Massachusetts Court Dismisses Rubin v. Government of Iran v. Boston MFA and Harvard

A Massachusetts federal court has ruled that the Museum of Fine Arts and Harvard University will not lose their collection of ancient Persian objects to eight plaintiffs injured in a 1997 terrorist bombing. The United States District Court, District of Massachusetts, issued a five page opinion on September 15, 2011 denying the plaintiffs’ efforts to gain control over the artifacts to satisfy their multi-million dollar court judgment against the government of Iran.

Jenny Rubin and several other Americans were injured in Jerusalem after Hamas carried out three bombings. Because the terrorist group received backing from Iran, the eight plaintiffs sued the government of Iran in federal district court in Washington, DC, winning a $71.5 million default award after the Iranian government failed to show up to court. Since then, the plaintiffs have sought to recover that judgment.

The government of Iran would not be expected to pay the court award, so the plaintiffs searched for local Iranian assets to seize. One place they looked was Boston/Cambridge, Massachusetts, where museums housed artifacts excavated from ancient Iran. The plaintiffs initiated a court action--known as an attachment--against the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Harvard, the Harvard University Art Museums, the Busch-Reisinger Museum, the Fogg Art Museum, the Sackler Museum, the Semitic Museums, and the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. But the judge dismissed the plaintiffs’ case in his recent court order.

District Court Judge George O’Toole ruled that the plaintiffs could pursue their attachment action under the federal Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 so long as they could prove, under Massachusetts state law, that Iran owned the artifacts in the museums. But the plaintiffs could not supply this proof. Judge O’Toole wrote: “In the present case, the plaintiffs have not shown that the ‘goods, effects, or credits’ at issue here are property ‘of the defendant’ Iran." He added that “[d]espite extensive discovery, the plaintiffs are unable to sustain their burden of showing that any particular item held by the Museums is the property of Iran . . . . It is not enough simply to show that antiquities held by the Museums originated from sites within Iran.”

The court highlighted that the plaintiffs failed to prove that an Iranian cultural patrimony law declared ownership of the artifacts. Judge O’Toole wrote: “For example, the so-called ‘1930 Law’ [the plaintiffs’] cite does not automatically vest ownership of excavated antiquities in the government of Iran. In the first place, the 1930 Law does not on its face purport to vest ownership of excavated antiquities in the government. Moreover, the 1930 Law clearly contemplates that antiquities may be owned by private persons. . . . Additionally, other courts have concluded that the 1930 Law permits private ownership and is inconsistent with automatic government ownership of all antiquities originating from Iran.”

The court struck down the plaintiffs’ further argument that an Iranian civil law, Article 26 of its 1928 Civil Code, makes the artifacts government property. The opinion declared that [t]he plaintiffs have not shown that any of the antiquities now held by the Museums were at the time of removal from Iran ‘Government property . . . in use for the service of the public or the profit of the state.’ The necessary conclusion cannot be drawn simply from the fact that the items are the products of archeological explorations that were conducted in Iran . . . .”

The court also rejected the plaintiffs’ claim that antiquities from Persepolis were the property of the Iranian government. The court ruled that “[t]he plaintiffs’ specific argument that items taken from the ruins of the ancient city of Persepolis cannot be privately owned is also not persuasive. The legal argument relies heavily on Article 26 which . . . does not support a generalized conclusion that excavated items necessarily belonged to the government of Iran. The plaintiffs point to texts suggesting that foreign excavators unlawfully took items from Persepolis. Even if that is true as an historical matter, it does not get the plaintiffs where they need to go. As a general matter, establishing that a particular item was unlawfully exported or removed from Iran is not equivalent to showing that it now should be regarded as property of Iran subject to levy and execution. And as a particular matter, the plaintiffs simply are unable to establish that any item in the possession of the Museums, whether from Persepolis or elsewhere, is rightly considered to be the property of Iran.”

The case in the Massachusetts district court is now at an end.  Any appeal would be filed in the First Circuit federal court.

Contact information may be found at http://www.culturalheritagelawyer.com/.

Workplace Violence Gains Formal OSHA Investigation Procedures

On September 8, OSHA issued Directive CPL 02-01-052, which for the first time establishes procedures for investigating workplace violence complaints.

