According to Hank's full story, the cruise was a magnificent blend of fine food, shambling old people, questionable musical numbers, and gorgeous scenery. It was only when he tried to leave before the date on his itinerary that the ship's pleasure police went into overdrive:

When we reached Juneau, I had to return to Los Angeles. But when I tried, with my luggage, to leave the ship along with the hundreds of other passengers disembarking to see the city, the ship's crew stopped me and informed me that I would not be permitted to leave the ship with my luggage. Then, in the rudest possible way and without explanation, the ship's security escorted me, as though I were a criminal, to the ship's Guest Relations desk, where the security officer informed the concierge that I had tried to escape.

Apparently, some brain-dead U.S. lawmakers in 2006 passed the Jones Act, which among other things, fines foreign cruise ships that allow a ship passenger to disembark from a ship in a state different from the one from which he originally boarded. Because most cruise ships, including the one I was on, operate under a foreign flag to avoid being subject to a number of U.S. laws, the cruise line wouldn't let me off the ship. I was afraid I would be trapped on a huge floating city, being forced to "enjoy" a pleasure cruise where I could eat, swim, eat, and learn about nature as much as I wanted — for all of eternity. I imagined being locked in the theater with Brett Nixon yelling at me, "You will stay, stay, stay, stay, stay on this amazing pleasure cruise, and you will like, like, like, like, like it and Alaaskaaah!"

For over an hour, Celebrity Cruises held me on the ship against my will as I argued with them about the ridiculous bureaucracy of it all. Finally, they agreed to release me from their custody after fining me $200 and sending me to U.S. Customs (though I had never stepped foot on foreign soil, being on the foreign cruise ship evidently required me to "reenter" the United States through Customs). The way the cruise line's security had treated me, it was though I had tried to steal their precious waffle-making apparatus from the waffle bar and smuggle it off the ship. Except I was just trying disembark and return home, in my own country.

Eventually, I escaped their clutches. At U.S. Customs, they barely looked at my paperwork and let me continue on to the airport. But I miss the waffles.

"Held captive on a ship with delicious waffles by Celebrity Cruises" [withoutbaggage]
(Photo: trialsanderrors)

"We do not agree with the FAA's [latest] findings and characterizations of American's action in these cases," the airline said in a statement. "We believe the proposed penalties are excessive."

The FAA defended the fine in a statement of its own:
"The FAA believes the large total amount of the fine for these violations is appropriate because American Airlines was aware that appropriate repairs were needed, and instead deferred maintenance."

As for the drug testing issue, the FAA wants to fine AA $1.7 million for warning its employees ahead of time when they were scheduled to be tested. The tests are supposed to be unannounced.

The FAA proposed $7.1 million in fines against American for violations that included:

•$4.4 million for improperly deferring maintenance in December

•$1.7 million for problems with its drug- and alcohol-testing program

•$1 million for operating planes without properly inspecting the emergency- path lighting system

American Airlines faces $7.1M in fines for safety violations [Dallas Morning News]
(Photo: Joshua Davis jdavis.info )

Provo marketing firm fined for hanging up on customers [Deseret News] (Thanks to Brandon!) (Photo: Getty)

"The commission has adopted a set of principles that protects consumers access to the Internet," FCC Chairman Kevin Martin told The Associated Press late Thursday. "We found that Comcast's actions in this instance violated our principles."

The AP says that Martin will recommend "enforcement action" against Comcast and that the FCC commissioners will vote on the issue on August 1.

FCC chief says Comcast violated Internet rules [AP] (Thanks, Everyone!)
(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

Best Buy, Circuit City, and Sears are all contesting the FCC's recent fines against them for not properly following analog transition rules in their stores, reports Ars Technica. Last week, Best Buy submitted a 41-page response (PDF) that claimed among other things that the FCC has no authority to fine them.

Best Buy's boldest claim is that the FCC "has not claimed any express authorization from Congress to enact the Labeling Rule, and none exist." In other words, they claim the FCC doesn't have the authority to force retailers to label all analog TVs with warnings that they will need a digital converter after to receive over-the-air broadcasts after February 17th, 2009.

