Air Canada walks back new seat selection policy change after backlash
Air Canada has paused a new seat selection fee for travellers booked on the lowest fares just days after implementing it.
A lawsuit filed by a Washington oyster farmer accusing a former county deputy of falsifying an arrest report and urging a person to lie during a domestic-violence investigation has been settled for $250,000.
Gerardo Rodarte, the owner of Samish Gold Seafoods, sued Skagit County and former deputy Joseph Gutierrez in 2020, after Rodarte was acquitted by a jury of domestic-violence assault charges, The Seattle Times reported.
The charges were based on the deputy's sworn statement and reports. Court documents show Gutierrez, who was fired in 2018 over allegations of having sex while on duty and failing to aid other officers during a jail escape, refused to testify at trial.
Rodarte's lawsuit alleged that Gutierrez conspired with Rodarte's niece, who was also an oyster farm employee, to falsely accuse her uncle of assaulting her in exchange for help with her immigration status.
The niece called the Sheriff's Office on June 7, 2017, and claimed she had been assaulted by Rodarte. Gutierrez responded and arrested Rodarte, despite his claims and statements from his wife that the niece attacked him, biting his thumb and hitting him in the head with a telephone handset, according to the lawsuit and other documents filed in U.S. District Court.
Rodarte claimed in his lawsuit that, while taking him to jail, Gutierrez met his niece and told her "they needed to change their story because it did not fit the evidence, and that they had to fix it so it looked real," according to the documents.
He claimed Gutierrez took pictures of the niece's neck, which showed bruising and marks that weren't there previously. U.S. District Judge Barbara Rothstein in a 2021 ruling denied Gutierrez's motion to dismiss the fabrication and false-evidence claim and ordered it to proceed to trial.
Rodarte's wife, Fabiola Higareda Hernandez, also signed a sworn affidavit claiming Gutierrez had falsified statements attributed to her in his arrest report.
Gutierrez appealed Rothstein's decision to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. An appeals court panel in January upheld Rothstein's trial decision.
As for damages, the appeals judges wrote, "We have held that it `is virtually self-evident' that `there is a clearly established constitutional right not to be subjected to criminal charges on the basis of false evidence deliberately fabricated by the government."'
Rodarte's lawsuit alleges a clam harvest worth $500,000 he had farmed the day of his arrest spoiled while he was incarcerated.
The Skagit County Attorney's Office, which represented Gutierrez, didn't respond to a phone message from the newspaper seeking comment on the settlement.
Air Canada has paused a new seat selection fee for travellers booked on the lowest fares just days after implementing it.
An ongoing municipal strike, court battles and revolt by half of council has prompted the province to oust the mayor and council in Black River-Matheson.
Three officers on a U.S. Marshals Task Force serving a warrant for a felon wanted for possessing a firearm were killed and five other officers were wounded in a shootout Monday at a North Carolina home, police said.
A Calgary elementary school principal has been charged with possession of child pornography, authorities announced Monday.
The Vancouver Island Health Authority is downplaying what staff describe as a cockroach infestation in a medical unit of Saanich Peninsula Hospital.
Toronto police say 12 people are facing a combined 102 charges in connection with an investigation into a major credit fraud scheme.
One of the winners of a historic US$1.3 billion Powerball jackpot last month is an immigrant from Laos who has had cancer for eight years and had his latest chemotherapy treatment last week.
Britney Spears and her father Jamie Spears will avoid what could have been a long, ugly and revealing trial with a settlement of the lingering issues in the court conservatorship that controlled her life and financial decisions for nearly 14 years.
The clock is ticking ahead of the deadline to file a 2023 income tax return. A personal finance expert explains why you should get them done -- even if you owe more than you can pay.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.
The lawyer for a residential school survivor leading a proposed class-action defamation lawsuit against the Catholic Church over residential schools says the court action is a last resort.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.