(New York) — Former Elle columnist E. Jean Carroll will file a new lawsuit against former President Donald Trump on Thanksgiving, the first day of New York’s new Adult Survivors Act that allows adult victims of sexual assault to file civil lawsuits that would otherwise be barred due to the passage of too much time, her attorneys said during a court hearing Tuesday.
Carroll is already suing Trump for defamation in federal court after he denied her claim that he raped her in a department store dressing room in the mid-1990s, saying she was “not my type.” The new lawsuit, also being filed in federal court, will include a new allegation of defamation and an allegation of battery.
Attorneys for Carroll asked the federal judge presiding over the original case to delay a trial date to account for the new lawsuit, but the judge declined.
“The second action is technically not before me today,” Judge Lewis Kaplan said.
An attorney for Trump, Alina Habba, told the judge she didn’t know if she would be representing Trump in the new suit.
“The complaint has not been filed. I have not been retained,” Habba told the judge. “I don’t know whether I’ll be retained on that matter.”
“Your client has known this is coming for months and he would be well advised to know who is representing him in it,” Judge Kaplan replied.
Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, said she asked Trump about the second alleged incident of defamation during a recent deposition.
Whether Carroll’s initial lawsuit can even proceed hinges on the outcome of a legal question before a different court.
Trump has argued the Justice Department should be substituted as the defendant in the case because as president, he was an employee of the federal government, which cannot be sued for defamation.
In September the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Trump was indeed a government employee under the terms of the Westfall Act, which shields federal employees from personal liability — but it left to the D.C. Court of Appeals to determine whether Trump’s denials fell within the scope of his employment.
The Court of Appeals, which retains jurisdiction over the conduct of federal government employees, has scheduled oral arguments for January to decide whether Trump was acting in his official capacity as president when he denied Carroll’s rape claim and allegedly defamed her.
If the court decides in Trump’s favor, any defamation suit would be void.
(NEW YORK) — Elon Musk, who admitted to overpaying for Twitter, cut workers at the social media platform almost immediately. In response, some of the axed employees want their day in court.
Within days of the acquisition, Musk fired top executives and cut the company’s 7,500-person workforce in half. Soon after, he posed an ultimatum to employees asking that they commit to being, in Musk’s words, “extremely hardcore” and “work long hours of high intensity” or resign. The move sent more workers out the door.
These personnel changes provoked several lawsuits from former workers alleging that the moves violated workers’ rights because the company allegedly did not provide ample notice for laid-off workers or accommodations for disabled employees.
Musk, who also runs Tesla and SpaceX, may have exposed Twitter to serious legal liability that could wreak financial damage on the company, two labor experts told ABC News. The experts were reluctant to comment on the specifics of the cases, but said the former workers carry legitimate grievances that the courts will have to assess.
The combined lawsuits could cost Twitter “many millions of dollars,” Michael LeRoy, a professor of labor and employment relations at University Of Illinois, told ABC News.
However, the legal proceedings could take more than five years to resolve, affording the company leverage if it were to pursue settlements with former employees, LeRoy added.
Sharon Block, executive director of the labor and worklife program at Harvard University Law School and a former member of the Obama administration, said the personnel moves demonstrate “reckless disregard for workers’ wellbeing.”
Twitter has not responded to a request for comment.
In one class-action lawsuit, departed workers allege that the company failed to provide the 60-day notice of layoffs required by federal law under the WARN Act, which mandates large businesses give notice when undertaking a mass layoff, Shannon Liss-Riordan, the attorney for the workers, told ABC News.
Twitter plans to keep many, but not all, of the laid-off workers on the payroll for two months as a means of complying with the law, Liss-Riordan said. However, the company does not intend to pay full severance beyond those months as previously promised, she added.
In a separate class-action lawsuit — also overseen by Liss-Riordan — a disabled former employee is suing the company over allegations the ultimatum that workers be “extremely hardcore” forced disabled workers to resign because they could not meet the elevated standard for work performance.
Federal labor law affords companies wide latitude to terminate workers without explanation under a measure called at-will employment. But businesses face some limits on the type or execution of layoffs, including prohibitions against discrimination and requirements that employees at some firms be alerted in advance of large layoffs.
“We completely understand that business leaders and owners of companies get to make decisions about how they think the company will best operate going forward,” Liss-Riordan told ABC News. “But we do have laws in place to protect workers and laws to protect workers subject to layoffs.”
“If Elon Musk thinks it’s best for Twitter and its shareholders to slash workers, he’s within his rights to do that,” she added. “But if he tries to violate workers’ rights, he’s got to expect pushback.”
