High Court Rules On Home Care, Toxics, Smokers

The Supreme Court yesterday:

• Said 1 million home care workers are not entitled to overtime pay under federal law.

• Allowed companies to sue to recover their costs when they voluntarily clean up hazardous material under the Superfund program.

• Agreed to decide whether federal judges are required to impose dramatically longer sentences for crack cocaine than for cocaine powder.

• Ruled against Philip Morris's effort to get a smokers' lawsuit filed in state court moved to federal court, where damages awards often are smaller.

• Accepted Sprint Nextel Corp.'s appeal of an employment case that could make it harder for workers to prove discrimination allegations.

• Declined to force companies to consider invitations to merge their pension plans as an alternative to terminating them.

• Upheld a California murder conviction, despite the exclusion of testimony that someone else was the killer.