In brief: Wage rules reinstated for home care workers

WASHINGTON – A federal appeals court on Friday revived Obama administration regulations that guarantee overtime and minimum-wage protection to nearly 2 million home health care workers.

The ruling was a victory for worker advocacy groups and labor unions that have long sought higher wages for domestic workers who help the elderly and disabled with everyday tasks such as bathing or taking medicine.

It also was a win for the White House, which proposed the rules four years ago as part of an effort to go around an unwilling Congress in a bid to help low-wage workers through executive action.

A federal judge had scrapped the Labor Department rules earlier this year after finding the agency had overstepped its authority. Since 1974, federal law has exempted home care workers hired through third-party staffing agencies from wage and overtime requirements.

But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said the Labor Department has the power to interpret the law to change that exemption.

Air bag failures probed in older Honda Accords

DETROIT – U.S. auto safety regulators are investigating reports that air bags on some older Honda Accords may not inflate in a crash.

The probe by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration covers about 384,000 cars from the 2008 model year.

The agency says in documents posted Friday that it received 19 consumer complaints that the air bag control computer failed in the Accord, which then was Honda’s top-selling model.

A driver in Belleview, Florida, was injured when his car hit a concrete wall at 50 mph and the air bags didn’t inflate, according to a complaint filed with the agency. Several others complained that the computer had to be replaced to fix the problem and they were charged about $500.

The agency says the malfunction causes the air bag warning light to illuminate on the dashboard and disables the air bags until repairs are made. Investigators will look into how often the problem happens and decide if a recall is needed.

Comcast provides source of derogatory comments

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Comcast Cable Communications has given a northern Illinois politician the identity of an Internet service subscriber whose account was used to post an anonymous comment online suggesting the politician molests children.

Comcast turned over the name of the subscriber Aug. 14, attorney Andrew Smith said Thursday, almost two months after the Illinois Supreme Court upheld lower court rulings that Internet service providers have no obligation to withhold the identity of a commenter if their comments could be considered defamatory.

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up the case, which has played out in an environment of increasing concern about potentially damaging online comments made by anonymous Internet users. Experts generally agree that Internet commenters should know their identity won’t be protected if their comments cross the line into defamation.

In the case, the commenter using the identity “Fuboy” was responding to a 2011 article in the Freeport (Ill.) Journal Standard about now-Chairman Bill Hadley’s candidacy for the Stephenson County board.

A Stephenson County court, a state appellate court and the Illinois Supreme Court have all agreed the commenter’s identity wasn’t protected. The U.S. Supreme Court on Aug. 7 declined to take it up.