Federal authorities have charged two men with running an insider trading scheme that netted more than $30 million with information stolen from law firms.
Garrett Bauer is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Newark, N.J., on Wednesday afternoon. Matthew Kluger will make his first appearance in federal court in Alexandria, Va.

They're accused of trading on inside information stolen from Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, a law firm with offices in Washington, D.C., New York, San Francisco and Hong Kong.

Authorities also allege the decades-long scheme used information stolen from prominent New York law firms Cravath Swaine & Moore and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.

Two women who had sales jobs with Eaton Corp. have sued the Cleveland-based manufacturer alleging gender discrimination.

The two filed the class-action lawsuit Tuesday in federal court in New York City. They worked in Eaton offices in New York and New Jersey.

The women allege they were paid less than male counterparts, were passed over for promotions and suffered harassment that led to one woman having a heart attack.

Spokesman Scott Schroeder (SHROH'-dehr) says the company generally doesn't comment on pending lawsuits but is committed to fair and equal treatment of employees. He says Eaton doesn't discriminate.

The lawsuit seeks $150 million in damages for what could be hundreds of current or former employees. The suit also seeks changes in the alleged discriminatory pay and promotion policies.

The Louisiana Supreme Court has ordered Health Net Inc., a major health maintenance organization, to cover more than $180 million in claims by consumers, health care providers and creditors in Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas.

Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon told The Advocate that Louisiana will get the smallest portion of the payout.

"We have about $12 million coming to us to policyholders, providers and general creditors, meaning companies who sold them supplies or that rented them space," Donelon said.

Donelon said the unanimous ruling, issued Friday, will reimburse all of AmCare Louisiana HMO's members, providers, and creditors for any losses caused by Health Net's conduct.

Health Net sold health plans in the three states to AmCareco Inc. in 1999. In 2002, the troubled health plans were placed under state supervision. Each of the state's insurance departments sued AmCareco and Health Net, alleging fraud, negligence, conspiracy and breach of fiduciary duty.

In 2005, a state district court jury awarded the Texas plaintiffs around $100 million in damages. In 2005, a state judge in Baton Rouge issued similar verdicts against Health Net and awarded $30 million to the Louisiana and Oklahoma plaintiffs.

A sex discrimination suit against Wal-Mart on behalf of at least 500,000 past and present female employees appeared to be on the verge of unraveling at the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday, as conservative justices questioned the rationale for holding the retail giant accountable for store-level decisions.

In particular, Justice Anthony Kennedy, who often casts the deciding vote in close cases, said the women's claims seemed contradictory. The plaintiffs said on the one hand that Wal-Mart was infused with sex bias, Kennedy said, and on the other hand that the company provided no standards to store managers who made the personnel decisions.

"It seems to me there's an inconsistency there, and I'm just not sure what the unlawful policy is," Kennedy said during the one-hour argument.

The women's lawyer, Joseph Sellers, replied that the only contradiction was between Wal-Mart's professed policy of nondiscrimination and its practice of paying women less than men and promoting them less often.

The Wal-Mart suit was filed in San Francisco by six women nearly a decade ago. Lower courts have certified it as a class action on behalf of female employees who have worked at the chain's retail stores and Sam's Club warehouses since December 1998.

Texas' foster care system is unconstitutional and should be reformed, according to a class action lawsuit that was filed against the state Tuesday.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Corpus Christi, claims Texas forces thousands of children to live in poorly supervised institutions and move frequently from one place to another. It also contends that children languish for years without permanent families, face a higher risk of abuse, are denied mental health services and are routinely separated from their brothers and sisters.

The suit was initiated by Children's Rights, a New York-based child advocacy group that regularly supports such legal action. The plaintiffs are nine children between the ages of nine and 16.

Marcia Lowry, the executive director of Children's Rights, said the 85-page pleading is the product of five years of scrutiny of Texas' child welfare practices by her organization. A ruling that the Texas system is unconstitutional would pave the way to reform, she said.

"This is a system that's been bad for a long time," Lowry said at a news conference in Dallas. "It's not going to turn around overnight, but it can be turned around."

According to Lowry, improving the system wouldn't necessarily require major new funding, even though the suit contends that the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services is "severely" understaffed.

"It's a question of where the state wants to put its money," she said. "There are ways to redesign the system."

Anne Heiligenstein, commissioner of the Department of Family and Protective Services, said Texas' foster children are safe, well-cared for and in a system that's nationally-recognized for seeking adoptive parents. The system has been subject to reform and has received more than $1 billion in additional funding in recent years, she said in a written statement.

"We're on the right path and will continue to do everything we can to protect Texas children, but I worry that a lawsuit like this will take critical time and resources away from the very children it presumes to help," Heiligenstein said.

According to statistics compiled by the agency, the number of caseworkers in Child Protective Services has risen in the last six years from 2,947 to 4,660. The number of adoptions consummated during that time period also has increased dramatically, from 2,512 to 4,803.