Two industry groups get singled out for particular focus:
Healthcare and Social Service Settings
This category covers a broad spectrum of workers who provide healthcare and social services in psychiatric facilities, hospital emergency departments, community mental health clinics, drug abuse treatment clinics, pharmacies, community-care facilities, residential facilities and long-term care facilities. Workers in these fields include physicians, registered nurses, pharmacists, nurse practitioners, physicians’ assistants, nurses’ aides, therapists, technicians, public health nurses,  healthcare workers, social and welfare workers, security personnel, maintenance personnel and emergency medical care personnel.
Late-Night Retail Settings
This includes entities such as convenience stores, liquor stores and gas stations. Factors that put late-night retail employees at risk include the exchange of money, twenty-four hour operation, solo work, isolated worksites, the sale of alcohol and poorly-lit stores and parking areas.
In determining whether to conduct an investigation, OSHA personnel are to take into consideration known risk factors as identified by NIOSH; whether it is in one of the high risk industries identified by OSHA (see above) and whether feasible abatement methods exist to address the hazard(s).

There is no specific violence in the workplace standard, but there is the general duty clause, and the Directive mentions some other standards that might come into play:
  • 29 CFR 1904 Recording and Reporting Occupational Injuries and Illnesses.
  • 29 CFR 1910.151 Medical Services and First Aid.
  • 29 CFR 1926.23 First Aid and Medical Attention
  • 29 CFR 1926.35 Employee Emergency Action Plans
This Directive is a must reading for these two industries and for all those who are on your crises management team . (You do have a crises managment plan and team, don't you?)

ADA Cases Are No Longer Unwelcome in Plaintiff Counsel's Offices

Lynne Seabrook was working as an assistant registrar for Upper Iowa University focusing on its Malaysia campus when she was terminated in February 2009. She felt that the termination was because she had been diagnosed with depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety.

Based on several conversations I have had in the last few months with attorneys who regularly represent employees, the most significant aspect of that scenario was that she was not terminated two months earlier. If she had been terminated in December, 2008, before the broad amendments to the Americans with Disabilites Act became effective, she might never have been the happy beneficiary of this headline from last week's WCF Courier,  Former UIU employee awarded $1.1M by civil jury.

Many of those attorneys I have talked with said while they formerly turned away ADA cases because they were such summary judgment targets, they were now giving them a much closer look.

Headlines and jury awards like this, will do nothing to discourage that view.

Suit By EEOC Not Covered Under EPLI Policy

It probably seemed like such a simple proposition. EEOC sues employer for sexual and racial harassment, racial discrimination, retaliation and constructive discharge. Employer has an EPLI policy.

Big claims, big settlement -- $2,000,000 plus another $700,000 in legal fees.

No question but that all of the allegations are clearly covered under the policy.

But the definition of covered "claim"?  That was a different story. It read simple enough:
a civil, administrative or arbitration proceeding commenced by the service of a complaint or charge, which is brought by any past, present or prospective ‘employee(s).’
Since the underlying case settled, the law suit was between the employer and the EPLI carrier, who argued that the claim was not covered because it was not brought by a 'past, present or prospective employee.'

You know it is no longer a simple proposition, when the Court summarizes some of the arguments in this way:
In its Response to [the Insurance Company's] Motion,  [the Employer] elaborates that the use of a comma followed by the word “which” means that the qualifying phrase modifies only the subject that immediately precedes the comma – in this case, only to “complaint or charge.”  [The Employer] asserts that if [the Insurance Company] intended to require that the “proceeding” be brought by an employee, the entire phrase “commenced by the service of a complaint or charge” should have been offset with commas. 
Hard to believe, but it gets even worse when the Court goes on to note that what the Employer was really referring to was the grammar principle of the "last antecedent rule."

But the bottom line in the trial court -- no recovery as not covered by the policy. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. v. Cincinatti Insurance Co., 3:07-cv-00303 (M.D. TN 8/11/11).  If you are the employer, that's a big ouch.

Two thoughts:
  1. Given the dollar amount and the result, it is likely the 6th Circuit will get to weigh in on this decision;
  2. In corporate risk departments right now, EPLI policies are being re-read and calls are being made to brokers making sure that suits brought by governmental entities on behalf of employees are covered.
Life is never as simple as it seems.