LeRoy, of the University of Illinois, said the breakneck speed of Musk’s personnel decisions has placed his company on precarious legal ground.
“Haste makes waste,” LeRoy said. “Hasty terminations often have legal consequences.”
Still, the company could make arguments focused on exemptions in relevant law, LeRoy said. For example, the federal statute that mandates large companies provide notice ahead of mass layoffs excludes companies suffering financial hardship, he added.
“That adds some degree of ambiguity to the situation,” he said.
In addition, the legal proceedings could take many years, giving the upper hand to Twitter as it fights the lawsuits or pursues a favorable settlement, LeRoy said.
Liss-Riordan acknowledged the challenge posed by a potentially lengthy legal proceeding, but said the cases against Twitter could be resolved with relative ease.
“Cases can take a long time,” she said. “In this case, I’m hopeful perhaps we might be able to get this resolved sooner.”
“Paying laid-off workers what they’re owed should be the easiest of Musk’s current problems to address,” she added.
Since he acquired Twitter late last month, Musk has imposed major changes at the social media platform.
He revamped the company’s subscription product Twitter Blue, by allowing users to access verification through a monthly $8 fee, but halted the rollout after a rise of impersonations on the platform, including impersonations of Musk himself.
More recently, he reinstated the account of former President Donald Trump, reversing a previous announcement that said major account reinstatement decisions would await the formation of a content moderation council. Trump had been permanently suspended “due to the risk of further incitement of violence” in the wake of Jan. 6.
Musk, who acquired Twitter at the purchasing price of $44 billion, faces pressure to boost the company’s profits. Earlier this month, he said the company was losing $4 million each day.
(NEW YORK) — Luxury brand Balenciaga has issued an apology for its recent advertisements featuring children with sexualized teddy bears.
“We sincerely apologize for any offense our holiday campaign may have caused. Our plush bear bags should not have been featured with children in this campaign. We have immediately removed the campaign from all platforms,” the company wrote in a statement posted to its Instagram story on Tuesday.
The advertisements, which were originally posted earlier this week, were for the brand’s new holiday gifting campaign. The photos featured children posing with the company’s plush bear bags, which wear BDSM-inspired harnesses.
One photo featured a child standing on a bed with one of the plush bear bags, surrounded by other purses and accessories that include what appears to be a chain leash as well as a Balenciaga branded dog collar choker.
Social media users immediately called out the brand’s latest campaign on Twitter, with some also denouncing a promotional photo for a purse that included what appears to be an excerpt from the U.S. Supreme Court opinion on United States vs. Williams (2008), which upheld part of a federal child pornography law.
“We apologize for displaying unsettling documents in our campaign. We take this matter very seriously and are taking legal action against the parties responsible for creating the set and including unapproved items for our Spring 23 campaign photoshoot. We strongly condemn abuse of children in any form. We stand for children’s safety and well-being,” the company said in its statement on Tuesday.
Balenciaga’s ad campaign featured its Spring/Summer 2023 collection, which debuted this fall at Paris Fashion Week.
The Spanish luxury label made headlines last month for cutting ties with Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, after he made antisemitic comments on social media and in several interviews. Ye had walked in Balenciaga’s Paris Fashion Week show just weeks earlier.
The brand left Twitter on Nov. 15, shortly after billionaire Elon Musk bought the company for $44 billion in October, but remains on Instagram.
(NEW YORK) — Americans may be feeling the pinch at grocery store checkouts, but the largest chain in the country has shared some positive news ahead of the holiday season.
“Our turkey costs are up about 20%, but we decided early on to not pass that cost increase through to try to help somebody stretch their budget,” Kroger Chairman and CEO Rodney McMullen told Good Morning America.
The announcement comes at a crucial time for last-minute Thanksgiving shoppers. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said in its latest National Retail Report on turkey that there is currently “a wide variant in prices throughout most regions” but that “fresh and frozen weighted average whole turkey prices increase when compared to the previous ad cycle.”
“However, many lucrative values abound for both fresh and frozen turkeys helping to lure the customer through [grocery store] doors,” the agency noted.
With inflation impacting grocery bills for many people, some have turned to other Thanksgiving main dishes, including roasted chicken, to save a few dollars. But while McMullen said the price of “chicken and some of those items” was “starting to come down,” the latest USDA Agricultural Marketing Service report shows that, overall, whole chicken prices “are trending at least steady for all sizes.”
The best deal for a non-turkey poultry option, according to the USDA National Retail Report on chicken, are bulk packs of thighs and drums.
McMullen noted that other meats like beef and pork were still affected by high price tags. “Beef is still inflationary, pork is still a little bit inflationary,” he said.
