industries made a design change in 2005 to the end terminal unit without informing the Federal Highway Administration of the change. State governments […]
Author: Martin & Jones
ET-Plus Guardrail Scrutiny Grows
The state of Virginia in a letter to the manufacturer of the ET-Plus guardrail end terminal stated that it is considering removing all of the guardrails presently installed and not installing any new ET-Plus system unless Trinity Industries conducts testing on the redesigned unit by October 24. Read more here. […]
National Consumer Law Center Issues Online Petitition Regarding Forced Arbitration
The National Consumer Law Center and the National Association of Consumer Attorneys have issued an online petition in advance of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s final arbitration study. The petition urges the nation’s largest financial institutions to discontinue including mandatory arbitration agreements in consumer contracts. The online petition comes as […]
More States Ban ET-Plus Guardrail
Missouri and Massachusetts have joined Nevada in banning the installation of the ET-Plus guardrail end terminal that has been linked to five deaths and many more injuries nationwide. According to a New York Times article, while federal highway officials have long insisted that the guardrails are safe, internal documents reveal […]
ABC News Reports on Guardrail Crashes and Safety
A recent ABC News report interviewed the inventor of the Trinity ET-Plus guardrail system on the design change made to the guardrail end terminal in 2005 that has been linked to an increased number of crashes involving loss of limbs and death. “I was not involved in that change, and […]
Bank of America Will Pay $16.65 Billion to Settle Fraud Charges
On August 21, 2014, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced a $16.65 billion settlement with Bank of America in connection with charges of financial fraud in the lead-up to and during the financial crisis. According to the DOJ press release, the settlement represents “the largest civil settlement with a […]
Miners With Black Lung Wrongly Denied Benefits Based on Controversial Doctor’s X-ray Review
The Department of Labor has recently instructed more than 1,100 coal miners to re-apply for black lung benefits indicating that the miners may have been wrongly denied. The medical review of x-rays for these miners by a doctor at The Johns Hopkins Hospital has been called into question. According to […]
Community Health Systems, Inc. to Pay $97 Million to Settle Whistleblower Suits
Earlier this week, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that Community Health Systems, Inc. will pay $97 million to resolve multiple whistleblower cases brought against the company under the False Claims Act. The global settlement will resolve seven qui tam (“whistleblower”) lawsuits brought in federal courts throughout the country. […]
Bank of America to Reportedly Pay $17 Billion in Mortgage Settlement
Reports surfaced this week that Bank of America and the U.S. Department of Justice have reached a tentative deal under which the bank would pay nearly $17 billion to resolve an investigation into its sale of toxic mortgage securities in the run-up to the financial crisis. It would represent the […]
Wrongfully Convicted Louisiana Man Exonerated by DNA Evidence
On June 25, 2014, a Louisiana judge overturned the conviction of Nathan Brown after results from DNA testing of crime scene evidence proved Brown is innocent. The DNA evidence matched an alternative suspect, a man currently incarcerated in Mississippi who lived only a few blocks away from the crime scene. […]