The city of Des Moines recently settled a lawsuit to the tune of 1.5 million paid to a bicyclist injured after hitting a newly erected, unmarked curb at MLK and 16th – an area where bicyclists regularly leave the bike path to cross the street. The problems started back in 2017 when the city replaced… [Read More]
Iowa Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Workplace Discrimination
All Americans enjoy a basic set of rights in the workplace under federal law. Some states take it a step further, offering additional protections against sexual harassment and sex discrimination at the state level that the federal law does not cover. Fortunately for Iowans, Iowa law has additional prohibitions against employment discrimination that do not… [Read More]
Supreme Court Considers Transgender Employment Rights
In a question that has divided the nations lower courts, the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to rule on whether Title VII of the civil rights act prohibiting sex discrimination in the workplace also extends protection to discrimination based on sexual orientation. Federal law forbids employment discrimination on the basis of race, color religion, national… [Read More]
Des Moines Iowa Bicycle Accidents
Despite expanded prevention efforts across the nation, fatalities among bicycle riders have increased. In 2015, nearly 1,000 bicyclists were killed in accidents, a 12 percent jump over the previous year. Decades ago, children and teens accounted for many of the cycling deaths, injuries and near misses, however, more recently, older cyclists have joined their ranks… [Read More]
National Origin Employment Discrimination
Lawmakers have recently reintroduced the Accountability through Electronic Verification Act that would require all U.S. employers to use the E-Verify to ensure that U.S. jobs are filled by Americans and foreign citizens that have a legal right to work in the country. The legislation would permanently reauthorize the e-verify program created in 1996 and put… [Read More]
Pervasive Workplace Sexual Harassment in Medicine
More than 1 in 10 female doctors and over 15 percent of all female residents have experienced sexual harassment within the last 3 years according to a Medscape Sexual Harassment of Physicians 2018 Report. Roughly half of the doctors reporting said that the person that harassed them was another physician. Unfortunately, sexual harassment against women… [Read More]
Determining Fault in an Iowa Car Accident
Following a car accident, you may be surprised to find that the other driver is not admitting fault even though you feel they clearly caused the accident. The question of who was at fault in a car accident can be answered by looking at whose negligence or carelessness resulted in the accident, but sometimes both… [Read More]
Arbitration in Sexual Harassment Cases
Arbitration in sexual harassment cases favors business by keeping companies out of court and the public eye. Instead of a judge and jury, an arbitrator is in the driver’s seat who typically awards smaller sums to victims. Because the process is confidential, even if harassers are shown the door, they can easily move to other… [Read More]
Surgical Center Injuries on the Rise
The number of surgical centers operating in the U.S. has steadily increased in response to a demand for low cost alternatives to hospitalization for minor surgeries. Unfortunately, according to a recent USA Today report, every year, thousands of 911 emergency calls are placed from these surgery centers when patients experience complications following a procedure, some… [Read More]
Fatal Truck Accidents on the Rise
Last year, an accident along the highway near the Indiana-Illinois border took the lives of four including a young man stopped in traffic when he was struck from behind by the driver of a semi distracted by a tablet in one hand while driving with the other. Unfortunately, fatal truck accidents such as this have… [Read More]