ACCG Files Notice of Appeal in Baltimore Coin Case

After having its case dismissed in August, the Ancient Coin Collectors Guild filed a notice of appeal on September 21, 2011 in the US Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit. http://dockets.justia.com/docket/circuit-courts/ca4/11-2012/
A federal district court last month dismissed the ACCG's lawsuit, which challenged protective American import restrictions placed on Chinese and Cypriot ancient coins. The court ruled that the ACCG failed to make out a sufficient case. The ACCG started the test case when the organization brought 23 ancient coins to Baltimore on a transatlantic flight


Contact information may be found at www.culturalheritagelawyer.com. DISCLAIMER: The information provided on this web site/email/blog/feed/podcast is general information only, not legal advice, and not guaranteed to be current, correct, or complete. No attorney-client relationship is formed, and no express or implied warranty is given. Links or references to outside sources are not endorsements. This site may be considered attorney advertising by some jurisdictions. The attorney is licensed in NH. The attorney is not certified by the TX Board of Legal Specialization, nor certified by NY regulators as a so-called "specialist" or "expert." Do not send confidential communications through this web site or email.

Khouli +3 Case Update: Search Warrant Affidavit Describes HSI Investigation

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) petitioned for a warrant on July 12, 2011 to search Salem Alshdaifat’s home-based business and seize “antique coins and[/]or other antiquities or any other works of art or cultural antiquities of Greek, Roman, Mesopotamian, Islamic, European, Egyptian origin . . .” HSI also requested business records, correspondence, photos of merchandise, bank records, import records, and the like located at the home.

An HSI special agent applied to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan for the warrant to search the home. That is the location where it is reported that Alshdaifat runs the ancient coins business called Holyland Numismatics. The affidavit, now unsealed, reveals further details about the antiquities smuggling investigation into Alshdaifat and three other co-defendants--Mousa Khouli, Ayman Ramadan, and Joseph A. Lewis, II.

It should be noted that a search warrant affidavit is a narrative that a law enforcement official or prosecutor supplies to a judge. It is meant to demonstrate the probable cause to believe that an object or thing is at a specified location and that it is probable evidence of a crime. Information contained in a search warrant affidavit may or may not be admitted as evidence at a trial. That is why an affidavit should not be read to form a conclusion of criminal guilt. Only a jury can decide whether there has been a violation of law, basing its decision only on legally admissible evidence.

In the present case, the federal agent’s affidavit called attention to several observations and actions of interest. For instance, the search warrant petition was filed following a review of Alshdaifat’s Yahoo! email account. Also reported were Alshdaifat’s alleged sale of ancient Egyptian artifacts in 2009 and his alleged importation of ancient coins in Detroit in 2010.

Writing in the July 2011 affidavit, the HSI special agent explained that a March 29, 2010 search warrant probe of “Alshdaifat’s e-mail records . . . confirm[] that he uses e-mail to communicate with sellers, purchasers, dealers and transporters of cultural property including stolen and/or smuggled cultural property.” A January 2009 email exchange was described where Alshdaifat allegedly offered a hoard of coins “[u]ncleaned at $4.5 each.” The email continued: “[T]he hoard came from Egypt and [is] now in Dubai[.] I asked my partner to ship directly from Dubai to you. [T]his hoard came from Banha, I think we bought coins that we sold you befor[e] from Banha, it is very big Roman city. [Y]ou can wire the funds to my bank account.”

The partner referred to is Ayman Ramadan of Nafertiti Eastern Sculptures Trading in Dubai (NEST). Alshdaifat referred to NEST as his Dubai office, and that “Ramadan ships antiquities from the UAE to Alshdaifat’s customers on Alshdaifsat’s behalf,” declared the affidavit.

A second email dated February 22, 2010 from Alshdaifat reportedly said:
“[F]or a hoard from Egypt this is real[l]y a[]lot :) , you got a small group[], we usually don[‘]t see them at all in Egypt, I was told today that they found in the same spot while they are making the hole bigger another group[] around 800 coins, they are still working in the area, I hope it will[] be bigger than what I think. [N]ext week I will get those 800 tog[e]ther with the 2000 coins. [I]t is much easy to sell uncleaned, I notice[e] that they already tried to clean some, but I told them to stop[.]”

The HSI investigating agent, without supplying specific details, added that Alshdaifat’s email account allegedly showed that he “has offered customers hoards of coins taken directly from Petra, Jordan and from Kyrene, Libya.”

Perhaps most directly related to the current federal indictment, the affidavit described allegations that Alshdaifat in May 2009 “offered a New York dealer a set of ancient Egyptian funerary boats and limestone figures for $40,000.” The New York dealer found a customer interested in purchasing these antiquities . . . and resold them to the customer for a higher price. Ramadan shipped the ancient boats and limestone figures to the New York dealer via mail from the UAE.” The shipping label said “antiques.”

