Montgomery Advertiser columnist Josh Moon says while Alabama AG Luther Strange is concerned about price gouging following the Alabama tornado disaster, consumers are being taken advantage of all year long by the oil and gas industry.

Dick's Sporting Goods, Inc., has reached a tentative settlement agreement involving employees and former employees who allege the company did not pay them for overtime hours worked, and that management at the stores ordered them to work through scheduled breaks.

New York Governor David Paterson on Dec. 13 signed into law the Wage Theft Prevention Act (S.8380/A.11726), which seeks to ensure that employers pay statutorily mandated minimum wages and overtime. The law requires annual notifications of wages, expands those notifications, enhances available remedies for wage law violations and strengthens whistleblower protections.

The Supreme Court agreed Monday, Dec. 6, that it will hear an appeal by Wal-Mart regarding one of the largest employment discrimination cases in U.S. history. The lawsuit, Wal-Mart Stores v. Dukes, No. 10-277, was originally filed in 2001 and alleges Wal-Mart discriminated against hundreds of thousands of women in both pay and promotion.

A Jefferson County woman has filed a federal lawsuit against Target Corporation, claiming two area stores did not give her full credit for manfacturers' coupons she presented for purchases of baby wipes, frozen meals and baby food in September.

HONOLULU - Attorney General Mark Bennett announced today that the State of Hawai'i has filed a complaint against McKesson Corporation and First DataBank, Inc., as part of an ongoing effort to recover for what the State believes were prescription drug overcharges to the State.  The State's previous related lawsuit recovered (in total) more than $82 million from prescription drug manufacturers.

Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell has filed a lawsuit in East Baton Rouge Parish District Court alleging that 18 drug companies have ripped off state taxpayers by overcharging the Medicaid program. The suit says that the companies misreported their drug prices in a deliberate effort to increase the payments they receive from the Louisiana Medicaid system. Block Law Firm of Thibodaux and Beasley, Allen, Crow Methvin, Portis & Miles of Montgomery, Ala., signed the suit, along with Caldwell. Beasley Allen is among the nation's leading plaintiffs firms. Attorneys working on this case from Beasley Allen are W. Daniel Miles, III, head of the firm's Consumer Fraud Section, Roman Shaul, and Alison Douillard.