Supreme Court sides with investors, workers in two business-related cases

By Robert Barnes,
WashPost
Tuesday, March 22

Ruling Tuesday on a pair of cases that had drawn the strong interest of the business community, the Supreme Court made it easier for stockholders and employees to sue companies.

In one, the court ruled unanimously that a group of investors may proceed with its lawsuit against the makers of the cold remedy Zicam, saying the manufacturer should have disclosed that some who used the nasal spray lost their sense of smell.

In the other, the justices said that an oral complaint against an employer was enough to protect a worker against retaliatory action, such as firing.

Both decisions were narrow in scope, and in each case the ruling only allows the investors and the fired worker to proceed with their respective lawsuits. But decisions of the court of Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. that concern business interests are closely scrutinized, especially by liberals who charge that the court has a pro-corporate bias.

(More here.)