He added, however, that “some of the produce items are starting to come down just a little bit.”
With inflation currently at 7.7%, prices on goods have continually crept upward in the food category, which rose 10.9% overall in the last year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index report. Food at home costs, meanwhile, have risen 12.4% since last year.
“The biggest thing we’re seeing is people continue to eat and cook at home. One of the things during COVID, people learned to cook at home and they found they enjoy it, they love eating as a family,” McMullen said. “It also helps stretch the budget because it’s significantly cheaper for somebody to cook a meal at home versus going out to a restaurant.”
When looking for savings opportunities at Kroger, McMullen encouraged people to shop the grocery chain’s “private label” products which are generic store-brand offshoots of mainstream consumer packaged goods.
As for the end-of-year outlook, McMullen added, “Our hope and expectation, as we get early into next year, is that we’ll see [inflation] continue to decrease a little bit.”
(NEW YORK) — As Americans get ready for the holiday season, millions will turn to food donations and assistance from organizations to help get meals on the table.
Over 33 million Americans lived in food-insecure households last year, with 8.6 million adults living in very low food security households, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition data. According to the agency, food-insecure households are defined as households that are “uncertain of having or unable to acquire enough food to meet the needs of all their members because they had insufficient money or other resources for food.”
How to help fight food insecurity this Thanksgiving
Nonprofits like Feeding America, which works with a network of food banks and food programs nationwide, offer lots of free resources for people who want to help tackle food insecurity, especially during the holidays.
Start by locating a nearby food bank to donate Thanksgiving essentials, such as canned goods or other non-perishable foods, for a great way to help neighbors in need.
Foods to donate for Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is one of the busiest times of the year for food banks looking to add healthy, non-perishable items to their already in-demand essentials.
Feeding America suggests adding the following items to your donation lists and grocery carts: boxed stuffing, instant mashed potatoes, canned vegetables, dry macaroni, cranberry sauce and canned pumpkin.
Although it’s the main dish of a Thanksgiving table, Feeding America reminded interested donors to hold off on including turkey. The Feeding America network collaborates with restaurants, caterers and manufacturers to donate leftover foods like turkey, which are guaranteed to be fresh and safe for families in need.
Similarly, skip sending in any fresh fruits or vegetables since those are highly perishable items. Many food banks work with farmers and corporate partners to help bring fresh produce to families before it goes bad, the organization said.
How to volunteer for food banks this Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is a perfect opportunity to volunteer at a local soup kitchen, food pantry or food bank.
Between assembling Thanksgiving meal boxes or serving food at a Thanksgiving dinner, there are a lot of ways to help families in need make the holiday special.
Click here to locate volunteer opportunities through one of the many partners with Feeding America.
(NEW YORK) — The nation’s largest rail union on Monday voted down a tentative contract brokered by the White House, raising the possibility of a nationwide strike next month that could cripple the U.S. economy.
The SMART Transportation Division, or SMART-TD, which represents about 28,000 conductors, rejected the contract in a vote that garnered record turnout, the union said Monday. The contract was nixed by a slim margin, as just 50.8% of workers voted against it.
The second-largest rail union, made up of engineers, voted in favor of the contract on Monday, splitting the top rail unions, which represent roughly half of the industry’s workers.
The results arrive roughly a month after the nation’s third-largest rail union rejected the White House-brokered contract.
A nationwide strike is expected next month unless the contract is ratified by each of the 11 rail unions, since all of the unions have vowed not to cross the picket line in the event of a work stoppage. So far, four unions have ratified the agreement.
“SMART-TD members with their votes have spoken, it’s now back to the bargaining table for our operating craft members,” SMART-TD President Jeremy Ferguson said in a statement.
“This can all be settled through negotiations and without a strike. A settlement would be in the best interests of the workers, the railroads, shippers and the American people,” he added.
In a statement, SMART-TD did not provide the reason behind the members’ disapproval. Previously, unions have rejected the tentative contract due to frustration with compensation and working conditions, particularly a lack of paid sick days.
The National Carriers’ Conference Committee, or NCCC, the group representing the freight railroad companies, said in a statement that the risk of a nationwide strike next month will require the companies to start taking steps to prepare for the disruption.
“A national rail strike would severely impact the economy and the public,” the NCCC said. “Now, the continued, near-term threat of one will require that freight railroads and passenger carriers soon begin to take responsible steps to safely secure the network in advance of any deadline.”
The tentative contract included a 24% compounded wage increase and $5,000 in lump-sum payments, the NCCC said last month.
