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An employee of Starbucks has filed a class action lawsuit against the company for failing to properly secure employee data. The employee was one of one of 97,000 notified late last year after a Starbucks laptop containing employee names, addresses and Social Security numbers was stolen. [NetworkWorld via Starbucks Gossip]
The Santa Rosa, California Press Democrat says that Korbel Champagne Cellars will ask a Sonoma County judge to force Comcast to reveal the names of anonymous Craigslist posters who criticized the company.
Don’t be too surprised if you get a letter from your bank or credit union in the next few weeks telling you it’s replacing your credit card. If your data was among the latest set compromised, Visa and Mastercard are already alerting financial institutions so they can cancel the account number.
Last week, a U.S. federal court judge denied class action status to the Microsoft “Vista Capable” lawsuit, on the grounds that “the plaintiffs could not demonstrate that their claims were common to the entire class of consumers who bought computers marked with the ‘Windows Vista Capable’ but without the ‘Premium Ready’ label.”
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Here’s a tip: The guy who works at Home Depot but can “get you everything for a discount” is probably not doing something legal. [Bakersfield Now]
A settlement has been reached in the class action lawsuit against Girls Gone Wild for sending and charging customers for DVDs they didn’t order. After ordering one DVD, defendants Mantra Films, Inc., MRA Holdings LLC and Joe Francis were alleged to enroll customers in a monthly video club plan without the member’s knowledge or consent and charge their credit card without authorizations. Depending on how much proof of purchase they have, class members can get a refund for the videos, shipping costs, or a discount on future jug-jiggling videos. More info at the settlement website, ggwsettlement.com.
Swiss bank UBS, which has “admitted conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service and agreed to pay $780 million to settle a sweeping federal investigation into its activities,” has agreed to release the names of Americans who have been secreting away cash in UBS’ fabled Swiss bank accounts. The U.S. Justice Department has been investigating about 19,000 accounts, but the New York Times says the bank may only release a couple hundred names. Update: Now the IRS has asked a judge to demand that UBS turn over the names of around 52,000 clients. UBS says it will “vigorously challenge” the new request.
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More information about the Stanford International Bank fraud case, including, but not limited to: a bank panic in Venezuela, hugs from Nancy Pelosi, allegations of money laundering for drug cartels, and predictable vows to “fight with every breath to continue to uphold our good name and continue the legacy we have built together.” Still no word on where the $8 billion went. [Forbes]
Here’s something that you don’t often see — a Dunkin Donuts employee got so mad at a guy who decided not to wait for his coffee (because it was taking too long) that he left the store, pulled out a folding knife, and slashed the customer’s tires. All. Four. Of. Them.
You could qualify for a maximum tax credit of $4,800 if you made less than $42,000 in 2008. Even if your salary was around $61,000 but you lost your job last year, you could still qualify. It’s called the “Earned Income Tax Credit” and you can find out if you can claim it by taking the IRS’ online EITC quiz. Your tax preparer, be they human or software, can you help determine if you’re worthy (One big one: you must be over 25 but under 65 at the end of the year).
Monster Cable loves to sue companies that use “Monster” in their names, even if they don’t sell cables and even if they’ve been around as long as Monster Cable has. Jones Day is a law firm that doesn’t want anyone else to use standard, everyday formatting for links in news stories about its staff, and it succeeded in forcing a small start-up to cave in to its demands.
The SEC has charged Robert Allen Stanford, a prominent Texas businessman, in connection with an $8 billion fraud in the sale of so-called certificates of deposit that promised unrealistic rates of return. Stanford guaranteed fixed-income investments by “promising improbable and unsubstantiated high interest rates,” according to a statement by the SEC.
The LA Times is reporting that former Fry’s executive and accused embezzler, Omar Siddiqui, once gambled away $8 million in a single day. According to the IRS, Mr. Siddiqui financed his gambling by taking at least $65.6 million in kickbacks from Fry’s suppliers. He’s been charged with money laundering and fraud, and if convicted, he faces 140 years in prison.
Ah, the irresistable pull of bargains! A man in Florida is suing Walmart because he was bitten by a pygmy rattler while shopping in the garden center in 2008. His is the third such attack in a Walmart in Florida since 2006, and he’s claiming the retailer should have taken better steps to prevent rattler bites after the first two attacks. Our favorite detail, though, is that he won’t stop going to Walmart, because “their prices are too good to shop elsewhere.”
Remember that guy Bush? Well back in October he signed one of those fancy bailout bills and it had a bunch of tax incentives for you. Here are the highlights of The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 relevant to your tax return:
Freelance Switch has 10 deductions freelancers can take. For instance, if you have a cellphone as a second line and primarily use it for business, deduct it. Work from home? There’s the complex but worth it home-office deduction. The “research” category is very useful, especially for journalists and writers. Just about any piece of entertainment can go in there. Hey, you got to keep in touch with the zeitgeist, right?’
The U.S. Secret Service has arrested three men in Florida on “hundreds of counts of credit card fraud” for using fake gift cards imprinted with account info stolen from Heartland Payment Systems last year. The Secret Service still thinks an Eastern European group is behind the Heartland breach, and that the Florida guys are smaller-time crooks who most likely purchased a subset of the stolen data.
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