In The Courtroom

Injunction Halts Approval of Santa Susana Field Lab Cleanup

December 16, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Environmental watchdogs scored a victory last week when a Sacramento judge stopped state toxics regulators from approving Boeing’s demolition and disposal of buildings once used for nuclear research at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory near Simi Valley.<br /> <br />

Activists Fear DTSC CEQA Plan May Skirt Santa Susana Cleanup Pact

November 27, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Environmentalists fear that a recent announcement by the toxics department that it will consider various cleanup alternatives at the controversial Santa Susana industrial site in southern California may be a veiled attempt to unravel an agreement made between the agency and responsible parties to clean the site to strict "background" levels of radiation.</p> <p><br /> But the department this week says it still intends to impose strict cleanup standards except for portions of the site owned by Boeing, which is not a party to the agreement.</p>

Activists Say New Evidence In Santa Susana Cleanup Debunks DTSC Claim

November 27, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Environmentalists in a new legal filing this week say they have evidence showing that the toxics department has authority over the disposal of radioactive waste at the controversial Santa Susana industrial site in southern California, debunking the department's claim that it lacks such authority.</p> <p><br /> The judge in the lawsuit has already filed a tentative ruling siding with environmentalists, but has yet to finalize the ruling in order to review thousands of pages of evidence in the record.</p>

Boeing Volunteers to Stand Down in Consumer Watchdog Suit Over Illegal Demolition and Disposal of Radioactive Waste from Reactor Test Site

October 30, 2013  ·  Liza Tucker

<p><img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-2712" alt="" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/timthumb.php_.jpeg" style="width: 211px; height: 147px; float: right;" width="350" height="244" /></p>

Santa Susana Field Lab Demolition Stays On Hold

October 28, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p>The Boeing Co. has postponed controversial demolition work of a radioactive building on the Santa Susana Field Laboratory site after a judge indicated he was likely to issue a temporary injunction against the work.</p>

Court Grants Rehearing in Autism Case

October 12, 2013  ·  Jerry Flanagan

This week the California Court of Appeal granted Consumer Watchdog’s petition for rehearing in its seminal lawsuit against the Department of Managed Health Care over...

Autism Ruling Change Requested

September 27, 2013  ·  Jerry Flanagan

This week Consumer Watchdog filed a brief urging the California Court of Appeal to reconsider part of a recent ruling ending autism discrimination that could...

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="https://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="https://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 />