Additionally, the company claims that its violations were accidents and not "willful" as described by the FCC, and that the FCC's report contained errors, such as listing a model that doesn't exist.

"Best Buy: FCC has no power to fine us over analog TVs" [Ars Technica] (Thanks to forgottenpassword!)

RELATED
"Sears, Best Buy, Wal-Mart And Others Fined For Not Warning Consumers About Analog Obsolescence"
Best Buy's Response [Ars Technica]
(Photo: Getty Images)

Apparently, airlines can be fined up to $25,000 if passengers don't get off the phone, and passengers themselves can be fined as well. The passenger could not be reached for comment by the AP, but a business associate said that Mr. Jones' father was having a heart attack and and he was on the phone with the hospital.

"He expresses regret for the inconvenience that it caused the airline and its passengers, but he felt compelled because of the life and death nature of it to make that call," Clayton said in a story for Monday's online edition of the Austin American-Statesman.

Southwest passenger cited for refusing to get off cell phone [Houston Chronicle]
(Photo: Zonaphoto)

After another battle with a branch manager today—who insisted that money couldn't be returned and that I needed to fill out a fraud report—I went over her head.  After a heated, uh, discussion, the main downtown Seattle branch put the $1,500 back in my business checking account.  The $7 fee was refunded a few hours later.
 
Some bad PR in Consumerist no doubt helped. Thank you!

We're not sure we posted the story in time to have an effect on the outcome, but we'll take it.

RELATED
"WaMu Presents Random $1500 Check On Someone Else's Account, Then Calls It Fraud"

[Update: WaMu has returned the money.] Bill's small business account was hit with a $1500 check written by an unrelated third party to another third party—both completely unconnected with his account. He was also penalized with an insufficient funds fee, although the money was debited from his account. Now WaMu's saying they have to investigate for fraud before they can return Bill's fees.

I received a returned check notice from Washington Mutual last week. Not unusual for a small business — until I opened it.

The check in question was a $1,500 private party check written to another private party. The check wasn't written by, or issued to, my business.

Simple mistake? I visited the WaMu branch across the street from my office and got the stunning response from the branch manager that they'd have to do a fraud investigation. I raised hell again today, and the money, plus a $7 returned check fee, still hasn't been returned to my account.

I'm considering going to go to small claims court — or swear out a theft complaint against WaMu — to get my money back. The only fraud is that WaMu or KeyBank (the check in question was written on a KeyBank account) screwed up and they're taking it out of my hide. I'm the innocent bystander.

Maybe WaMu is trying to cover its losses by randomly reassigning bounced checks to accounts that have money in them and hope no one notices.

Why can't WaMu assume the $1500 loss while they investigate what was probably a clerical error, instead of forcing the problem onto their customer? Maybe WaMu should amend their new ad slogan to "We've got your back... unless we're covering our own asses."

John found himself the proud father of a $10 fine from WaMu this morning because he exceeded 6 transfers from his savings account during a single billing period. When he called in to find out why this happened, he was told it was a federal regulation: "The representative from Wamu said there was nothing she could do and I need to better monitor my account. Honestly I just want to know if anyone else has had this problem?" It's a real regulation, John, but banks don't have to charge a fine—they can also simply warn you or not allow the seventh transaction—but then they wouldn't get to make another $10 off of you.

John writes:

I talked to the person who couldn't do anything for me and then I talked to a "Manager". She explained to me that there are federal regulations that state that a person can only transfer money 6 times in a billing cycle.

The regulation she's referring to is Federal Regulation D, and in section 204(d)(2) it defines exactly what constitutes a savings account. One of the characteristics is there can only be up to six pre-authorized or automatic transfers—however, you can make as many transfers as you want in person or via an ATM machine.
 
The $10 fee WaMu hit you with was entirely their own invention, however. A footnote to section 204(d)(2) describes what banks can do to ensure customers don't go over the limit:

In order to ensure that no more than the permitted number of withdrawals or transfers are made, for an account to come within the definition in paragraph (d)(2) of this section, a depository institution must either:
 
(a) Prevent withdrawals or transfers of funds from this account that are in excess of the limits established by paragraph (d)(2) of this section, or
 
(b) Adopt procedures to monitor those transfers on an ex post basis and contact customers who exceed the established limits on more than an occasional basis.