American railway companies and unions reached a tentative labor agreement in September amid the threat of strikes. That agreement came after 20 consecutive hours of negotiations led by U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh at his office in Washington, D.C., Walsh said.
The agreement improved the time-off policies at the rail companies, which made up a key sticking point in the negotiations, BLET and SMART-TD said in a statement in September.
A potential strike could lead to $2 billion a day in lost economic output, according to the Association of American Railroads, which lobbies on behalf of railway companies.
Rail is critical to the entire goods side of the economy, including agriculture, manufacturing, retail and warehousing. Freight railroads are responsible for transporting 40% of the nation’s long-haul freight and a work stoppage could endanger those shipments.
(NEW YORK) — The cryptocurrency exchange FTX owes creditors $3.1 billion, according to court documents filed late Saturday night.
The Bahamas-based platform filed for bankruptcy earlier this month after the company, run by 30-year-old Sam Bankman-Fried, collapsed. The company saw its value soar to a peak of $32 billion in January.
Creditors’ names were not listed on the court filing, but the largest is owed $226,280,579.
As part of its bankruptcy proceedings, FTX was required to list to the court its 50 largest creditors — either individuals or corporations — who are owed money. The second largest entity is owed $203,292,504, the court filing shows.
Bankman-Fried drew the scrutiny of investigators from state and federal agencies, as well as the Justice Department, for how his company collapsed and the money under his control that went missing.
Congress has also asked him to testify in December.
The new FTX CEO brought in to shepherd the company through bankruptcy proceedings said earlier this week that he has never seen such a “complete failure” of corporate controls in his career, including during the Enron scandal.
“Never in my career have I seen such a complete failure of corporate controls and such a complete absence of trustworthy financial information as occurred here,” John Ray, who also oversaw the Enron bankruptcy proceedings, said in a court filing Thursday. “From compromised systems integrity and faulty regulatory oversight abroad, to the concentration of control in the hands of a very small group of inexperienced, unsophisticated and potentially compromised individuals, this situation is unprecedented.”
In 2001, Houston-based energy corporation Enron filed the most prominent bankruptcy claim in U.S. history, and many of its executives were sent to prison for securities fraud.
Ray said FTX corporate funds were used to purchase executives’ and advisers’ houses in the Bahamas.
(NEW YORK) — Bob Iger is returning to The Walt Disney Company as its chief executive officer, effective immediately, the company announced Sunday night.
“We thank Bob Chapek for his service to Disney over his long career, including navigating the company through the unprecedented challenges of the pandemic,” Susan Arnold, chairman of the board, said in a press release. “The board has concluded that as Disney embarks on an increasingly complex period of industry transformation, Bob Iger is uniquely situated to lead the company through this pivotal period.”
Iger has agreed to serve as CEO for two years, according to the press release. He previously served as CEO from 2005 to 2020.
Chapek has stepped down from his position, the company said.
“Mr. Iger has the deep respect of Disney’s senior leadership team, most of whom he worked closely with until his departure as executive chairman 11 months ago, and he is greatly admired by Disney employees worldwide — all of which will allow for a seamless transition of leadership,” Arnold said.
Arnold will continue to serve as chairman of the board, the company said.
“I am extremely optimistic for the future of this great company and thrilled to be asked by the Board to return as its CEO,” Iger said in the press release. “Disney and its incomparable brands and franchises hold a special place in the hearts of so many people around the globe — most especially in the hearts of our employees, whose dedication to this company and its mission is an inspiration. I am deeply honored to be asked to again lead this remarkable team, with a clear mission focused on creative excellence to inspire generations through unrivaled, bold storytelling.”
The Walt Disney Company is the parent company of ABC News.
(SAN FRANCISCO) — A number of Twitter employees appear to be on their way out after declining to accept an ultimatum from new company owner Elon Musk asking that they “commit or leave,” three sources told ABC News.
It is not yet known how many Twitter employees accepted Musk’s email request that they commit to being “extremely hardcore” or resign with three months severance, but all three sources told ABC News that dozens of Twitter employees are sending the “salute” emoji over the company’s Slack — presumably signaling their departure from the company.
“I did not accept [Musk’s] ultimatum,” one Twitter employee told ABC News. “Many of us didn’t. … Now we are just waiting for our access to be shut down.”
ABC News confirmed that several of the employees who did not agree to Musk’s request had a key role in targeting and disposing of misinformation and hate speech on Twitter.
Twitter did not respond to a request for comment.
Musk sent a companywide ultimatum on Wednesday morning that Twitter employees must commit or resign by Thursday evening, according to an email from Musk obtained by ABC News.
