In The Courtroom

Fair Political Practices Commission Should Postpone Settlement Agreement with California Strategies and Winston Hickox for Undisclosed Lobbying Until Boeing is Added

September 19, 2013  ·  Liza Tucker

<p><img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-20441" alt="" class="right" src="http://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/images_boeingtohellinahandbasket.jpg" style="width: 211px; height: 139px; margin-left: 7px; margin-right: 7px; float: right;" width="350" height="230" />SANTA MONICA, CA –Consumer Watchdog today asked the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) to postpone a proposed settlement agreement between staff attorneys and three well-connected partners in the public affairs company California Strategies until one of the partners, Winston Hickox, fully discloses his lobbying activities on behalf of Boeing in its efforts to get out of its cleanup obligations at a S

Ruling’s Effect on Autism Coverage

September 17, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

The Second District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles last week ruled that the Department of Managed Health Care cannot use licensure as a basis...

KNBC TV-4 Los Angeles – Autism Health Insurance Victory

September 13, 2013  ·  Consumer Watchdog

The California Court of Appeals has ruled that all insurance plans will now have to cover perhaps the most effective treatment for autism, whether the...

KCAL TV-9 Los Angeles – CA Appeals Court Rules Public Insurance Must Cover Autism Treatment

September 13, 2013  ·  Consumer Watchdog

https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/calif-appeals-court-rules-public-insurance-must-cover-autism-treatment A therapy for children with autism must be covered by public insurance companies, a California appeals court has ruled. Applied Behavior Analysis — or...

Court of Appeal Rules HMO Regulator Cannot Discriminate Against Autistic Children by Erecting Hurdles to Key Treatments

September 11, 2013  ·  Jerry Flanagan

<p><img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-20369" alt="" src="http://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/images_justice_scales.jpg" style="width: 86px; height: 110px; margin-left: 7px; margin-right: 7px; float: right;" width="86" height="110" />Santa Monica, CA -- In a complex opinion issued yesterday, the California Court of Appeal ended the Department of Managed Health Care’s (DMHC) discriminatory practice of allowing HMOs to deny treatment for autistic children of state employees and low-income families enrolled in the Healthy Families program on the basis that such treatment can only be administered through state-licensed providers.<br /> <br />

Autism Discrimination Barred

September 11, 2013  ·  Jerry Flanagan

We’re very proud of the legal team’s recent victory in a lawsuit to bar discrimination against children. The California Court of Appeal’s decision ended the...

U.S. Appeals Court Rules Google Not Exempt From Wiretap Law In Wi-Spy Suit

September 10, 2013  ·  John M. Simpson

<p><img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-1893" alt="" class="right" src="http://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/images_google-car.jpg" style="width: 211px; height: 161px; margin-left: 7px; margin-right: 7px; float: right;" width="460" height="350" />SANTA MONICA, CA – A federal appeals court ruled today that Google’s interception of messages from private Wi-Fi networks is not exempt from federal wiretap laws, opening the way for a class action suit in the Wi-Spy case to move forward with possible damages amounting to billions of dollars.<br /> <br />

Motion Seeks To Block Santa Susana Field Lab Demolition Work

September 6, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p>A consumer advocacy group has filed for a preliminary injunction seeking to prevent the state from allowing Boeing Co. to conduct cleanup work at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory until an environmental report on the project has been completed.</p> <p>The motion was filed Tuesday in Sacramento Superior Court by a Los Angeles law firm on behalf of Santa Monica-based Consumer Watchdog.</p>

Consumer Group Asks Judge To Halt Radiation Cleanup At Santa Susana Field Laboratory

September 5, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p class="NORMAL">The nonprofit group Consumer Watchdog is asking a Sacramento judge to halt the demolition and removal of buildings and contaminated waste from an area of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory used as a nuclear test site.</p> <p class="NORMAL">Boeing Co., which owns most of the 2,800-acre site in the hills south of Simi Valley, and the state's Department of Toxic Substances Control, which is overseeing the cleanup of radioactive and chemical contamination at the lab, had agreed to stop demolition work until Sept. 30.</p>

Consumer Watchdog Files Preliminary Injunction Motion To Stop Illegal State Approval of Boeing Radioactive Waste Demolition and Disposal

September 5, 2013  ·  Liza Tucker

<p><img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-20376" alt="" class="right" src="http://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/images_toxicwaste.jpg" style="width: 211px; height: 138px; margin-left: 7px; margin-right: 7px; float: right;" width="300" height="196" />SANTA MONICA, CA – Consumer Watchdog and Strumwasser & Woocher have filed a motion in Sacramento Superior Court for a preliminary injunction freezing all of Boeing’s demolition of structures and disposal of radioactive waste at the Santa Susana Field Lab in Simi Valley—including a plutonium fuel fabrication building.

Environmental Watchdogs Want To Block Santa Susana Debris From Entering Landfills

September 4, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p><a href="http://www.scpr.org/blogs/environment/2013/09/04/14660/environmental-watchdogs-want-to-block-santa-susana/">Click here to listen to the audio segment of this radio broadcast</a>.</p> <p>A coalition of watchdog groups has asked a court to stop the Boeing Corporation from sending demolition debris from the closed Santa Susana Field Laboratory to recycling centers and landfills.</p> <p>Boeing has been demolishing buildings at the old rocket and nuclear testing site, where a partial nuclear meltdown half a century ago caused widespread contamination.</p>

Questions Swirl About Settlement In Hyundai Fuel Economy Litigation

August 21, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p><strong>Settlement over MPG claims seen as 'sweetheart deal' by some plaintiffs</strong></p>