Call us pessimists, but we bet every major bank opts for an ex post fine in order to generate additional income. That means if you have to make more than six transactions in a given month, use an ATM machine if you can.

(Photo: Getty Images)

Under the scam, telemarketers called unsuspecting seniors and pretended to update their Social Security or insurance information to knock loose private financial details. The scammers then used that personal data to write themselves $142 million worth of unsigned checks, which Wachovia gladly cashed.

Upon learning that one scammer's account received 4,500 complaints in a two-moth span, one Wachovia executive wrote in an email: "YIKES!!!! DOUBLE YIKES!!!! There is more, but nothing more that I want to put into a note."

Though Wachovia did not admit or deny wrongdoing, the investigation found that Wachovia, one of the country's largest banks, engaged in unsafe practices — failing to conduct suitable due diligence, failing to monitor accounts used by telemarketers and failing to follow normal procedures that would probably have uncovered the thefts.

The bank's actions were "part of a pattern of misconduct" that resulted in Wachovia's collecting millions of dollars in fees, regulators wrote.

Wachovia has agreed to pay a $10 million fine, contribute $8.9 million to consumer education programs and make restitution to victims that could top $125 million. In a statement, the bank said this "situation was unacceptable and we regret it happened."

Disturbingly, the government hasn't tackled unsigned checks, the root cause of this pernicious scam.

In 2005, attorneys general of 35 states urged the Federal Reserve to end the unsigned check system. But the Federal Reserve demurred.

"We really need these unsigned checks to be prohibited completely," said Mr. Miller, the Iowa attorney general. "There's still a lot of work to be done."

Best Buy told the Chicago Tribune that they were "extremely disappointed" by the fine because they'd made a good faith effort to pull all analog-only tuners off the sales floor last October. As for some of the other companies, "Wal-Mart did not immediately comment, while a message to Sears was not returned." That's probably because Sears' phone has been disconnected for failure to pay its bill.

"Sears, Wal-Mart, others fined for analog TV labeling" [Chicago Tribune] (Thanks to Tim!)
(Photo: Getty)

The FTC alleged that consumers lured to ValueClick's Web sites by these promises were led through a maze of expensive and burdensome third-party offers - including car loans and satellite television subscriptions - which they were required to "participate in" at their own expense, in order to receive the promised "free" merchandise. The FTC charged that ValueClick's use of deceptively labeled e-mail offering free gifts and its failure to disclose that consumers must expend substantial sums of money to obtain the promised "free" merchandise violates the CAN-SPAM Act and the FTC Act.

The FTC also charged that ValueClick, Hi-Speed Media, and E-Babylon, misrepresented that they secured customers' sensitive financial information consistent with industry standards. The FTC alleged the companies published online privacy policies claiming they encrypted customer information, but either failed to encrypt the information at all or used a non-standard and insecure form of encryption. The agency also charged that several of the companies' e-commerce Web sites were vulnerable to SQL injection, a commonly known form of hacker attack, contrary to claims that the companies implemented reasonable security measures.

ValueClick to Pay $2.9 Million to Settle FTC Charges [FTC]

Significant differences remain between the Senate and House legislation, but compromise seems assured on several key points:

• Funding for the Commission would rise from $63 million to over $100 million.
• The CPSC would be allowed to work without a quorum, but funding would be available for a full slate of 5 Commissioners.
• Lead would effectively be banned from all children's products, not just toys.
• Toy makers would be required to use independent labs to test their products for lead.
• Maximum fines would rise from $1.8 million to at least $10 million.
• 
  

Thirteen Senators think the bills goes too far and that their families are plenty safe without an expanded CPSC, thank you:

Allard (R-CO)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burr (R-NC)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Corker (R-TN)
DeMint (R-SC)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Vitter (R-LA)
Wicker (R-MS)

The White House has yet to threaten a veto. Stay tuned for updates as the bill heads to conference.

