Taliento v. Portland West Neighborhood Council: The At Will Doctrine Continues to Thrive in Maine

In Taliento v. Portland West Neighborhood Planning Council, Neil Taliento, a program director at Portland West, brought suit against his former employer claiming breach of contract for improper discharge, and alleging that Portland West failed to follow the procedure for termination set forth in its personnel policy. The trial court granted Portland West\u27s motion for summary judgment, concluding that Taliento had failed to establish that he was anything other than an employee-at-will, irrespective of the plain language of Portland West\u27s Personnel Policy and its seemingly binding nature. Subsequently, Taliento appealed to the Supreme Judicial Court of Maine. Taliento provided the Law Court with an opportunity to consider whether personnel policies should be interpreted as binding, implied contracts between employer and employee. The Law Court found that Taliento was an employee for an indefinite term and, therefore, was terminable at the will of Portland West. This Author contends that there was, however, an implied contract between Taliento and Portland West. At the very least, an issue of material fact existed that should have been submitted to a jury. The trend in a majority of jurisdictions has been toward limiting the traditional employee-at-will doctrine. There are legitimate reasons why Maine should follow that trend. For example, as a matter of public policy, employers should not have employee handbook provisions and personnel policies that bind only the employees. To an unwitting employee, such policies appear to be binding on both parties and effectively lead the employee into a false sense of security. In reality, the policies are worth little more to the employee than the paper on which they are written. The majority of jurisdictions have recognized personnel policies and employee handbooks as creating an implied contract between employer and employee. These jurisdictions reason that offer, acceptance, and consideration are ascertainable in these “handbook cases.” Although many times employee handbooks contain unilateral offers to contract, they are offers nonetheless. These jurisdictions intimate that if employers want to avoid changing the employee\u27s durational status, they have the option of boldly disclaiming that the policies constitute a part of the employee\u27s employment contract. Maine has gone to great lengths to prevent handbooks and personnel policies from changing employees\u27 durational status. This Author contends that contract principles should be applied with uniformity regardless of the substance of the dispute and especially in these handbook cases in which the elements of an implied-in-fact contract are so readily apparent. It is with these issues of contract law that this Note ultimately concerns itself

Fundulus as the premier teleost model in environmental biology : opportunities for new insights using genomics

Author Posting. © Elsevier B.V., 2007. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier B.V. for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part D: Genomics and Proteomics 2 (2007): 257-286, doi:10.1016/j.cbd.2007.09.001.A strong foundation of basic and applied research documents that the estuarine fish Fundulus heteroclitus and related species are unique laboratory and field models for understanding how individuals and populations interact with their environment. In this paper we summarize an extensive body of work examining the adaptive responses of Fundulus species to environmental conditions, and describe how this research has contributed importantly to our understanding of physiology, gene regulation, toxicology, and ecological and evolutionary genetics of teleosts and other vertebrates. These explorations have reached a critical juncture at which advancement is hindered by the lack of genomic resources for these species. We suggest that a more complete genomics toolbox for F. heteroclitus and related species will permit researchers to exploit the power of this model organism to rapidly advance our understanding of fundamental biological and pathological mechanisms among vertebrates, as well as ecological strategies and evolutionary processes common to all living organisms.This material is based on work supported by grants from the National Science Foundation DBI-0420504 (LJB), OCE 0308777 (DLC, RNW, BBR), BES-0553523 (AW), IBN 0236494 (BBR), IOB-0519579 (DHE), IOB-0543860 (DWT), FSML-0533189 (SC); National Institute of Health NIEHS P42-ES007381(GVC, MEH), P42-ES10356 (RTD), ES011588 (MFO); and NCRR P20 RR-016463 (DWT); Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Discovery (DLM, TDS, WSM) and Collaborative Research and Development Programs (DLM); NOAA/National Sea Grant NA86RG0052 (LJB), NA16RG2273 (SIK, MEH,GVC, JJS); Environmental Protection Agency U91620701 (WSB), R82902201(SC) and EPA’s Office of Research and Development (DEN)

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Taliento v. Portland West Neighborhood Council: The At Will Doctrine Continues to Thrive in Maine