The Texas suit is the 12th class action initiated by Children's Rights seeking reform to the child welfare systems administered by state or municipal governments. Three other suits remain in litigation, and eight have been settled, according to the organization.

The suit names Gov. Rick Perry, Heiligenstein and Thomas Suehs, executive commissioner of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, as defendants.

The law firm of Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein, LLP announces that class action lawsuits have been brought on behalf of all persons who purchased the securities of ShengdaTech, Inc. (“ShengdaTech” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq: SDTH) between March 15, 2010 and March 15, 2011, inclusive (the “Class Period”).

“potentially serious discrepancies and unexplained issues relating to the Company and its subsidiaries’ financial records identified by the Company’s auditors.”
.If you purchased ShengdaTech securities during the Class Period, you may move the Court for appointment as lead plaintiff by no later than May 17, 2011.  A lead plaintiff is a representative party who acts on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation.  Your share of any recovery in this action will not be affected by your decision of whether to seek appointment as lead plaintiff.  You may retain Lieff Cabraser, or other attorneys, as your counsel in this action.

ShengdaTech shareholders who wish to learn more about this action and how to seek appointment as lead plaintiff may visit Lieff Cabraser’s website at http://www.lieffcabraser.com/cases.php?CaseId=452  or contact Sharon Lee of Lieff Cabraser toll free at (800) 541-7358.

Background on ShengdaTech Securities Fraud Class Litigation 

The actions, pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York were brought against ShengdaTech and certain of its officers and directors for violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.  ShengdaTech, headquartered in Shanghai, China, describes itself as a leading developer and manufacturer of nano precipitated calcium carbonate used as an additive in various products, including paint, paper, plastic, and rubber.

The actions allege that during the Class Period, defendants issued materially false and misleading information regarding ShengdaTech’s business and prospects.  Specifically, defendants misrepresented and/or failed to disclose that ShengdaTech lacked adequate internal and financial reporting controls and that its financial statements during at least 2010 were materially false and misleading and did not conform with U.S. GAAP.  As a result of defendants’ false and misleading statements, ShengdaTech’s stock traded at artificially inflated prices during the Class Period.

On March 15, 2011, ShengdaTech announced that it had appointed a special committee of the Board of Directors to investigate “potentially serious discrepancies and unexplained issues relating to the Company and its subsidiaries’ financial records identified by the Company’s auditors.”  ShengdaTech also disclosed that its audit committee had retained O’Melveny & Myers LLP as independent outside counsel, which had commenced an internal investigation, that the SEC had been notified about the investigation, and that it would not be able to file its 2010 Form 10-K in a timely manner.  Following these announcements, Nasdaq halted trading of ShengdaTech shares.

About Lieff Cabraser

Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, with offices in San Francisco, New York and Nashville, is a nationally recognized law firm committed to advancing the rights of investors and promoting corporate responsibility.

Since 2003, the National Law Journal has selected Lieff Cabraser as one of the top plaintiffs’ law firms in the nation.  In compiling the list, the National Law Journal examined recent verdicts and settlements in addition to overall track records. Lieff Cabraser is one of only two plaintiffs’ law firms in the United States to receive this honor for the last eight consecutive years.

For more information about Lieff Cabraser and the firm’s representation of investors, please visit http://www.lieffcabraser.com.

A major New Orleans hospital and the company that owned it have settled a class action lawsuit in the deaths and injuries of patients who were stranded there during and after Hurricane Katrina.

The settlement was reached Wednesday as lawyers were picking a jury to hear the case. The agreement is subject to court approval, which attorney Joe Bruno, who represented one of the families suing the health providers, said should come in a few weeks.

Kurt Blankenship, a lawyer for the defendants, said the parties agreed to keep the terms of the settlement confidential.

"This has been a long and difficult situation for all concerned," Blankenship said in a statement.

About 2,000 patients, medical workers and other staff were stranded at Memorial Medical Center — which was owned by Tenet Health Systems — after the 2005 storm. Officials eventually recovered 45 bodies from Memorial.

The class-action lawsuit was brought on behalf Leonard Preston's relatives; of other people who were patients at the hospital; and of others whose relatives died or were injured there during the hurricane and the flooding that ensued. It claims Tenet was not prepared to care for the patients as conditions in the city deteriorated and that there was no valid plan to evacuate the patients, both of which led to deaths at Memorial.

Katrina left 85 percent of New Orleans flooded, including the area around the hospital. The lower level of the medical center was under 10 feet of water. Electrical power and communications failed; temperatures inside the building soared above 100 degrees. Food and water were limited. Many of the dead succumbed to dehydration as they waited for four days for boats and helicopters to rescue them.

The current lawsuits have nothing to do with earlier criminal charges brought against a doctor and two nurses, Bruno said.