Senate Votes For Safer Products [Washington Post]
Vote Summary [United States Senate]
S. 2663 - A bill to reform the Consumer Product Safety Commission to provide greater protection for children's products, to improve the screening of noncompliant consumer products, to improve the effectiveness of consumer product recall programs, and for other purposes. [THOMAS]
Write Your Representative
PREVIOUSLY: How To Write To Congress

It costs Marriott over $1,000 to scrub the smoke-stink off a room, a charge they happily offset by smacking smokers like Dan with a $250 fine.

Some hotels seek out actual physical evidence before they levy a fine. The New York Marriott Downtown first started charging people $250 for simply leaving the smell of smoke in their rooms after the brand went 100% nonsmoking in Sept. 2006. Within a few weeks, they realized they had too many complaints, says Anna Cervenyak, the hotel's office manager. Security started taking pictures of butts or ashes when housekeeping found them. Though they still make "plenty" of refunds, they now show people physical evidence, which usually is enough to draw a confession, Ms. Cervenyak says.

Physical evidence also plays a role when a guest tries to protest against the charge through a credit-card company. Sam Patel, who owns the Quality Inn Brick Town in Oklahoma City, says, "A lot of times you have to argue with the credit-card company" to have a smoking charge accepted. "If you don't find a cigarette," he says, the charge will not go through, and "we lose money." he says.

At least one hotel gives employees an incentive to catch illicit smokers: Swissotel Chicago awards housekeepers a $10 bonus for every smoker they catch.

Where were we?
Right, smoking in hotel rooms.

Please don't.

Now at Hotels: The $250 Cigarette [WSJ]
(Photo: Getty)

• The CPSC would create a consumer complaint database that lists death, injury and illness reports, a provision absent from the House bill.
• State attorneys general would be allowed to seek injunctions for violations of federal law, but would not receive broad enforcement powers.
• Whistleblower protection would be extended to private-sector employees, and whistleblowers would be allowed to sue for damages up to $250,000.
• Maximum fines would rise from $1.8 million to $20 million—far less than the $100 million approved by the House.

Congress should arm state attorneys general with broad enforcement powers and authorize staggering fines that can threaten the reputation and wallet of any company. Still, the current compromise would give consumers more than the pitiful excuse for protection that we currently endure. Even if the bill passes in its current form, consumers need and deserve Commissioners who are willing to wield the tools Congress provides.

From the LA Times:

"We're outraged that they are asking doctors to violate the sacred trust of patients to rat them out for medical information that patients would expect their doctors to handle with the utmost secrecy and confidentiality," said Dr. Richard Frankenstein, president of the California Medical Assn.

Patients "will stop telling their doctors anything they think might be a problem for their insurance and they don't think matters for their current health situation," he said. "But they didn't go to medical school, and there are all kinds of obscure things that could be very helpful to a doctor."

WellPoint Inc., the Indianapolis-based company that operates Blue Cross of California, said Monday that it was sending out the letters in an effort to hold down costs.

"Enrolling an applicant who did not disclose their true condition (and the condition is chronic or acute), will quickly drive increased utilization of services, which drives up costs for all members," WellPoint spokeswoman Shannon Troughton said in an e-mail.

"Blue Cross feels it is our responsibility to assure all records are accurate and up to date for HMO providers," she said. "We send these letters to identify members early on in the process who may not have been honest in their application."

Doctors balk at request for data [LA Times] (Thanks, Everyone!)

"Fining companies that fail to fulfill their contractual obligations is an important part of good government," said Councilmember Duchy Trachtenberg."Damages force violators of customer service standards to change or face further penalties. The Council holds Comcast to the same high standards it would apply to every important service provider."

Comcast's fine stems from repeated violations of their franchise agreement with the county, and isn't the first time the company has been fined for poor customer service. Comcast's incompetance has resulted in $74,000 in penalties to Montgomery County in the last 12 months.