On December 20, 2010, Alshdaifat carried coins through the Detroit Metropolitan Airport on his way back from Amman, Jordan, according to the affidavit. Customs reportedly seized the coins because Alshdaifat presented inconsistent sets of invoices during two separate airport inspections. The first invoice presented was from NEST to Holyland Numismatics for Byzantine gold coins and Byzantine gold tremissis coins totaling $234,875. The invoice stated that they originated from Syria, according to the affidavit. Alshdaifat then reportedly offered a second set of invoices listing Byzantine gold coins and Roman-Egyptian billion tetradrachms. When Alshdaifat returned later with two mail packages of similar coins in an attempt to convince federal authorities to release the detained coins, customs officials seized these packages too because they were without entry paperwork, declared the affidavit.

Federal agents staked out Alshdaifat’s home in June 2011. After seeing a “for sale” sign posted, two HSI agents posed as potential buyers of the house and entered the home with a real estate agent. Alshdaifat was at the residence at the time. The agents reportedly observed pictures of coins on Alshdaifat’s computer and as well as books about ancient coins and artifacts.

Based on this information, federal authorities applied for a search warrant of Alshdaifat’s Michigan home. That search warrant preceded the eventual multiple count indictment against Alshdaifat and the three named co-defendants on charges related to antiquities trafficking.

Photo courtesy of ICE.

Contact information may be found at www.culturalheritagelawyer.com.

Legal Update Autumn 2011

This update has to return to the thorny issue of contributory negligence on the part of a cyclist for not wearing a cycle helmet. The issue arose in unusual circumstances in the case of Reynolds v Strutt & Parker LLP [2011]EWHC 2263. Judgment was delivered by His Honour Judge Oliver-Jones QC (sitting as a deputy Judge of the High Court – and apparently sitting in the Chancery Division!). The case has, in addition, implications for those who organise cycle races.

Mr Reynolds brought what, on the face of it, might be thought an ambitious claim against his employers for not making him wear a cycle helmet so as to protect him from the consequences of his own recklessness when taking part in a cycle race. The cycle race was organised by Mr Reynolds’s employers, a well known estate agency, and formed part of a social afternoon of team bonding. As part of the fun, Mr Reynolds and his co-workers were not told of the nature of the day’s events until they arrived at the site where the activities were to take place.

The race was between only four competitors and took place on a 3.5 km, 6 to 8 metre wide, closed road racing circuit at Fowlmead Country Park (built on the site of the former Betteshanger Colliery near Deal, Kent.)

Much of the Judgment is taken up with a discussion as to whether there was an adequate risk assessment with what appears to be an assumption all round that such an assessment should require the use of helmets. The Highway Code recommendation about helmets is not of course directly relevant since the race was not on the Highway. Instead there was reference to a Health and Safety Executive recommendation that cycle helmets be worn. Unfortunately the Judge does not indicate where this recommendation is to be found. Some of the witnesses clearly thought that there was a relevant HSE recommendation. At one point the Judge refers to ‘the recommended use of helmets by the HSE, which itself was, in my judgment ignored’ and at a later point that one witness ought to have discussed with his colleagues ‘what was said to be an HSE recommendation for the use of helmets’. There appears to have been a very curious failure to get to the bottom of what the HSE did recommend and how. I am not aware of any HSE guidance on the topic and perhaps if any reader is they would be kind enough to post a comment with the reference.

Possibly the rather sketchy consideration as to whether helmets should be worn is explained by the fact that the Claimant’s case against his employer depended upon proving that they were in breach of duty in failing to provide a helmet and the employer was in turn running a contributory negligence argument that Mr Reynolds was at fault in not wearing a helmet.  Furthermore on the Defendant's version of the facts they had advised Mr Reynolds to wear a helmet. There was nobody there then to interfere with the cosy consensus that helmets should have been worn.

Obviously the competitors themselves did not have helmets (or presumably any other cycling kit) as they did not know they were going to be racing until they got to the Park. The Park had some helmets and, on the Judge’s findings, when presented with their bicycles the twelve competitors were told that helmets were available, but were not encouraged, still less required, to wear them. Apparently only one of the 12 competitors in the event wore a helmet. The deeply unattractive prospect of putting on a helmet in which somebody else has raced does not appear to have struck anybody in Court.