Bearing the subject line “A Fork in the Road,” the email from Musk on Wednesday said: “Going forward, to build a breakthrough Twitter 2.0 and succeed in an increasingly competitive world, we will need to be extremely hardcore. This will mean working long hours at high intensity. Only exceptional performance will constitute a passing grade.”
For those who wished to be part of the “new Twitter,” Musk directed employees to “click yes” on the link in the email.
“Anyone who has not done so by 5pm ET [Thursday] will receive three months of severance,” Musk said. “Whatever decision you make, thank you for your efforts to make Twitter successful.”
Musk, the CEO of Tesla and Space X, earlier this month began layoffs that cut roughly half of Twitter’s 7,500-person workforce.
Those laid off will receive compensation and benefits until the first week of January 2023, though the date may vary for employees. Affected employees were already locked out of their Twitter systems, such as email and Slack.
Musk, who said he overpaid for the platform at the purchasing price of $44 billion, faces pressure to boost the company’s profits. Earlier this month, he said the company was losing $4 million each day.
(NEW YORK) — With the traditional start of Christmas tree shopping about one week away, growers and retailers are telling customers to ready themselves for higher prices this year.
Tim O’Connor, the executive director of the National Christmas Tree Association, which supplies the Christmas tree to the White House and the vice president’s residence every year and represents 38 state and regional Christmas tree grower associations, said anyone interested in fresh trees should head out to the farm lot sooner than later.
“If you want to shop the Christmas tree farm, you really have to go early,” O’Connor told ABC News’ Good Morning America. “They’re popular and they will sell out. They have whatever trees they have available for that season and then they’re done. And they have been selling out every year early.”
The American Christmas Tree Association, whose members are Christmas tree manufacturers and retailers, is also encouraging shoppers to buy early as prices will rise as Christmas nears.
“Because inflation impacts absolutely everything, the industry is seeing increases in shipping costs, fertilizer, trucking, everything you can possibly think of, whether it be real or artificial trees. So I think consumers can expect to see anywhere from 5% to 20% increases across the board on artificial and live Christmas trees this year,” American Christmas Tree Association executive director Jami Warner told GMA.
Warner also said that shoppers may also see fewer tree options this holiday season.
“People are used to abundance and choice — and again, the choices will be limited but choose the tree that fits your lifestyle the best, be it real or artificial,” she said.
Inflation isn’t the only major issue affecting the Christmas tree industry this season. In some parts of the country, shoppers may notice there are fewer fresh trees due to drought conditions and climate change.
At Kadee Farm in Greenville, Texas, a town about 35 miles northeast of the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan region, owner Woody Woodruff said a drought that started in the spring decimated over 1,000 trees on his 53-acre farm, which grows Virginia pine trees.
“There’s gonna be a lack of trees this year. In the South, which includes Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, there’s some tree growers that are all down in those states that experienced drought conditions and therefore it’s gonna be a little more difficult to get the trees that we needed,” Woodruff told GMA.
Woodruff explained that in addition to drought, businesses like his have also been hit by higher prices.
“We all use diesel fuel or gasoline, that was more expensive this year,” the 55-year-old farm owner said. “Our fertilizers, some of them more than doubled [in price] this year. And so that really took a toll … and that was nationwide. So that took a toll on anybody that is in the farming industry trying to grow Christmas trees.”
To make up for the lost sales, Woodruff plans on trucking in trees from other areas, including Michigan and states in the Pacific Northwest and the Carolinas.
“Of course those trees are going to be more expensive. So the consumer is going to pay more this year when they go to find a live tree,” Woodruff continued. “And if you go to any of the big box stores, I’ve noticed that their artificial trees have really skyrocketed as well. That’s again due to inflation and shipping.”
Overall, Woodruff estimated that customers could see as much as a 30% increase in Christmas tree prices compared to last year.
For now, though transportation costs has been “outrageous” at times, Woodruff said it’s a necessary expenditure, and he’s not worried in the long term.
“We’re eating as much of the cost as we possibly can and still staying in business,” Woodruff added. “Everything’s gonna work out as it should. Is it, you know, sickening to sit here and look at all of my lost trees that have died, that I have spent 25 years growing? Absolutely. But I think it’ll all come back. You just have a positive outlook and just keep trudging ahead. … You can’t cry over spilt milk.”
Both the NCTA and ACTA representatives say there should still be plenty of Christmas trees for everyone interested at the end of the day, real or artificial.
“We always say there’s a tree for every family,” O’Connor said. “There are trees for different budgets too. So if you really are concerned about price, you know, yes, it won’t be the most beautiful tree on the lot perhaps but there’ll be a tree that fits your price range, that when you bring it home, you’ll enjoy it in your home.”
