On Wednesday, October 1, the Wisconsin Supreme Court heard oral argument in a case that involves an important issue to Wisconsin employers who hire employees on an at-will basis and seek to protect themselves with non-competition, confidentiality, and non-solicitation agreements (hereinafter, “Non-Competes” or “Agreements”). The opinion of a Milwaukee County Circuit Court that is under […]
Wisconsin Supreme Court Hears Oral Argument in Case Dealing with Non-Compete Agreements
Date Thu, Oct. 2, 2014 - 1:46pm By Hamilton
Wisconsin State Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments in Civil Liability Cases
Date Thu, Sep. 18, 2014 - 2:34pm By Hamilton
The Supreme Court of Wisconsin has begun to hear oral arguments for the 2014-15 term, including cases involving civil liability issues. Below is a summary of three cases of interest to Wisconsin businesses. Court to Decide Meaning of “Owner in Dog Bite Case Court to Determine Whether Manure is a Pollutant for Insurance Policies Court […]
Court to Decide Meaning of “Owner” in Dog Bite Case
Date Thu, Sep. 18, 2014 - 2:22pm By Hamilton
The Wisconsin Supreme Court earlier this month heard oral arguments in a case deciding whether the defendant is an “owner” and thus liable for damages caused by a dog at the home he owned, but in which he did not live. The case is Augsburger v. Homestead Mut. Ins., 2012AP641. Background The defendant owned […]
Wisconsin Supreme Court to Determine Manure as a Pollutant for Insurance Policies
Date Thu, Sep. 18, 2014 - 2:08pm By Hamilton
On Friday, September 12, the Wisconsin Supreme Court heard a number of cases dealing with the issue of whether septage is a “pollutant” that triggers the pollution exclusions in the insurers’ policies. Below is a discussion of the cases heard by the Supreme Court. Background In the first case (Preisler v. Kuettel’s Septic Service, […]
Wis. Supreme Court to Determine Worker’s Compensation Case
Date Thu, Sep. 18, 2014 - 2:01pm By Hamilton
The Wisconsin Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on Tuesday, September 23 in a case that will decide whether the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) preempts the State of Wisconsin from imposing penalties for safety violations under Wisconsin laws. Background An employee (Tonya Wetor) was injured on the job while working at […]
Part of Wisconsin Campaign Finance Law Invalidated by Federal Court
Date Thu, Sep. 18, 2014 - 1:47pm By Hamilton
Earlier this year, Tidbits reported on a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision (McCutcheon v. FEC) in which the court struck down individual aggregate contribution limits to federal campaigns. In McCutcheon, the law in question limited how much an individual candidate could receive in total from numerous contributors. The Supreme Court held that the law was […]
Federal Court Upholds Voter ID Law
Date Thu, Sep. 18, 2014 - 1:36pm By Hamilton
Earlier this summer, Tidbits reported that the Wisconsin Supreme Court had issued its long awaited opinions (League of Women Voters v. Walker and Milwaukee Branch of NAACP v. Walker) upholding Wisconsin’s controversial Voter ID law (2013 Wisconsin Act 23) and declaring it constitutional. However, the law was still on hold after the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s […]
WCJC and WMC File Amicus Curiae Brief with Wisconsin Supreme Court in Employment Law Case
Date Fri, Sep. 5, 2014 - 12:04am By Hamilton
On Tuesday, Sept. 2, the Wisconsin Civil Justice Council (WCJC) and Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC) filed an amicus curiae brief with the Wisconsin Supreme Court in Runzheimer Int., Ltd. v. Friedlen. The case involves a very important issue to Wisconsin employers that hire employees on an at-will basis and seek to protect themselves with […]
State Supreme Court Issues High-Profiled Decisions: Act 10, Voter ID, Same-Sex Partnerships
Date Thu, Jul. 31, 2014 - 4:22pm By Hamilton
On Thursday, July 31, the Wisconsin Supreme Court issued four highly anticipated opinions determining whether: 1) Gov. Walker’s signature law, Act 10, was unconstitutional, 2) the voter photo identification law was unconstitutional, and 3) the law creating a same-sex partnership was unconstitutional. In each of the cases, the Court upheld the laws ruling that they […]
Supreme Court Rules that Federal Law Preempts State Negligence Claims Against Railroad Company
Date Wed, Jul. 30, 2014 - 1:40pm By Hamilton
In a 5-2 decision authored by Justice Prosser, joined by Justices Crooks, Roggensack, Ziegler, and Gableman, the Wisconsin Supreme Court held that a parade and resultant parade traffic leading to a train collision with a vehicle did not qualify as an exception to preemption under the Federal Railroad Safety Act (FRSA). Chief Justice Abrahamson authored […]