The 12 racers were split into groups of 4 who competed, as two teams of two, in heats so the race in which Mr Reynolds was injured started as a four horse race. It appears that Mr. Reynolds led much of the way but the tactically more savvy colleague, one Mr Cracknell, looked like passing him in the sprint for the line. The Judge found that Mr Reynolds then made a deliberate decision to prevent Cracknell passing him and forcing him to brake. ‘He was making a deliberate decision to behave in an aggressive manner, reckless as to the consequences.'  As every racing cyclist knows the deliberate blocking of a rival, especially in the sprint is, absolutely not on, highly dangerous and almost certain to end in disaster. So it was in this case: Mr Cracknell was fortunately uninjured (had he been injured he could presumably have sued Mr Reynolds); Mr Reynolds unhappily was injured sustaining a serious brain injury.

Causation was addressed in as perfunctory manner as the assumed need to wear a helmet and for similar reasons. The Defendant did not have an expert at all and the Claimant had no medical evidence (described as a fundamental evidential omission by Griffith Williams J in Smith v Finch). The Claimant did have evidence form Dr Bryan Chinn (the same expert who gave evidence for Mr Smith to the effect that a helmet does not protect in a high speed impact). On this occasion he gave evidence that a helmet would have helped because the speed with which Mr Reynolds’s head struck the ground was within the range where use of a cycle helmet was effective. There was, however, a notable absence of a finding as to the speed at which Mr Reynolds’s head did strike the ground, and it seems improbable that it was less than the 12 mph standard to which helmets must conform. Possibly with an eye to the argument to be run that Reynolds was himself at fault in not wearing a helmet the Defendant ultimately conceded that the absence of a helmet was causative of some injury (how some injury differed from the actual injury was not further explored).

These findings of breach (carelessness) and causation were necessary both for a finding of liability against the Defendant employer for not encouraging/requiring the Claimant to use one of those proffered helmets and also for a finding of contributory negligence against the Claimant for not wearing one of those helmets. The ultimate division of responsibility was one third (Defendant employer) and two thirds (Claimant Mr Reynolds) so that the Claimant recovers one third of the dmages he would have got if the Defendant was wholly liable. Given that Reynolds had deliberately and recklessly blocked his opponent one has to assume that the deduction for not wearing a helmet was marginal compared to the deduction required for deliberately reckless cycling (the two elements were never separated out).

For reasons expressed above the Judgment is not really a satisfactory authority for anything. It will perhaps reinforce upon race organisers a need for a risk assessment to contain provision for requiring the use of cycle helmets. It has no sensible bearing upon the situation where a motorised vehicle collides with a cyclist.

Final thought: is it better that people race without helmets or that they do not race at all; a consideration relevant to section 1 of the Compensation Act 2006?  The Judge thought requiring helmets would not put people off taking part in this type of recreational activity; maybe not if you have your own helmet.
So far as I am aware there is no appeal against this decision.  In his litigation, at least, Mr Reynolds has been fortunate.

My Spring update dealt with another helmet case, Phethean-Hubble v Coles. This case is due to come before the Court of Appeal in late November though I doubt that the helmet issue will feature prominently.

Heritage Protection Laws in Uganda

The 16th annual triennial meeting of ICOM’s conservation committee took place in Lisbon, Portugal this week. Many outstanding papers were presented.

I was privileged to moderate the Legal Issues in Conservation Working Group session. One paper of interest dealt with cultural heritage laws in Uganda. Frederick Nsibambi of Cross-Cultural Foundation of Uganda spoke of the laws covering the protection of heritage, commenting that a 1967 statute simply fined a person $1 for a violation. More about his organization’s projects can be found at crossculturalfoundation.or.ug.

Contact information may be found at www.culturalheritagelawyer.com. DISCLAIMER: The information provided on this web site/email/blog/feed/podcast is general information only, not legal advice, and not guaranteed to be current, correct, or complete. No attorney-client relationship is formed, and no express or implied warranty is given. Links or references to outside sources are not endorsements. This site may be considered attorney advertising by some jurisdictions. The attorney is licensed in NH. The attorney is not certified by the TX Board of Legal Specialization, nor certified by NY regulators as a so-called "specialist" or "expert." Do not send confidential communications through this web site or email.

Federal/State Cooperation on Independent Contractor Issue

It does not seem very often that any headline that involves government can properly use cooperation these days, but yesterday's story on NPR, Labor Dept. Expands Enforcement Of Wage Violations, indicates that the Department of Labor is signing agreements with various state agencies to share information that will allow both to go after companies which "mis-classify" individuals as independent contractors.

