For the first time, the 7th Circuit has directly addressed the question of whether obesity is a “physical impairment” that qualifies as a disability under the ADA. Consistent with the Second, Sixth, and Eighth circuit courts’ holdings, the 7th Circuit held in Richardson v. Chicago Transit Authority that “obesity is…
Signed into law on May 2, 2019, SEA 460 enhances the state’s ability to develop high speed internet access in rural communities. The act does this in two ways: (1) by creating a rural broadband fund used to award grants to certain broadband service providers operating in rural areas, and…
In 1990, the State of Pennsylvania enacted a statutory scheme for regulating 911 emergency calls throughout the State. Most notably, counties were responsible for maintaining 911 systems and were obliged to make arrangements with local exchange carriers (“LECs”) operating within the county to provide 911 service. Service providers would impose…
Great River Energy (“GRE”) is a G&T cooperative that services 28 members. Crow Wing Coop. Power & Light (“Crow Wing”) is one of GRE’s 28 members. In 2004, Crow Wing entered into a power purchase contract with GRE. The pertinent parts of power purchase contract are (i) the section which…
Alcorn County Electric Power Association (“ACE”) began supplying The Door Shop, Inc. (“Door Shop”) with electric service beginning in November 2004. In the course of setting up Door Shop’s account, ACE failed to enter the proper data into their billing system. This error resulted in Door Shop being dramatically under-billed…
In 2015, the town of Avon passed an ordinance which allowed the town to force a utility to relocate facilities on public streets or public rights-of-way at the utilities expense due to municipal projects. Duke Energy subsequently filed a complaint with the IURC, alleging Avon’s ordinance violated Indiana law. Initially,…
The Indiana Tort Claims Act (I.C. 34-13-3 et seq.) requires that notice must be filed before a plaintiff may bring a tort claim against any state agency or political subdivision. The timing of this notice is critical, as failing to file a tort claim notice within the applicable time limit…
In an opinion issued on December 31, 2018, the Indiana Court of Appeals upheld Charlestown’s sale of its water utility to the Indiana-American Water Company. See Now!, Inc. v. Indiana-American Water Company, Inc., Case No. 18A-EX-844 (Ind. Ct. App. Dec. 31, 2018). The City of Charlestown owned and operated its…
On January 11, 2019, the Indiana Court of Appeals held that the trial court properly denied appellant RCM Phoenix Partners LLC’s (“Phoenix”) slander of title claim, even though the appellee 2007 East Meadows, LP (“Meadows”) failed to raise a claim of absolute privilege at the trial court level and raised…
Both the IRS excess benefit statute and the private inurement doctrine DO NOT apply to tax-exempt cooperatives. 26 U.S.C. § 4958(c) defines an excess benefit transaction as “any transaction in which an economic benefit is provided by an applicable tax-exempt organization directly or indirectly to or for the use of…