Family won’t pay El Chapo’s lawyer without kingpin’s sign off

Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán’s family members are refusing to cough up attorney’s fees unless they hear the kingpin himself order the payment, it was revealed in court Thursday.

Guzmán​ ​–​ ​in what would have been his first public words since his extradition in Jan. 2017– stood shakily, clutching a piece of paper in his hand, before prosecutor Andrea Goldbarg interjected and said she was worried he’d use the opportunity to pass secret messages.

“He desires to speak to the court directly,” defense attorney A. Eduardo Balarezo said​ in Brooklyn federal court Thursday​, as his client was overheard telling his interpreter in Spanish​,​ “I am sick for all the situation.”

“He wants his family to know they should pay his attorney,” Balarezo continued. “Obviously he wants me to take my fees, and sometimes people need to hear that directly from the horse’s mouth.”

Read Full Article – https://nypost.com/2018/02/15/family-wont-pay-el-chapos-lawyer-without-kingpins-sign-off/

How Is It Still Legal to Fire Someone for Being Gay?

A New York court ruled today that firing an employee based on sexual orientation is against the law – but the legal battle isn’t over yet

Is it illegal to fire people because of their sexual orientation? Ask most people this question and you’ll get the same answer from almost 90% of them – of course it is. Unfortunately, though, in most places in the country that answer is wrong and it is perfectly lawful to do so. Today, however, a New York federal appeals court took a major step toward correcting that wrong, one that if adopted throughout the country will finally protect gay and lesbian people from being fired because of who they are.

Full Read – https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/how-is-it-still-legal-to-fire-someone-for-being-gay-w517124

Bizarre legal brawl intensifies at Trump hotel in Panama

 February 26 at 6:57 PM 
Last Thursday afternoon, the majority owner of the Trump International Hotel here in Panama arrived unexpectedly in the building’s swank Sky Lobby with an entourage.

He wanted to fire the Trump Organization, which has managed the hotel since it opened in 2011.

But the Trump Organization has refused to leave.

Since that first confrontation, police have been called multiple times to referee disputes between owner Orestes Fintiklis — who blames the company’s poor management and damaged brand for the hotel’s declining revenue — and the Trump Organization, which says it still has a valid contract to manage the place.

Offices have been barricaded. Several yelling matches have broken out. The power was briefly turned off, in a dispute over the building’s electronic equipment. At one point, Fintiklis — denied a chance to fire the hotel staff or even check into a room — played a tune on the hotel’s lobby piano as an apparent show of defiance.

Read Full Article https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/bizarre-legal-brawl-intensifies-at-trump-hotel-in-panama/2018/02/26/ccede22c-1b0e-11e8-98f5-ceecfa8741b6_story.html?utm_term=.c8bdf78771c3