Settlements with three law firms and lawyers in Upstate, Long Island and Westchester ending improper employment arrangements with school districts and a Central New York Board of Cooperative Educational Services have been announced by the Attorney General’s office.The settlements also rescind all public benefits wrongfully received and require the law firms and lawyers to pay the state a total $235,000.

At the same time, top state lawmakers in the Senate and Assembly joined with the Attorney General in announcing plans to introduce legislation that would finally end the abuses of the public pension system.The settlements come as part of Cuomo’s statewide investigation into the public pension systems and are with the Central New York firm of Ferrara, Fiorenza, Larrison, Barrett and Reitz P.C., the New York City firm of Aiello and Cannick and Long Island attorney Gilbert Henoch.

“Systemic abuse in the public pension and benefits systems has wasted millions of taxpayer dollars,” said Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. “We will continue to examine school districts and BOCES throughout the state to ensure that taxpayer dollars are not being wasted by providing pensions to lawyers who are not state employees or other unwarranted perks and benefits.  It may have been common practice for decades but it ends now, and I am working with leaders in the Senate and Assembly to pass legislation shutting down the abuses for good.”

Newly appointed Ohio Attorney General Nancy Hardin Rogers has shifted job duties for her second-in-command and taken other steps to wipe out any perceived conflicts of interest with two law firms.

Rogers, the former Ohio State University law dean who was appointed attorney general a week ago, informed her staff on Tuesday that Thomas Winters, first assistant attorney general, would be shifted to chief deputy attorney general. Rogers made the shift because both she and Winters have ties to Vorys Sater Seymour and Pease LLP, Central Ohio's largest law firm. Vorys, which handles a number of cases for the attorney general's office, employs Rogers' husband, Douglas, and was where Winters worked before joining former AG Marc Dann's staff last year.

With both top staffers in the office associated with the firm, a change had to be made, spokesman Jim Gravelle said. Before Dann resigned from office May 14, Winters - the only other employee permitted to handle attorney general's duties under state law - could step away from any case involving Vorys.

The office doesn't consider Winters' new post a demotion as he's still the chief lawyer for legal and law-enforcement matters, Gravelle said. Sheryl Creed Maxfield, a 24-year veteran of the office, will take the first assistant's post.

Rogers on Tuesday said Maxfield has the discretion to continue or discontinue cases Vorys handles, but the office will halt any new special-counsel appointments with the firm.

While the attorney general's office has no current association with Pittsburgh-based Buchanan Ingersoll and Rooney PC, which employs Rogers' daughter, Jill Spiker, the office won't contract the firm until Rogers steps down as attorney general or the Ohio Ethics Commission makes a formal ruling regarding a potential conflict of interest.

Rogers' actions Tuesday put any issues or contracts related to Ohio State, Vorys and Buchanan Ingersoll squarely in Maxfield's charge.

Class-action law firm Milberg LLP is close to a settlement that could end a federal prosecution of the firm for alleged kickbacks, according to two people familiar with the discussions. The deal would mark the climax of a case that has roiled the American plaintiff's bar.

While a deal could still fall apart, the sides have made progress after weeks of talks that have centered on the payment Milberg will have to make as part of a settlement. Last summer, prosecutors had sought about $50 million in fines and penalties, but the demand mushroomed this year to about $100 million, say people familiar with the negotiations. Recently, Milberg and prosecutors have zeroed in on a payout in the neighborhood of $75 million, these people say.

The government alleged that the firm paid more than $11 million in kickbacks to clients in exchange for their serving as lead plaintiffs in securities class actions. These payouts allowed the firm to quickly file suits and become lead counsel, prosecutors allege, entitling Milberg to a large share of the fees: some $250 million over more than two decades. The firm, which is scheduled to stand trial in August, has denied wrongdoing.

Instead, Roth, his two teenage children, his wife and mother spent three days in airports, went days without their luggage, were treated rudely by airline employees and were forced to spend $21,000 on unused hotel rooms in Argentina, replacement clothes, and other costs.

"Through its gross negligence, malfeasance and absolute incompetence, Mr. Roth holds Delta responsible for ruining his vacation," said the lawsuit, filed in New York state court.

