From the category archives:

Crime & Courts

Wage theft rally in Madison

Wage theft rally in Madison

We’ve all heard of employee theft, but what about employers who steal from workers? According to Patrick Hickey with Madison’s Workers’ Rights Center, it’s a growing problem. At a rally at the Capitol, Hickey said federal legislation would extend the two year statute of limitations that the Department of Labor has to meet in its attempts to recover unpaid wages. Hickey said it generally takes the department three to four years to resolve complaints. He said the WRC filed a complaint on behalf of some restaurant workers in Madison two and a half years ago. The investigation is ongoing, and if it’s ever resolved in the workers’ favor “they won’t see a dime,” said Hickey. Hickey said the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development does a pretty good job handling complaints, but that there needs to be tougher enforcement at the federal level.

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Sarah White from the Center on Wisconsin Strategy at UW Madison said low wage workers are getting “stiffed” in Wisconsin. “It is not happening in overseas sweatshops, it’s happening right here,” said White. “This is a huge trend that’s shaping the American workplace, and threatening, really our whole economic recovery here in Wisconsin and around the country.” White said the low wage workers who are denied their wages spend most of their money in local economies. She noted that many employers who engage in wage find it’s cheaper to withhold wages and pay the fines, then it is to pay workers what they’re owed. She noted that also gives those businesses an unfair advantage over competing businesses who are playing by the rules. [click to continue…]

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Accused wife stabber fights extradition from Wisconsin

by WRN Contributor 11/19/09 9:46 AM

A Minnesota man who is charged with trying to kill his wife in the Twin Cities is fighting extradition from Wisconsin.  Yer Thao is charged with second-degree attempted murder for stabbing his wife in the head and leaving her for dead in their suburban Twin Cities home late Monday.
Marathon County prosecutor Ryan Wetzsteon said Thao [...]

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Ryan questions administration decisions on detainees

by WRN Contributor 11/16/09 12:04 PM

Alternative locations for detains from Guantanamo Bay prison are being sought by the Obama administration, while 9-11 conspirators are to be tried in New York federal court. Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan is questioning both decisions.
The Janesville Republican believes the military tribunal system is better than the trials in federal court. “They’re being used right now, it’s [...]

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Family of slain UW student seeking public help

by Bob Hague 11/16/09 6:45 AM

The family of a slain UW student is seeking the public’s help. Brittany Zimmerman’s family hopes someone will come forward with information about her murder. They’ve placed ads on a Madison billboard and inside Madison Metro busses.
Zimmerman was a student at the UW-Madison when she was killed in her apartment in 2008. Madison police never [...]

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Vets agency cleared, moving forward

by Jackie Johnson 11/14/09 9:12 AM

Officials are moving forward after the state Justice Department finds no criminal violations nor misconduct at the state Veterans Agency.
Wisconsin Veterans Affairs Secretary John Scocos says military veterans are relieved to hear the news, and can begin to re-establish their trust in the way veterans’ issues are being handled at the state level. Scocos’ key [...]

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