For governments the bottom line is that when an individual is an employee, it gets more money and it is more easily collected, than when an individual is an independent contractor. If you are an adherent of the "follow the money" line of reasoning, that is enough to make you take notice that you should make sure that your independent contractors, really are that.

The states that have signed agreements so far (and thus states where you really should turn up your own scrutiny, rather than wait for someone else to do so) are Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Utah and Washington, with New York and Illinois lurking in the wings.

Khouli +3 Update: Salem Alshdaifat’s Coin Inventory Returned

Salem Alshdaifat’s attorney sent two letters on August 17, 2011 to complain that coins seized from his client were not properly cared for by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and to request an inspection of the items after an initial effort to examine the coins resulted in objections from federal officials. Alshdaifat’s lawyer asserted that his client possessed documentation to prove bona fide ownership of the property. The court treated the correspondence as a motion for return of property.

A federal district court in Michigan issued an order on September 6 that recognized the issue as moot. That is because the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York and Alshdaifat’s attorney reportedly reached an agreement to return the inventory. The terms of that agreement are unknown.

Meanwhile, highlights of the letters written by Alshdaifat's legal counsel reveal the following:

• “[T]he agents took the entirety of Mr. Alshdaifat's business inventory and related documentation . . . .”

• “Mr. Aishdaifat operates an ancient coins business from his home in Orchard Lake, Michigan. He has been in the business of trading ancient coins ever since he left his home country of Jordan more than ten years ago. He has been a student of numismatics his entire life. On July 13, 2011, federal agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE") raided his home and seized his entire inventory of ancient coins, estimated at over 7,000 coins, and other property.”

• “ICE and CBP had decided to transfer custody to the ICE case agent in Brooklyn, New York all of the seized property from the four seizures of Mr. Alshdaifat's property that occurred in the Detroit area. These include: (1) the December 20, 2010 seizure of ancient coins at the Detroit Metro Airport; (2) the December 2010 seizure of two mail packages that were voluntarily brought by Mr. Alshdaifat to ICE offices in Detroit and [an agent]; (3) the February 2011 seizure of a Federal Express package for export to Singapore; and (4) the July 13, 2011 seizure of thousands of coins and other property from Mr. Alshdaifat's . . . home.” (For information related to most of these seizures, see the September 23, 2011 blog entry here).

• Additionally, through his attorney, Alshdaifat advised federal officials to store groups of coins “in open containers, not in closed plastic bags.” “The coins,” he said, “should also be stored in a dry environment, preferably with a dehumidifier.” He further recommended that authorities “[s]eparate the "diseased" coins from the rest. These coins can be identified by the green powdery substance on the surface of the coins. . . . The diseased coins should be handled with gloves, and when doing so agents should avoid exposure in closed areas with little air circulation.” Alshdaifat also advised that “[t]he silver and gold coins should be kept in individual coin holders” and that coins found in acid baths “needed to be washed in hot, running water and dried individually.” Finally, he requested that “[t]hose coins with soil incrustation should be separated from others with similar incrustation. Because soil taken from different places consists of various different minerals and it would be impossible to know if incrusted coins came from the same soil, those coins that are incrusted should simply be separated to avoid any chemical reaction from the interaction of different soil minerals.”


Contact information may be found at www.culturalheritagelawyer.com. DISCLAIMER: The information provided on this web site/email/blog/feed/podcast is general information only, not legal advice, and not guaranteed to be current, correct, or complete. No attorney-client relationship is formed, and no express or implied warranty is given. Links or references to outside sources are not endorsements. This site may be considered attorney advertising by some jurisdictions. The attorney is licensed in NH. The attorney is not certified by the TX Board of Legal Specialization, nor certified by NY regulators as a so-called "specialist" or "expert." Do not send confidential communications through this web site or email.

Fact Checking Me -- Congressional Rollbacks of Pro-employee Legislation

Three times a year, my good friend Connie Cornell and I give a presentation called Essential Employment Law for our law school alma mater's continuing legal education program.

We have been doing this several years now (I can't quite remember how it started, but I think it had to do with too much wine at some speaker's dinner.)  In several of these presentations I have said, and will probably do so tomorrow unless someone saves me from error by fact checking me, that I am not aware of a time since the Portal to Portal Act of 1947, when Congress has rolled back or taken away any pro-employee legislation that it has passed.

