The Supreme Court today upheld a judgment against Tyson Foods Inc. in a pay dispute with more than 3,000 Iowa employees who claimed they were stiffed overtime pay. The Huffington Post reports the employees were seeking pay for time spent putting on protective equipment before slaughtering animals. In a 6-2 ruling, the Supreme Court rejected Tyson’s arguments that the plaintiffs improperly relied on statistical average of time spent putting on equipment and that the company should not have been forced to defend a class-action lawsuit. 

The Nashville Post reports a bill advancing in the state House would redirect money from the University of Tennessee's diversity office to pay for "In God We Trust" decals for law enforcement vehicles. Bill sponsor Rep. Micah Van Huss, R-Jonesborough, estimates eliminating funding for the office would free up about $100,000. The state Senate has amended the governor's proposed budget to pull $8 million from the university.           

Former TBA President Bill Haltom will sign copies of his new book this Saturday, 2-4 p.m., at Burke’s Bookstore, 936 South Cooper St. in Memphis. Milk & Sugar: The Complete Book of Seersucker is a guide to the “quintessential Southern fabric” and covers all things seersucker. Haltom, who is a columnist for the Tennessee Bar Journal, practices in Memphis.

The ABA Journal shares benefits of automating frequently-produced documents of a law practice, like client engagement letters and routine filings. John Mayer, executive director of the Center for Computer Assisted Legal Instruction, and Andrew Legrand, a New Orleans lawyer, recently shared helpful tips on the topic at the ABA TechShow.

The Knoxville News Sentinel reports Raynella Dossett Leath is attempting to convince Senior Judge Paul Summers to overturn her 2010 conviction in the death of her second husband. Leath’s argument for a new trial focuses on former Knox County Criminal Court Judge Richard Baumgartner, who presided over her trial before he was convicted in a prescription drug abuse probe. Leath’s attorney, Rebecca Legrand, told Summers on Monday that Baumgartner's “drive to feed his addiction infected every aspect of her case." Leath was also accused in the 1992 killing of her first husband. 

A state House committee today killed “MaKayla’s Law,” a bill stemming from the death of an 8-year-old White Pine girl by her 11-year-old neighbor. The measure (SB 2294 / HB 2058) would have penalized adult gun owners who leave loaded guns unlocked and accessible to children under age 13. Read more from the Knoxville News Sentinel.

The state Court of Appeals on Monday affirmed a lower court's ruling that Knox County Circuit Court Judge Bill Ailor cannot use judicial immunity in the August 2014 firing of judicial assistant Judith Moore-Pennoyer, The Knoxville News Sentinel reports. Attorney David Dunaway sued Ailor on behalf of Moore-Pennoyer after Ailor fired her following his successful election to the bench. The state Attorney General's Office filed on behalf of Ailor to dismiss the lawsuit, claiming judges are immune from lawsuits over employment decisions. Read the opinion.

Retired Maryville attorney Roy D. Crawford died Sunday (March 20) at age 94. Following service in World War II, Crawford graduated from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1948. He practiced in Maryville until 2000, when he retired at age 79. Crawford also represented Blount County in the Tennessee Senate from 1960 to 1966. McCammon-Ammons-Click Funeral Home in Maryville will handle arrangements, which are incomplete at this time.

“Jiggery-pokery” and “pure applesauce” are what The Tennessean refers to as “Scalia-isms” in the recent state Supreme Court ruling that barred the newspaper and other media from requested evidence in the Vanderbilt rape case. Tennessee Justice Gary Wade, who authored a dissent, also cited a book co-authored by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia in his argument that the majority overstepped its role.

Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris is working on an agreement among Senate Republicans in which Sen. Randy McNally will succeed Sen. Ron Ramsey as Senate speaker and lieutenant governor for at least the next two years. Norris, R-Collierville, said the “transitional” speakership is to avoid a “distraction” in this year’s legislative elections, The Commercial Appeal reports. McNally, R-Oakridge, announced last week that he is running for the speakership.