Delta Air Lines Inc had no immediate comment. Roth said that he has been in touch with Delta about getting reimbursed, but was repeatedly rebuffed. He told Reuters on Wednesday filing the suit was a last resort.

After the initial flight from New York was delayed by more than two hours, the family was not allowed to board their connecting flight in Atlanta, Roth said.

A Delta employee "literally walked away chuckling that he had left them stranded," he said. After waiting in the airport for hours, Roth was told the next available flight would depart more than two weeks later.

A Rochester employment law firm filed class-action lawsuits Thursday against Kaleida Health and Catholic Health System, accusing the health-care giants of violating federal and state law by not paying hourly employees for lunch or meal periods that were interrupted or missed.

The suit, filed in U. S. District Court by Dolin, Thomas and Solomon LLP, claims the two hospital systems have policies to automatically deduct the time for meal periods from employees’ pay, even if workers didn’t receive their full time off and should have been paid.

That’s against federal and state labor laws, the firm says, citing a recent bulletin from the U. S. Department of Labor aimed at the healthcare industry.

The two hospital systems said they had not yet been served with court papers, but were familiar with the firm and suit, and roundly denounced both.

“This is obviously a self-serving effort by an out-of-town law firm intent on exploiting our hardworking employees,” said Michael P. Hughes, Kaleida spokesman. “Unfortunately, this law firm has a track record of this type of activity in other communities such as Rochester. Our commitment to our employees is unquestionable and we will vigorously defend ourselves against this lawsuit.”

Catholic Health spokesman Dennis McCarthy said the firm had been “soliciting our employees and former employees for months to join this lawsuit.” He said the hospital has policies “to ensure that employees are properly paid for all time worked, including overtime.”

“Such a claim is utterly meritless and will be vigorously defended against,” he said. “CHS will not permit this lawsuit to disrupt its commitment to provide exceptional healthcare.”

Under federal law, meal periods are typically at least 30 minutes in duration, are not considered worktime, and do not have to be paid. However, the law specifically says employees must be “completely relieved from duty for the purposes of eating regular meals,” and says workers are not considered “relieved” if they are “required to perform any duties, whether active or inactive, while eating.”

“The law is clear that employers must compensate employees for all hours worked,” said attorney J. Nelson Thomas, who represents over 700 current and former employees who have joined the lawsuit. “Catholic [Health] and Kaleida cannot be allowed to circumvent the Department of Labor’s regulations.”

The Labor Department bulletin says employers are responsible for ensuring workers take their 30-minute breaks without interruption if they don’t pay the employees for that time. And if employees are interrupted frequently, such as by patient requests, the employees should be paid for the full period.

Violations are common in healthcare, Thomas said, because of the nature of the work. “Nurses are dedicated and they don’t just drop patients to take lunch,” Thomas said.

So after hearing of the issue, the law firm posted a Web site to attract clients. It won a settlement in a similar case in 2006 against University of Rochester.

To date, 389 Kaleida employees and 333 at Catholic Healthhave signed on as plaintiffs, but the firm is seeking more current and former employees, and expects as many as 10,000 may be affected. Thomas said total damages could exceed $10 million.

Federal law allows workers to recover lost wages for three years, but New York law allows six years if the court agrees to allow the state claim. Only hourly workers are covered.

Thomas said the law firm also investigated Erie County Medical Center, but found it complies with the law by paying all employees for meal breaks, whether they take them or not.

The firm is still investigating practices at eight other hospitals or systems in New York State, including Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center, Mount St. Mary’s Hospital and Health Center, Sheehan Memorial Hospital, the McGuire Group, the VA Healthcare Systems, Ascension Health and Catholic Health East.

Solicitor General Paul Clement plans to leave his post June 2 — a few weeks before the nation's highest court adjourns for its summer break.

Clement has been the government's chief court advocate for Bush administration policies surrounding the war on terror, including detaining enemy combatants. The government also won several landmark cases that Clement argued, such as banning late-term abortions and letting Congress prohibit the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes.

A Justice Department official said Clement did not have any immediate plans other than spending the summer with his children.