Aug 1, 2018
Last month, Tueth Keeney attorneys Rob Jackstadt and Chad Watkins successfully argued before the Williamson County Circuit Court that that a regional board of school trustees”™ decision should be reversed. (See In the News for more information about this case.) The Circuit Court’s decision further elucidates the meaning of recent changes to the factors that must be weighed by a regional board of school trustees when deciding whether to grant a petition to detach from a school district’s territory.
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Jul 17, 2018
Today the Missouri Supreme Court overruled both the Missouri Public Service Commission and the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, in a victory for a company trying to build a transmission line to carry wind-generated energy from western Kansas to Missouri and to states farther east. Concluding that it was bound by a recent decision by the Western District, the PSC refused a certificate of need for the project. Jim Layton, head of Tueth Keeney’s appellate practice group, teamed up
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Mar 7, 2018
On February 22, 2018, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released a new policy memorandum clarifying the requirements for H-1B petitions filed on behalf of workers who will be employed at one or more third party worksites. In other words, this guidance applies to foreign workers seeking H-1B status who will be assigned by their employers to work at an end-client’s facility or worksite, rather than at the actual employer’s facility or worksite. This new guidance will affect certain
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Mar 7, 2018
For companies with employees in California, please note that California’s Immigrant Worker Protection Act went into effect on January 1, 2018. The Immigrant Worker Protection Act places certain restrictions on when California employers may provide an immigration enforcement agency access to nonpublic work areas and employee records. A summary of the Act and the additional requirements for California employers are described below. On March 6, 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the State
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Mar 7, 2018
Background School administrators know the familiar refrain that students “do not shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate” from the Supreme Court’s precedent in Tinker v. Des Moines, 393 U.S. 503(1969). In Tinker, students wore black armbands to school to protest the Vietnam War. The Court overturned the school district’s decision to suspend the students, finding that their speech was protected by the First Amendment and did not “materially disrupt classwork
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Feb 26, 2018
With what’s happening in Jefferson City, it’s a good time to review a few points about impeachment in Missouri.
- Impeachment is governed by the Missouri Constitution, not by statute.
- The specific provision is Article VI, section 1. It authorizes removal by impeachment of “[a]ll elective executive officials of the state, and judges of the supreme court, courts of appeals and circuit courts.”
- The last time impeachment was used in Missouri was the removal of Judy Moriarty as Secretary
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Feb 22, 2018
Planning for a Student Protest or Demonstration The tragic school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida has inspired a national dialogue on the causes of school shootings and the appropriate policies to address these all-too-frequent occurrences. Led by those who survived the tragedy, students nationwide are engaging in spirited conversations on these issues with other members of their school communities. In classrooms, cafeterias, and on social media, students are taking an active role in their democracy by
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Jan 29, 2018
In October of 2017, the Western District Court of Appeals became the first Missouri appellate court to extend the United States Supreme Court’s sex-stereotyping theory to allow a gay employee’s Missouri Human Rights Act (“MHRA”) claim to proceed. In this case, the plaintiff, a gay man, alleged he was discriminated against on the basis of his sex, “because his behavior and appearance contradicted the stereotypes of maleness held by his employer and managers.” Lampley v. MCHR, No. WD80288,
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Jan 11, 2018
As noted in our previous blog, available here, on September 5, 2017, President Trump’s Administration announced rescission of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which grants a temporary reprieve from deportation (known as deferred action) as well as work authorization for certain young people who entered the United States before the age of 16. Following this announcement various lawsuits were filed challenging rescission of the program. On January 9, 2018, a federal judge in
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Jan 2, 2018
Summary: The method of assembling the record for an appeal in Missouri state courts changed substantially on January 1, 2018. Tueth Keeney’s Jim Layton describes the change””and provides some hints. Appellate News: A new approach to the Missouri “legal file” Many lawyers looked past the Missouri Supreme Court’s June 30 order announcing a substantial revision of Rule 81.12, “Record on Appeal,” and a new Court Operating Rule 27.04. But starting January 1, 2018, those changes created a
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Robert L. Jackstadt
James R. Layton
Michelle H. Basi
Merry Rhoades
Mollie G. Mohan