Labor Law

After a seven-week trial and one day of deliberations, a jury in Santa Barbara rejected anti-trust conspiracy claims by spine surgeon Dr. Alan Moelleken against Cottage Hospital and four of its on-call neurosurgeons.

Jury sides with defendants, deciding there was no conspiracy or basis for damages

A Los Angeles federal judge ruled that owners and publishers have a First Amendment right to control the content of their publications. U.S. District Court Judge Stephen V. Wilson ruled in favor of Ampersand Publishing LLC, parent company of the Santa Barbara News-Press, and against the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and its regional director James J. McDermott.