Can any one think of anything to the contrary?

Bullying Litigation -- Not in the Workplace Yet

It's been awhile since I posted on bullying, but an article earlier this week in the Law Blog of the WSJ reminded me the topic is not going away. Back Off: Bullying Litigation on the Rise.

Fortunately, the article is confined to bullying litigation (and the underlying legislation which gives rise to that litigation) in educational institutions.

But in case you didn't catch my earlier post about the camel's nose in the tent strategy for those who seek to legislate against such behavior in the workplace check out Anti-bullying Legislation for Schools, An Inevitable Tie.

Coming to a Bulletin Board Near You on November 14th, Or Maybe Not ...

On planning committees for seminars, one topic that inevitably gets discussed is that we need to cover some traditional labor law. Almost inevitably someone will point out that in Texas, very few employers have unions and so any discussion of the NLRA or the actions of the NLRB will no doubt turn off a large part off the audience. And that of course, always gets the suggestion -- let's emphasize that the NLRA covers "concerted activity" not just union activity.

All true, true, and true. In fact my very first 5th Circuit argument was just such a case, NLRB v. Datapoint (5th Cir. 1981).

But unless a suit filed by the NAM, or some other similar action is successful, this November 4th, this poster, in its final formatted version that was published by the NLRB today will grace the bulletin board of every employer covered by the NLRA regardless of whether or not they currently have a union, as of November 14th.

This was the result of rule making on the part of the Board, a technique rarely used in the past.

In addition to a list of things that are illegal for either an employer or a union to do, the poster provides the following information:
Under the NLRA, you have the right to:

• Organize a union to negotiate with your employer concerning your wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment.

• Form, join or assist a union.

• Bargain collectively through representatives of employees’ own choosing for a contract with your employer setting your wages, benefits, hours, and other working conditions.

• Discuss your wages and benefits and other terms and conditions of employment or union organizing with your co-workers or a union.

• Take action with one or more co-workers to improve your working conditions by, among other means, raising work-related complaints directly with your employer or with a government agency, and seeking help from a union.

• Strike and picket, depending on the purpose or means of the strike or the picketing.

• Choose not to do any of these activities, including joining or remaining a member of a union. 
One view of postings is that they are much like the warning on the side of a lawnmower that you should not stick your hands into the blades, they are so ubiquitous that no one pays any attention.

But one never knows, although it may well be that we will soon find out.

A hat tip to Jeffrey Hirsch at Workplace Prof Blog, who was the first to call to my attention that the final version, in his words, "suitable for framing" was now released, although he gives his own hat tip and cautionary warning.

Update: Thanks to Russell Samson at the Dickinson Law Firm in Des Moines for catching that I was trying to force posting 10 days earlier than required. The effective date of the new rules which require the posting is 75 days after they were released or November 14, 2011.  The Board's equivalent of an FAQ on the new posting requirement (which confirms the correct date) is here.

Ayman Ramadan and Nafertiti Eastern Sculptures Trading

Readers will recall that the US Justice Department issued a press release in July 2011 announcing the unsealing of a multiple count indictment charging four men charged with antiquities smuggling and money laundering. Ayman Mohammad Ramadan was one of the men indicted. (Note: an indictment is not a finding of guilt.) He is currently a fugitive.

The US Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of New York, summarized the alleged facts of the case in this way: “[F]rom October 2008 through November 2009, [Joseph] Lewis [of Virginia] purchased a Greco-Roman style Egyptian sarcophagus, a nesting set of three Egyptian sarcophagi, a set of Egyptian funerary boats and Egyptian limestone figures from [Moussa “Morris” Khouli, who earlier acquired those items from [antiquities dealer Salem] Alshdaifat and [antiquities dealer Ayman] Ramadan. Each of these antiquities was exported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and smuggled into the United States using a variety of illegal methods intended to avoid detection and scrutiny by U.S. Customs & Border Protection (“Customs”).”

Ayman Ramadan is described by US Customs in a July 2011 press release as “a Jordanian antiquities dealer and operator of Nafertiti Eastern Sculptures Trading . . . . Ramadan was shipping goods to Windsor Antiques, a New York City gallery that showcased antiquities from around the world."

There is information to suggest that Ayman Ramadan may go by the name of Ayman Libzo. A Facebook profile bearing the name Ayman Libzo describes this named individual as the owner and president of Nafertiti Sculptures Trading L.L.C. It also lists Dubai as the place where this individual lives.