The county sets forth customer service standards in their franchise agreement, standards that include:

• Requiring Comcast to answer the phone within 30 seconds and transfer the customer to a live human in an additional 30 seconds.
• Fixing service interruptions within 24 hours if no work is needed inside your home, and 3 days if access to your home is required.
• A 10% per day credit if the technician is unable to repair your connection during a scheduled service appointment.

"Our residents expect and deserve good quality cable television service from our franchisees, and we will continue to hold those companies accountable for being responsive to customer needs," said County Executive Isiah Leggett.

In response to this post, Comcast spokesperson Jennifer Khoury said, "...we are committed to customer service and have made significant improvements over the last year in Montgomery County with plans for additional customer service enhancements in 2008. For example, in 2007, we invested $290 million throughout the region, added 300 employees and announced plans for a 500-seat regional call center in Largo, Maryland that will open early this year."

Here's a PDF that outlines Montgomery County's Cable Consumer's Rights, so you can read it and get all jealous that your county isn't on top of stuff the way they are.

Montgomery Fines Comcast for Poor Customer Service; Also Publishes Cable "Consumer Rights" On-line Brochure [Montgomery County] (Thanks, Steven!)
(Photo:cmorran123)

PREVIOUSLY: Comcast Fined $12,281.84 For Not Answering The Phone Quickly Enough

After Bono expressed his opinion that winning a Golden Globe was "really, really fucking brilliant," the FCC tried to amend the obscenity rules to include "fleeting references," such as Bono's. The rule was tossed out by a court.

Last year's court decision that threw out the FCC's policy on "fleeting references" complicates any action the commission might want to take against the stations or the network, chairman Kevin Martin told reporters.

When asked whether the FCC would take action, Martin appeared flummoxed by the court's decision and the most recent incident of celebrity potty mouth.

"Obviously the commission's pending litigation has impacted a whole host of issues, but I don't know enough about the details of this to see how it would be impacted," he said.

Diane Keaton swears on TV, FCC stammers [a wire service]
( AP Photo/Stuart Ramson)

"Under the Consumer Product Safety Act," writes the CPSC, "Manufacturers, distributors and retailers are required to immediately report to CPSC information about products that could create a substantial risk of injury to the public or that create an unreasonable risk of serious injury or death."

"Shopping Channel HSN Agrees to Pay $875,000 Civil Penalty" [CPSC]

American was not fined because the government considered both flights to have changed during the course of the year under criteria that required scheduled departures be within 15 minutes of each other in all three quarters, said Sam Podbersky, the Transportation Department's assistant general counsel for aviation enforcement.

The departure time of the Newark-Chicago flight was moved up by 50 minutes in the second and third quarters compared with the first, and the Miami-New York flight's scheduled departure was pushed back by 20 minutes. Because of that, neither flight was even among the 25 the government considered chronically late in the first half of the year.

"American Airlines did not have any flights that were chronically delayed for the first three quarters of 2007, and neither has the DOT Enforcement Office informed us that we did," company spokesman Tim Wagner wrote in an e-mail Thursday.

"Adjusting operations to look for a less crowded time to take off is exactly what we want the airlines to do," said Transportation Department spokesman Brian Turmail. "This is the beginning of the process, not the end."

American Avoids Fines for Flight Delays [Forbes]
(Photo:global jet)

They hired a tree trimmer, paid him $3,000 to trim the trees, and were assured that no permit was necessary.

Not so.

From the LA Times:

On the third day of the three-day job, the city's urban forester happened to be in the neighborhood, and noticed the tree trimmer doing his thing.

"She saw what was happening and said, 'Stop! Cease and desist!' " says Mike, a work-at-home software and computer guy.

Glendale has an indigenous tree protection ordinance that dates to the 1980s. It was enacted to discourage developers and homeowners from bulldozing or hacking trees willy-nilly. Earlier this year, because of citizen complaints that native trees were still being ruined, the city approved more restrictions and bigger fines.

None of which the Collards knew about.

They now admit that had they read the Fire Department notice closely, they would have seen in small print that a free permit was required to trim oak and sycamore branches larger than 1 inch in diameter. But it was an understandable oversight.