In Taliento v. Portland West Neighborhood Planning Council, Neil Taliento, a program director at Portland West, brought suit against his former employer claiming breach of contract for improper discharge, and alleging that Portland West failed to follow the procedure for termination set forth in its personnel policy. The trial court granted Portland West\u27s motion for summary judgment, concluding that Taliento had failed to establish that he was anything other than an employee-at-will, irrespective of the plain language of Portland West\u27s Personnel Policy and its seemingly binding nature. Subsequently, Taliento appealed to the Supreme Judicial Court of Maine. Taliento provided the Law Court with an opportunity to consider whether personnel policies should be interpreted as binding, implied contracts between employer and employee. The Law Court found that Taliento was an employee for an indefinite term and, therefore, was terminable at the will of Portland West. This Author contends that there was, however, an implied contract between Taliento and Portland West. At the very least, an issue of material fact existed that should have been submitted to a jury. The trend in a majority of jurisdictions has been toward limiting the traditional employee-at-will doctrine. There are legitimate reasons why Maine should follow that trend. For example, as a matter of public policy, employers should not have employee handbook provisions and personnel policies that bind only the employees. To an unwitting employee, such policies appear to be binding on both parties and effectively lead the employee into a false sense of security. In reality, the policies are worth little more to the employee than the paper on which they are written. The majority of jurisdictions have recognized personnel policies and employee handbooks as creating an implied contract between employer and employee. These jurisdictions reason that offer, acceptance, and consideration are ascertainable in these “handbook cases.” Although many times employee handbooks contain unilateral offers to contract, they are offers nonetheless. These jurisdictions intimate that if employers want to avoid changing the employee\u27s durational status, they have the option of boldly disclaiming that the policies constitute a part of the employee\u27s employment contract. Maine has gone to great lengths to prevent handbooks and personnel policies from changing employees\u27 durational status. This Author contends that contract principles should be applied with uniformity regardless of the substance of the dispute and especially in these handbook cases in which the elements of an implied-in-fact contract are so readily apparent. It is with these issues of contract law that this Note ultimately concerns itself

Meeting Society\u27s Needs for Education and Discovery: A Survey of Eight Field Stations and Marine Laboratories in the Southeastern United States

Field stations and marine laboratories (FSMLs) are essential institutions for natural history education and research. Recently, the National Research Council suggested goals for FSMLs and that a metric be administered for their evaluation. We surveyed a non-random cross-section of 8 southeastern US FSMLs in different ecosystems to evaluate how they provide educational opportunities in accordance with National Research Council recommendations pertaining to convergence, STEM education, and interdisciplinary education. Survey responses were provided as narrative responses and through the completion of a rubric. FSML representatives reported generally high mean scores in categories addressed in the rubric. We observed the greatest variation in responses regarding the number of interdisciplinary programs offered across FSMLs. Rubric responses associated with convergence across programs, station culture, and facilities were relatively uniform. Although the FSMLs surveyed exhibited variations in ecosystems serviced and programs offered, all of the institutions provide a collaborative environment for individuals from multiple ages and backgrounds

Quality of life after long-term biochemical control of acromegaly.

PURPOSE: To assess long-term quality of life (QoL) in patients with sustained biochemical control of acromegaly, comparing those receiving vs not receiving pharmacotherapy (primary analysis); to assess change in QoL over time (secondary analysis). METHODS: Cross-sectional study, with a secondary longitudinal component, of 58 patients with biochemically controlled acromegaly. All had participated in studies assessing QoL years previously, after having undergone surgery ± radiotherapy. One cohort received medical therapy [MED (n = 33)]; the other did not [NO-MED (n = 25)]. QoL was assessed by the 36-Item-Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36), Acromegaly Quality of Life Questionnaire (AcroQoL), Gastrointestinal Quality of Life Index (GIQLI), Symptom Questionnaire, and QoL-Assessment of Growth Hormone Deficiency in Adults (QoL-AGHDA). RESULTS: Mean (± SD) duration of biochemical control was 15.0 ± 6.4 years for MED and 20.4 ± 8.2 years for NO-MED (p = 0.007). 58% of subjects scored \u3c 25% of normal on ≥ 1 SF-36 domain and 32% scored \u3c 25% of normal on ≥ 4 of 8 domains. Comparing MED vs NO-MED and controlling for duration of biochemical control, there were no significant differences in QoL by SF-36, AcroQOL, GIQLI, Symptom Questionnaire, or QoL-AGHDA. Growth hormone deficiency (GHD) but not radiotherapy predicted poorer QoL. In MED, QoL improved over time in three AcroQoL domains and two GIQLI domains. In NO-MED, QoL worsened in two SF-36 domains and two Symptom Questionnaire domains; QoL-AGHDA scores also worsened in subjects with GHD. CONCLUSION: A history of acromegaly and development of GHD, but not pharmacologic or radiotherapy, are detrimental to QoL, which remains poor over the long-term despite biochemical control

Effects of growth hormone receptor antagonism and somatostatin analog administration on quality of life in acromegaly.

OBJECTIVE: Acromegaly is associated with impaired quality of life (QoL). We investigated the effects of biochemical control of acromegaly by growth hormone receptor antagonism vs somatostatin analog therapy on QoL. DESIGN: Cross-sectional. PATIENTS: 116 subjects: n = 55 receiving a somatostatin analog (SSA group); n = 29 receiving pegvisomant (PEG group); n = 32 active acromegaly on no medical therapy (ACTIVE group). MEASUREMENTS: Acromegaly QoL Questionnaire (AcroQoL), Rand 36-Item Short Form Survey (SF-36) and Gastrointestinal QoL Index (GIQLI); fasting glucose, insulin and IGF-1 levels (LC/MS, Quest Diagnostics). RESULTS: There were no group differences in mean age, BMI or sex [(whole cohort mean ± SD) age 52 ± 14 years, BMI 30 ± 6 kg/m CONCLUSION: Our data support a comparable QoL in patients receiving pegvisomant vs somatostatin analogs, despite the fact that the vast majority receiving pegvisomant did not respond to or were not able to tolerate somatostatin analogs