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Subject: June 5 -- U.S. Law Week's Legal News

______________________________

THE U.S. LAW WEEK'S LEGAL NEWS
Highlights & Table of Contents
June 5, 2001
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ISSN 1522-4317

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HIGHLIGHTS
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SENATE BILL WOULD EXCLUDE FROM INCOME TAX AMOUNTS RECEIVED
IN PAYMENT OF DISCRIMINATION CLAIMS

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) introduces legislation to
exclude from taxable income awards received in judgment or
settlement for claims of discrimination or violation of
civil rights. The Civil Rights Tax Relief Act of 2001 also
would eliminate the double taxation of attorneys' fees under
contingency fee agreements and allow income averaging for
back pay and front pay awarded for discrimination claims. A
companion bill is pending in the House.

The legislation would correct an unintended consequence of
the 1996 Small Business Job Protection Act, which made
damage awards that are not based on physical injury or
physical sickness taxable to the plaintiff. "Because most
acts of employment discrimination and civil rights
violations do not cause physical injuries, this provision
has had a direct and negative impact on plaintiffs who
successfully prove that they have been subjected to
intentional employment discrimination or other intentional
violations of their civil rights," Collins explains. . . .
Page 2746

http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4g1c5d3_


NLRB ADOPTS BRIGHT-LINE RULE FOR DECERTIFICATION ELECTIONS,
PROHIBITS INCUMBENT UNIONS FROM USING NONEMPLOYEES AS
OBSERVERS

The National Labor Relations Board adopts a "bright-line
rule" prohibiting incumbent labor organizations from using
their nonemployee agents as election observers for
decertification elections. The board overturns a
decertification election despite the lack of any evidence of
misconduct by the union agent, citing neutrality of the
election process as the reason for its bright-line rule.

The board distinguishes decertification elections from
initial representation elections, in which nonemployee union
observers are allowed providing the agency does not engage
in misconduct and the agent's presence does not interfere
with any party's rights. "In our view, it is more likely
that an employee would be influenced by the presence of a
person who is an agent of a union that "is" his bargaining
representative than by a person who is an agent of a union
that wishes to "become" the bargaining representative." . .
. Page 2745

http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4g1m6a3_


FTC CLEARS AMAZON'S REVISED PRIVACY POLICY,  APPROVES
TRUSTE'S COPPA SAFE HARBOR PROGRAM

The Federal Trade Commission concludes that a change in
Amazon.com's online privacy policy concerning the
circumstances in which the company might disclose personal
information about its customers does not violate the FTC
Act. The FTC's conclusions are in response to a petition
alleging that the electronic retailer deceived consumers in
its representations about privacy of personal information. .
. . Page 2743

The Federal Trade Commission approves the safe harbor
program for children's online data proposed by TRUSTe, an
organization that grants privacy seals to Web sites. Firms
adhering to guidelines established by TRUSTe will be
presumed to be in compliance with regulations implementing
the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, which require
that Web sites directed at children post comprehensive
privacy policies on their sites and obtain parental consent
before collecting personal information from children under
the age of 13.  . . . Page 2744

http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4g0q3p0_

http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4g0z7a6_


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ANALYSIS
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TAXATION: The author of this week's "Analysis & Perspective"
discusses tax disputes that can arise after a case has been
settled, the most common being whether taxes should be
withheld from the settlement amount. . . . Page 2739

http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4a5n4j8_


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ALSO IN THIS ISSUE
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A complete topical index of Legal News.

ANTITRUST: The number of countries attempting to oversee and
control mergers is on the rise, increasing the filing burden
for multinational companies, according an annual survey by
the law firm of White & Case"". . . . Page 2741

http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4f9r9q7_

ATTORNEYS: The Maryland bar's ethics committee advises a law
firm that it may receive fees directly from an out-of-state
law firm serving as co-counsel. . . . Page 2741

http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4f5z0j7_

BANKING: The Federal Reserve Board is drafting proposed
legislation to reduce some of the legal impediments to check
handling and encourage digital check processing, according
to a Fed official. . . . Page 2742

http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4g0q2w1_

COMMERCIAL LAW: An American Bar Association task force
outlines a plan for adoption of an online alternative
dispute resolution provider trustmark--a common symbol that
would ensure a user of ODR services of the provider's
adherence to a shared set of guidelines or procedures. . . .
Page 2743

http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4g0p7r7_

CONSUMER PROTECTION: The Federal Trade Commission finds that
Amazon.com's revised privacy policy does not deceive
consumers concerning the circumstances in which the company
might disclose personal customer data to third parties. . .
. Page 2743

http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4g0q3p0_

CONSUMER PROTECTION: The Federal Trade Commission approves
the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act safe harbor
program proposed by TRUSTe. Firms adhering to guidelines
established by TRUSTe will be presumed to be in compliance
with regulations implementing the COPPA. . . . Page 2744

http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4g0z7a6_

LABOR: The National Labor Relations Board adopts a rule for
union decertification elections, barring incumbent unions
from using as election observers agents who does not work
for the employer. . . . Page 2745

http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4g1m6a3_

TAXATION: Sen. Susan Collins introduces a bill to exclude
from the taxable income of a plaintiff any award received in
judgment or settlement of a claim for discrimination or
violation of a civil right. . . . Page 2746

http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4g1c5d3_

TRADEMARKS: Officials from the World Intellectual Property
Organization conduct a consultation to discuss the
organization's latest recommendations for protecting against
"bad faith, abusive, misleading or unfair" registration of
domain names. . . . Page 2746

http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4g0p7t6_

TRADEMARKS: The registration of the domain name
"aimster.com" for a peer-to-peer file-sharing service that
interacts with Internet instant messaging services, in
effect, free-rides on America Online Inc.'s trademarked AIM
[AOL Instant Messenger] service in bad faith and in
violation of the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy, an
arbitration panel of the National Arbitration Forum
concludes. . . . Page 2748

http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4g0p7c2_

UNITED STATES: The House Judiciary Committee approves
legislation that would require federal agencies to pay out
of their own budgets judgments against them in employment
discrimination and whistleblower cases. . . . Page 2749

http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4g1c5c3_

NOMINATIONS AND CONFIRMATIONS: . . . Page 2749

http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4g1z4v3_

CIRCUIT SPLIT ROUNDUP: This week's edition features cases
decided in March that acknowledge and describe disagreements
in the federal courts of appeals on various questions. . . .
Page 2750

http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/law2.nsf/id/a0a4e8u3n7_


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