A week after her first visit, the urban forester was back, telling the Collards an arborist would come by soon to assess the damage. The Collards recall being told they might want to hire an attorney.

"That's when we realized the gravity of the situation," says Ann. "I was pregnant and crying, but it didn't help."

In August, the Collards got a visit from the arborist. She looked at the trees, took measurements and jotted down notes.

How bad could it be? The Collards began to anticipate the possibility of a fine, but it wasn't as if the trees were mauled. They looked pretty good, in fact.

Finally, on Oct. 1, a letter arrived. It was from Glendale's Neighborhood Services administrator.

"Dear Owner," it began. "The city of Glendale is committed to maintaining a community with quality streetscapes that include the care and well-being of protected indigenous trees."

The letter informed them they had improperly pruned 13 trees, some of them on city property because they were near the street, and some on their own property. The fine was listed on Page 2, where the Collards were informed they would be charged "two times the value of the damaged tree(s)."

"Total: $347,600."

"I about passed out," says Ann.

The weird part is that they aren't the only ones who have been fined a ridiculous amount of money for trimming trees in Glendale.

"I was fined $175,000 for cutting two sycamores after my architect contacted the city and was warned not to touch oak trees," says John Oppenheim, a registered nurse and single dad. "I am not a criminal, though because of a string of bad advice, I did make a mistake."

Ann points out that White House aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby was fined $250,000 for perjury, obstruction of justice and lying to investigators in the case of CIA operative Valerie Plame. She adds, with appropriate exasperation, that Glendale Memorial Hospital drew a $25,000 fine in October for a medical error in which "a person was killed."

Out on a limb over trimming fiasco [LA Times] (Thanks, Cesar!)
(Photo:Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)

Judy Cardin, section chief for weights and measures with the state, said that in the case of bulk coffee, the weight of the packaging materials was included when the price of the product was determined. The state had tested one-pound bags of Cameron brand coffee beans, which were found to be 3/100ths of a pound over the actual bagged content.

While that doesn't seem like much, it translated to an overcharge of 21 cents per pound, Cardin said.

"This is something that's difficult for the consumer to know it's even going on," she said. "How would someone know they were being overcharged? This is why weights and measures checks products to make sure consumers are getting what they paid for."

Cardin said Wal-Mart was fined $25,000 in January 2006 for overcharging for bulk coffee.

Wal-Mart hit with $89,705 state fine [Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter]
(AP Photo/April L. Brown)

The FCC filing says that a complaint was filed by the Center for Media and Democracy alleging that on September 21, 2006, Comcast broadcast a VNR for Nelson's Rescue Sleep without providing the sponsorship identification required by law. Comcast argues that they're not covered under that law because they didn't receive any compensation for showing the VNR.

The VNR in question was shoehorned into a daily "consumer issues" segment on the CN8 show "Art Fennel Reports." From the FCC:

CN8's cablecast featuring "Nelson's Rescue Sleep" was part of a daily segment on "Art Fennell Reports" focusing on consumer issues. concerned non-prescription sleep aids. The segment featured only "Nelson's Rescue Sleep," a commercial, natural sleep-aid product, and included portions of a VNR produced by D.S. Simon Productions on behalf of "Nelson's Rescue Sleep."

The VNR material used in this consumer-issues segment contains extensive images and mentions of the product and includes the statement that "If you are one of the estimated 70 million Americans who have trouble sleeping - Rescue Sleep may be what you're looking for."

We do not believe that this type of promotional material, furnished by a product manufacturer, can or should be considered within the scope of the proviso, which is directed to material that contains only fleeting or transient references to products or brand names. We conclude that even though CN8 received this material at no charge, it falls within the exception specifically set forth in the rule and that a sponsorship announcement was thus required. We therefore find that Comcast violated Section 76.1615(a) of the Commission's rules by willfully airing the VNR material at issue without proper sponsorship identification.