Paul Barford, in his blog on Portable Antiquity Collecting and Heritage Issues, referenced Nafertiti Sculptures Trading in a 2010 entry. Commenting on a sale of artifacts by Salem Alshdaifat, Barford posted the following on September 4, 2010 to show what was reportedly advertised online by Alshdaifat, an apparent business associate of Ramadan and a co-defendant. The information suggests a business connection with Ayman Ramadan’s company, Nafertiti Eastern Sculptures Trading.

"10 Ancient Egyptian Blue Faience Ushabti C.600 BC. Size around 3 inches high .(7 - 8cm long) Rare items in great looking blue Faience (paist clay and glazed) Mummyform ushabti (servant for the next life) . perfect condition for the type, a real rare chance to get them in this condetion, Guaranteed Authenticity. this lot will be shipped from our office in Dubai Nefertiti Eastern Sculptures Trading Co P.O Box: 111301 Bar Dubai, Dubai. United Arab Emirates. Price US$ 1,300.00" (Errors in the original.)

A recent search on the government of Dubai’s web site reveals no current trade names or active trade licenses for Nafertiti Eastern Sculptures Trading or any variation of that name. There are also no companies listed that are associated with the names Ayman Ramadan or Ayman Libzo.

(As a side note, it is of interest that the government of Dubai maintains a relevant trade name category called “Authentic Antiques, Artefacts & Artworks Trading," classified by Activity Code 513969. Many art and antiques dealers, however, seem to place themselves in the “Novelties Trading” or “Gifts Trading” company category as a matter of course.)

There is also no listing in the UAE yellow pages or the Dubai commercial directory for Ayman Ramadan, Ayman Libzo, or any reasonable variation in spelling of Nafertiti Eastern Sculptures Trading.

There is information on a web page, nevertheless, that an “Ayman Libzo for Ancient Antiquity” existed. What remains of the now inactive and sparsely archived web page, copyrighted 2008, is a ‘browse catalog” link, a generic Dubai business location, and a Dubai-based cell phone number. The catalog link is inaccessible. The other information listed on the web page states that the company is part of the Trocadero network, which is a fine arts and antiques online selling platform. The Ayman Libzo for Ancient Antiquity web site once bore the web address of www.trocadero.com/aylibzo/, as suggested by archived internet records.

There apparently was also an online store bearing the name “Ayman Libzo for Ancient Antiquity” at one time. It was likely located on eBay.es, the Spanish eBay. That page does not exist today and is not archived. It was referenced, however, in an eBay “arqueologia y falsificaciones” (archaeology and forgery) discussion group during a 2008 conversation about Egyptian artifacts.

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement asks that anyone with information on the whereabouts of Ayman Ramadan contact the Tip Line at 866-DHS-2-ICE.



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Labor Day, A Day After - Should We Put This To A Vote?

Any thoughts on how the following legislative finding might fare in today's Congress?
It is hereby declared to be the policy of the United States to eliminate the causes of certain substantial obstructions to the free flow of commerce and to mitigate and eliminate these obstructions when they have occurred by encouraging the practice and procedure of collective bargaining and by protecting the exercise by workers of full freedom of association, self-organization, and designation of representatives of their own choosing, for the purpose of negotiating the terms and conditions of their employment or other mutual aid or protection.

And if we wanted a second proposition to vote on, does the following stand up?
The inequality of bargaining power between employees who do not possess full freedom of association or actual liberty of contract, and employers who are organized in the corporate or other forms of ownership association substantially burdens and affects the flow of commerce, and tends to aggravate recurrent business depressions, by depressing wage rates and the purchasing power of wage earners in industry and by preventing the stabilization of competitive wage rates and working conditions within and between industries.
I think the answer is self-evident. The chances of passage of either is nil.

Still they do currently reflect what is the stated policy of the United States as contained in the existing National Labor Relations Act.

I hate to add to the burdens of our already strained political system, which quite frankly does not look as if it can solve any of its too many pressing problems, but at some point, we need to come to a concensus on what we want our labor policy to be.

For too long now, the political attention paid to the NLRB has been one of neglect and acceptance of the fact that with each political turn we should anticipate the wholesale reversal of "established" law. That has happened with the Obama Board, as it happened with the Bush Boards, as it happened with the Clinton Board etc.

When you can't agree on what the policy should be, it is ludicrous to think that the current one is apt to be successfully implemented.

Regrettably, I think that is something all should be able to agree on.

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