Legally Blonde

NY Times - The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear an appeal in the biggest employment discrimination case in the nation’s history, one claiming that Wal-Mart Stores had discriminated against hundreds of thousands of women in pay and promotion.

Despite what amounted to whining on Wal-Mart's part, they may have lost a bit of leverage in the long run, which could lead to billions of dollars in damages paid to workers. This could be an important first step in correcting unfairness in pay based on gender. The Republicans squashed a measure recently that could have been key in preventing gender discrimination. Generations have passed since women entered the workforce in large numbers, and yet are still not paid as well as men doing the exact same job under the same conditions.

Washington (CNN) - Rep. Maxine Waters, D-California, will offer a "privileged resolution" as early as today calling on the House to investigate the ethics committee for its handling of her case. Almost a year and a half has passed, and she is rightfully asking for her accusers to put up or shut up. Waters claims the principles of basic due process have been violated, and she requests "the task force report its findings and recommendations to the House of Representatives during the second session of this Congress" to force the issue to end once and for all. Some may see a desperate bid to bring a hasty conclusion, but I have to wonder what could be found that 18 months of research hasn't turned up. Innocent or otherwise, she is surely correct in requesting a reasonable grant of time before she is declared one or the other. Anything less would allow for unfounded accusations to linger indefinitely without the burden of proof.

Yahoo! - The first chewing tobacco settlement has officially been reached, with an award of $5 million to the family. This will pave the way for future lawsuits, and could lead to lasting tobacco reform laws. One part of the article will bother me for a long time to come:

Ponvert said his case was bolstered by previously undisclosed letters from the 1980s that the company sent to minors thanking them for their business and sending them free samples. The company even sent a can opener to one child to help open the chewing tobacco, he said.

If that was recently discovered, what else are they sitting on?