NOTICE OF APPARENT LIABILITY FOR FORFEITURE (PDF) [FCC]
FCC proposes 'fake news' fine [Yahoo!]
(Photo:cmorran123)

From the TaxProf Blog, where the question first arose:

If Bill were my client, I would advise him to claim the fine as a deduction subject to the 2% miscellaneous itemized deduction rules (under 162). A few considerations:

1. If it is ordinary and necessary, he may negotiate to turn the fine into his employer (the Pats) as an expense reimbursement under an accountable plan. I think Kraft would tell him to get out of his office, though.
2. It's been reported Bill has an annual salary of about $5 million, so let's use that as a rough approximation of AGI. Assuming no other miscellaneous itemized deductions subject to limit, that shaves $100,000 off his deduction right there, leaving him with $400,000.
3. The Pease phaseout will get him, as well. Assuming $5 million of AGI and $1 million of itemized deductions (about standard), the Pease phaseout will reduce his itemized deductions by $145,308. The pro-rated share (40%) of this assigned to the remainder of the fine is $58,123. That leaves him with $341,877 to deduct.
4. Assuming he is in the 35% bracket, the federal tax subsidy on this will be $119,657. The IRS will subsidize 24% of the Belichick fine.

Can Patriots Coach Belichick Deduct His $500,000 Fine? [TaxProf Blog via WSJ Law Blog]

Now American Airlines has been fined a second time by OSHA—and this time it'll cost them $227,500. From the Daily Herald:

Citations have included a lack of warning signs or labels on previously identified asbestos-containing materials, which could exposure employees to that hazardous substance; hearing conservation; confined space entry; respirator issues and failing to inform employees of the presence of hazardous chemicals and labeling many of those chemicals; and failing to maintain Hepatitis B declination forms.

Since 2004, OSHA has inspected American Airlines 66 times at locations nationwide, with 37 inspections resulting in citations. Its O'Hare hub has been inspected 10 times since 2000, with five inspections resulting in citations, OSHA documents said.

American Airlines cited again by OSHA [Daily Herald]
(Photo:Ian Muttoo)

PREVIOUSLY: American Airlines Fined $231,000 For Unsafe Work Conditions At O'Hare

Travelocity says the Cuba trips were an accident.

"The trips to Cuba were unintentionally permitted to be booked by consumers online because of some technical failures several years ago and it's just now being finally settled with OFAC," Frey wrote in an e-mail to the Chicago Tribune. "In no way did the company intend to allow bookings for trips to Cuba and the company has fully cooperated with OFAC and implemented corrective measures."

Feds Fine Travelocity.com for Cuba Trips [Chicago Tribune]
(Photo:innoxiuss)

Our favorite myth?

Myth No. 6: You can make up an excuse to get out of the ticket.
Most police officers aren't interested in excuses. When an officer pulls you over, he already suspects you of an infraction. You'll have your day in court and many ways to fight the ticket. Remember: Any explanation you give about why you were speeding is an admission that you were speeding. If an officer logs those explanations in his notes, the statements could later be used against you in court. That's why, whenever an officer asks if you know why you've been pulled over, always answer "no" and just take the ticket.

"Never admit to speeding in the process of talking," says Aaron Quinn, communications director for the National Motorists Association. "I would say just to be polite with the officer. Reasoning with the officer is something that might help you out if you actually are on your way to the hospital. You can try talking, just don't admit guilt."

Read the rest of the myths at Bankrate. Oh, and if you get pulled over by the "GPD," that's the Gotham Police Department. They're not real. Just cool.

8 top traffic ticket myths [Bankrate]
(Photo:Zesmerelda)

Whoops. According to the report, many of the unmarked items at the Westchester County store were part of the Martha Stewart Collection. Scandalous! —MEGHANN MARCO

Kmart pays $15,000 fine for violating Westchester County's item pricing law. [Lower Hudson Online]
(Photo:svacher)

"Technically, I'm guilty. I just think it's ridiculous, the way they're going about it," Barg said. "We have to find a way to adjust our legal policy to take into account this new technology, and so far, they're not doing a very good job."

Music piracy crackdown nets college kids [Yahoo! News]
(Photo: AP)

Under the new laws, drivers who read and compose text messages or talk on a cell phone without a hands-free device could face a $101 ticket. The text-messaging ban takes effect Jan. 1; the cell-phone law will be enforced starting in July 2008.

