Employees who cooperate with internal investigations of workplace discrimination are protected by the anti-retaliation provision of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the Supreme Court decided on Monday. In a unanimous ruling, the justices found that the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals had erred in finding that Title VII protection only extended to workers who expressly lodged discrimination complaints. The decision allows a longtime Tennessee school system employee to pursue a lawsuit over her firing.

The Minnesota Attorney General has filed a lawsuit against Allina Hospital & Clinics accusing the healthcare group of charging excessive interest to patients with unpaid medical bills. According to a statement from the attorney general Allina charged some patients interest up to 18 percent. The lawsuit seeks refunds for patients who paid interest that is determined to be excessive.

A woman who was denied positions at the University of Iowa law school has filed a lawsuit claiming she was not hired because of her political affiliations. According to the lawsuit, faculty who vote on hiring disqualified the plaintiff because of her conservative views and one faculty member advised her to conceal her affiliation with conservative groups if she hoped to get the job. The lawsuit seeks damages for lost income, lost benefits and emotional harm.

Military contractor KBR Inc. was responsible for the negligent homicide of a soldier killed by electrocution while serving in Iraq, an Army investigation has determined. Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth died of cardiac arrest in 2008 when he was electrocuted while taking a shower in his Baghdad barracks. According to the Army investigation, KBR failed to provide qualified personnel to work on electrical wiring in the barracks. A wrongful death lawsuit in connection with Maseth’s death was filed last year.

Federal officials have warned consumers of dangers associated with more than 125 products recalled as part of a nationwide salmonella-and-peanuts investigation. The Food and Drug Administration said products affected by the recall range from ice cream to pet foods. A fully searchable list of recalled peanut products is available at the FDA Web site.

The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal of a Texas high court decision involving the forced exorcism of a teenager. In the original lawsuit, Laura Schubert Pearson accused the Pleasant Glade Assembly of God in Colleyville of assault and false imprisonment in connection with the exorcism. The Texas Supreme Court dismissed the case on First Amendment grounds. The U.S. Supreme Court did not comment in declining to hear the case

Great American Insurance Company has announced that it would not pursue a controversial legal defense in a case stemming from a 2007 Houston office fire. Great American had previously argued that it should not be held liable because of a pollution exclusion in its policy. The insurer posited that the deaths of three workers were caused by smoke, fumes and other pollutants rather than by the fire.

An increasingly high number of children are contracting ear, nose and throat infections caused by the drug-resistant MRSA, or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, according to a study released Monday. In the study, published in the Archives of Otolaryngology, researchers found that the number of children suffering from staph-related head and neck infections more than doubled from 2001 through 2006. Doctors say the finding should warn health agencies of a potentially major public health problem.

Experts and lawmakers are crying foul on the volume of antibiotic ingredients currently produced abroad. According to Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, the amount of critical ingredients for most antibiotics produced in countries such as China and India leaves the nation at risk for tainted or contaminated medicines, and possibly bioterrorism. In response, some say the law should require some medicines to be produced or stockpiled in the United States.

A brand of peanut butter crackers recalled by Kellogg Co. were to blame for sickening a Vermont child late last year, a lawsuit filed Tuesday claims. According to the lawsuit, filed on behalf of Gabrielle and Daryl Meunier, the couple’s 7-year-old son contracted salmonella poisoning after eating Keebler Cheese & Peanut Butter Sandwich crackers. The lawsuit seeks damages against Georgia-based Peanut Corporation of America.