National Roundup

California
Senior federal appeals court judge dies

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Judge Harry Pregerson, who sat on the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals for nearly 40 years and championed the underprivileged on the bench and off, has died. He was 94.

His daughter-in-law Sharon Pregerson tells the Los Angeles Times the famously liberal judge died Saturday at his LA-area home. He had suffered from respiratory ailments.

The California native was appointed to the 9th Circuit in 1979 by President Jimmy Carter. At his Senate confirmation hearing Pregerson said he would let his conscience inform his rulings.

He stirred criticism when he refused to follow a 2003 U.S. Supreme Court ruling upholding California’s tough three-strikes sentencing law.

In private life, Pregerson worked to establish several homeless shelters, where he volunteered. His daughter-in-law says Pregerson got up every morning to help people.

Florida
Report: Many clients claim sexual abuse at spas

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — More than 180 people across the United States have filed sexual assault lawsuits, police reports and other sexual misconduct complaints against Massage Envy spas, their employees and the national company, according to an investigative report by the website BuzzFeed News.

The website reported that many of those who complained believed their claims were mishandled or ignored by employees and owners of individual Massage Envy spas and by the national company.

Dozens of women reported digital and oral penetration. More than 100 reported that massage therapists groped their genitals, groped their breasts, or committed other explicit violations.

Adam Horowitz, a lawyer who has handled more than two dozen sexual misconduct lawsuits involving Massage Envy, said Monday that he received 25 calls from alleged new victims following the report’s publication.

The claims represent only a fraction of the tens of millions of services Massage Envy says its franchises have provided, Buzz Feed News reported.

Lawyers for spa clients told BuzzFeed News that there are cases of women reporting massage therapist abuse to police where no arrests have been made with Massage Envy spas offering settlements before lawsuits have been filed, leaving no public record.
Massage Envy in a statement Monday said the complaints documented by BuzzFeed News spanned a period of more than 15 years and said each account was heartbreaking.

“But, we believe that even one incident is too many, so we are constantly listening, learning, and evaluating how we can continue to strengthen our policies with respect to handling of these issues,” the company said.

Melanie Hansen, general counsel of Massage Envy Franchising, told BuzzFeed News that the company has worked hard to create the industry’s “most stringent, rigorous policies” for hiring, screening, and training therapists.

“We hold franchise owners accountable to our policies and, when we say nothing is more important to us than treating clients with respect and giving them a safe, professional experience, we mean it,” she said in an email to BuzzFeed News.

Except in some places where local laws might demand it, the company does not compel franchisees to notify law enforcement or to hire qualified investigators to help determine what happened, BuzzFeed News reported.

The company tells franchisees they must conduct their own “prompt, fair, and thorough” investigation of any abuse or misconduct claims, but Buzz Feed News reported it provides little guidance on how to do so.

In court filings and in public statements, Massage Envy said it is not liable for sexual assaults that take place at the spas because of the nature of the franchise arrangement, BuzzFeed news reported. Spas control their own day-to-day operations, Hansen said, including figuring out how best to investigate inappropriate conduct.

The franchise network, based in Scottsdale, Arizona, has nearly 1,200 spas across the United States, collectively employs 20,000 massage therapists and has 1.6 million member clients nationwide.

Employees undergo background checks and are told of a zero-tolerance policy about inappropriate touching but Hansen said “there are no policies in any business that can ensure that an employee of a business will not break the law.”

The American Massage Therapy Association said massage therapists who inappropriately touch clients should face legal consequences and that people who think they have been victimized should call police.


Wisconsin
Court revokes immigration attorney’s law license

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The state Supreme Court has revoked a Milwaukee immigration attorney’s law license.

The state Office of Lawyer Regulation filed 74 counts of misconduct against Sergio Magana in December 2016. According to the OLR, Magana collected money from clients but often ignored their requests for information about their cases. When he did respond provided them with false information to make them believe their cases were progressing.

He eventually left his law firm without telling his clients. In 2014 he pleaded guilty to second offense driving while intoxicated but failed to report the conviction to the OLR.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed with an recommendation from a discipline referee to revoke Magana’s license, calling the scope of his misconduct “vast and troubling.”

No contact information could be found for Magana.

Massachusetts
Court dismisses lawsuit filed by widow of Mark Fidrych

WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) — A Massachusetts appeals court has dismissed a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by the widow of former major league pitcher Mark Fidrych.

Court records show the 54-year-old died of asphyxiation in 2009 after his clothing became tangled in a spinning piece of a dump truck he was working on.

Ann Pantazis filed a lawsuit in 2012 against the makers of the truck and the spinning component, arguing they did not provide sufficient warnings.

The court ruled unanimously Monday the companies did provide warnings and the equipment had no design defects. The court panel says the companies had no legal responsibility to warn of the dangers after Fidrych modified the truck.

Fidrych, nicknamed “The Bird,” pitched for the Detroit Tigers, led the majors with a 2.34 ERA in 1976 and was the AL rookie of the year. Injuries forced his retirement in 1980.