Cell phone bill, text message ban signed into law [AP]
(Photo: )

The agency said the program's primary goal of reducing unwanted telemarketing calls is succeeding, largely due to a "high degree of compliance by telemarketers." The report notes that while roughly 1.15 million complaints were received in fiscal 2006 from 374,937 registered phone numbers, that was the equivalent of only about one-quarter of 1 percent of the numbers in the database.

Add yourself to the list by registering at DoNotCall.gov, or by calling 1-888-382-1222. — CAREY GREENBERG-BERGER

Do Not Call list grew by 25M in 2006 [AP]
Register Your Home Or Mobile Phone Number [FTC]
(Photo: chuckp)

Comcast claims the city council's data includes calls that were not only outside of normal business hours. They also claim the calls were placed during a "statistical anomaly" in which Comcast received more calls than usual due to having recently raised rates. —MEGHANN MARCO

Council May Impose Files On Comcast [Diamondback Online]
(Photo: Sister72)

Blue Cross of California systematically violates state law when it cancels health insurance policyholders after they get pregnant or sick, making no attempt to determine whether the consumers did anything to merit such harsh treatment, a scathing investigation by state regulators has found.
[snip]
Blue Cross used computer programs and a dedicated department to systematically cancel the policies of pregnant women and the chronically ill regardless of whether they intentionally lied on their applications to cover up pre-existing medical conditions, a standard required by state law for canceling individual policies. Regulators examined 90 randomly selected cases of policy cancellations and found violations in each one.

I'd like to meet the people who worked in the "dedicated department" whose sole purpose was to cheat honest people out of their insurance. I'd ask them if how they slept at night.

In separate news, scientists have found a physical basis in the brain for empathy. Maybe the members of that Blue Cross department would benefit from a little surgery. — MARK ASHLEY

Blue Cross fined $1 million for canceling policies [LA Times]
(Photo: net_efekt)

"Time Warner has, for a period of time, not lived up to the obligations that are required for the citizens of this community," said Councilman Keith Millhouse. The city has complained to Time Warner for months without results.

Among other things, Time Warner failed in its agreement to answer customer calls in 30 seconds or less, the council said. It wasn't known if the fine would be used as refunds to Moorpark customers of the nation's second-largest cable company.

The franchise agreement states, "Telephone answering time shall not exceed 30 seconds."

We wish more cities would follow Moorpark's example. Recently Montgomery County, MD fined Comcast $12,281.84 for not meeting the standards set by their franchise agreement. If more local governments held these companies to their franchise agreements customer service just might improve. —MEGHANN MARCO

Moorpark Fines Time Warner Cable $25K Over Poor Service [KNBC] (Thanks, anoneemush!)

The Kmart on Patton Avenue in Asheville, NC is one of 4 stores issued civil fines by North Carolina after inspectors found "excessive price-scanning errors that caused customers to pay more than prices advertised." Not all states have price-scanning laws, but North Carolina obviously does. We like the idea. Keeps the bastards honest, or "provides needed motivation for price-scanning accuracy to be an area of interest and concern at the corporate level"... if you're not into the whole brevity thing.—MEGHANN MARCO

4 WNC stores fined for errors in price scanning [Citizen Times]
(Photo: Cosmic Kitty)

Montogomery County Advisory Committee Report (PDF) [via DSL Reports]

Priceline.com, Travelocity.com and Cingular Wireless have settled over charges that they used secret adware Internet software programs as marketing tools, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said on Monday.

Priceline, Travelocity, Cingular settle over adware charges [CNet]

Of course, if you're Nasser Khan, your triumph is short-lived because while you're away, City Hall cheats. In Khan's case, a bunch of workmen came along and hand painted a "no parking" marker underneath his car, all while a meter maid stood by, just twitching to write out the ticket.

Not only was he nailed with a ticket, but the vehicle that paints those lines on the road actually destroyed his car's tires by painting them up to his bumper. Khan ended up getting the ticket revoked, but City Hall isn't budging on the tires.

Ticket after lines painted under parked car [iTV]