The driver of a van and a tour operator have been sued over a crash in Utah that killed three Japanese tourists and injured 11 others.

The Salt Lake Tribune says the lawsuit filed Friday in federal court claims passenger Kei Maeda has suffered incomplete quadriplegia since the Aug. 9 crash. Maeda was among 14 tourists in the vehicle when it crashed near Cedar City during a trip from Las Vegas to Bryce Canyon National Park.

The lawsuit claims driver Yasushi Mikuni had THC in his system, indicating marijuana use, when he fell asleep at the wheel. Investigators, however, say he was not impaired.

Mikuni has been charged with negligent driving under the influence. The operator has not been charged.

President Barack Obama heads to California and Washington state this week to drum up support for endangered incumbents Barbara Boxer and Patty Murray in the last days of a campaign that finds his Democrats playing defense around the country.

Wins in those two Democratic-leaning states -- most polls show Boxer and Murray with slight leads -- likely would be enough to ensure Democrats retain narrow control of the Senate even if Republicans sweep the other competitive races.

"Right now, Democrats have their best chances on the West Coast. They are in relatively good shape out there compared with the rest of the country," said Steven Schier, a political scientist at Carleton College in Minnesota.

Public discontent with Obama and the economy has sparked widespread predictions of a Democratic election defeat, with Republicans favored to gain more than the 39 seats they need to seize control of the House of Representatives and perhaps even the 10 seats needed for a Senate majority.

An appeals panel at the International Criminal Court on Tuesday rejected former Congolese Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba's bid to have rape, murder and pillage charges against him dismissed.

Bemba is accused of commanding a militia responsible for atrocities in the neighboring Central African Republic in 2002-2003. He argued the charges were inadmissible because authorities in the Central African Republic had investigated the allegations and decided not to prosecute him.

The International Court, the world's first permanent war crimes tribunal, is a court of last resort. It cannot prosecute suspects if legal authorities in their home country already have convicted them or investigated and decided not to file charges.

However, appeals judge Anita Usacka rejected Bemba's arguments, saying the Central African Republic's highest court overturned a 2004 decision to dismiss charges against Bemba and correctly referred the case to the International Criminal Court.

"The appeals chamber confirms the impugned decision and dismisses the appeal," said Usacka, who is from Latvia.

It’s yet another of case of discrimination within the United States Capitol Police (USCP).  This time, the victim is a female Special Agent assigned to protect one the nation’s most powerful politicians. Special Agent Luanne Moran, who was assigned to the USCP’s Dignitary Protection Division (DPD) for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, has filed a sex discrimination and retaliation complaint that is now pending in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, Moran v. U.S. Capitol Police.  Special Agent Moran’s complaint is based on discrimination and retaliation that she has suffered since 2008 for opposing sexual harassment by a male Capitol Police supervisor, specifically sexist and degrading comments he made toward other female agents.  

Special Agent Moran has worked for USCP for 15 years without a single blemish on her record.  It wasn’t until she opposed the alleged sexual harassment that the USCP began to make retaliatory and inaccurate misconduct allegations against her, which were aimed at tarnishing her reputation and removing her from the Capitol Police force. Since she filed her complaint, she has been on paid administrative leave pending USCP’s decision whether to fire her. 

This isn’t the first time the USCP has been embroiled in this type of claim.  The agency has a long and infamous history of employment discrimination complaints that that date back decades.  The most notable case involved more than 200 African American members of Capitol Police who filed a class action suit in 2001 that accused the agency of widespread harassment, retaliation and even vandalism.

In fact, Special Agent Moran had to file a previous discrimination complaint in 2007, which sought her assignment to the Speaker’s Protection Detail, in an effort to break through the glass ceiling for female agents at USCP.  That complaint was settled in a satisfactory manner, but has contributed to the discrimination and retaliation she has faced at the USCP since then.  “This time, maybe Speaker Pelosi will step in and do the right thing to protect Luanne Moran, a dedicated female Agent who puts her life on the line to protect the Speaker every day she comes to work,” says Agent Moran’s attorney, John P. Mahoney, Esq., a Partner and the Head of the Labor & Employment Law Practice Area at the Law Firm of Tully Rinckey, PLLC in Washington, D.C.  

The United States District Court Complaint in Agent Moran’s current case is captioned as Moran v. Capitol Police Bd., Civil Action No. 09-1819 (RMC) (DDC 2010).

For more information about the case, or to speak with Special Agent Moran and/or her attorney, John P. Mahoney, please contact Ali Skinner at (202) 787-1900 or at askinner@1888law4life.com.

Four attorneys at law firm of Gallop, Johnson & Neuman, L.C., have been selected as “Super Lawyers®” and one has been named a “Rising Star” in a peer nomination and research process conducted by “Super Lawyers,” a publication of Thompson Reuters. (www.superlawyers.com).

Gallop, Johnson & Neuman attorneys identified as “Super Lawyers” in the poll of active attorneys in Missouri and Kansas for 2010 practice in diverse areas of law. They include:

- Glenn E. Davis - Antitrust litigation, business litigation, securities litigation

- Robert H. Epstein - Real estate, business/corporate, environmental

- Thomas H. Mug - Employee benefits/ERISA, estate planning/probate, tax

- Robert A. Stockenberg - Construction/surety

Gallop attorney Nichole Y. Wren has been named a “Super Lawyers” Rising Star in estate planning/probate and non-profit categories.

Thomas J. Campbell, managing partner at Gallop, Johnson & Neuman, said, “We are honored when attorneys at our firm are recognized as ‘Super Lawyers’ by their peers in the legal profession in Missouri and Kansas because it reflects our commitment to render high quality legal services in all of our practice areas.”

The “Super Lawyers” list is designed to identify attorneys who have attained a high degree of professional achievement and peer recognition. One goal of the annual “Super Lawyers” list is to identify the top five percent of attorneys in more than 70 practice areas. 

Gallop, Johnson & Neuman, L.C., a full service law firm of 80 attorneys, has provided legal services to clients in diverse industries since its founding in 1976 and is one of the largest law firms in St. Louis. The firm also has offices in Washington, D.C. The firm serves public corporations; privately-held companies; entrepreneurs and start-up enterprises; individuals and families; trustees and trust beneficiaries; charities; and non-profit entities. Offices are located at 101 South Hanley Road, Suite 1700, in Clayton, Missouri, and at 1350 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 850, in Washington D.C. 

For more information about Gallop, Johnson & Neuman, please contact Lois A. LaDriere at 314.615.6000 or visit the website http://www.gjn.com.   Media contact: Jeff Dunlap at 314.993.6925.

Taking a final shot before meeting in court, lawyers for Greenwich Hospital are rejecting a claim that the hospital violated fair trade policies in their handling of a drug-addicted surgeon.

Earlier this year, the hospital asked a judge to strike the central claims of lawsuit, arguing that the class action lawsuit does not make a "cognizable claim" under the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act. If granted, the lawsuit will be defeated.

"Plaintiff's changing legal theories and lack of candor on the applicable law demonstrate that they are struggling to stay alive in the face of the hospital's well-founded motion to strike," states the recently filed motion.

The original complaint, filed in 2008 in state Superior Court, alleges that the hospital violated state trade laws by ignoring Dr. Ian Rubins' drug problems to maintain the profitability of their specialized breast center. Rubins, a private plastic surgeon who had privileges at the hospital, died of a heroin overdose in 2008, just months after the state medical examining board suspended his license. Rubins had a string of incidents involving substance abuse and had entered rehabilitation programs several times while at the hospital.