Techcordance

Steve Jobs

SAN FRANCISCO, June 29 (Reuters) – Apple Inc Chief Executive Steve Jobs is back to work following a near six-month medical leave, the company said on Monday.
“Steve is back to work,” a company spokesman said. “He’s currently at Apple a few days a week, and working from home the remaining days. We are very glad to have him back.”
In January, after initially blaming his noticeable weight loss on a hormone imbalance, Jobs announced he was taking a temporary leave of absence, saying his health-related issues were “more complex” than he had originally thought.
Jobs, 54, was treated for a rare form of pancreatic cancer in 2004.
He underwent a liver transplant in Memphis, Tennessee, while on leave. Although the hospital did not provide further details of his condition, it said he “is now recovering well and has an excellent prognosis.”
Shares of Cupertino, California-based Apple did not immediately react to the news. They were up 62 cents at $143.06 in Nasdaq trading. (Reporting by Gabriel Madway, editing by Tiffany Wu and Derek Caney)

U.S. Supreme Court

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has ruled that white firefighters in New Haven, Conn., were unfairly denied promotions because of their race, reversing a decision that high court nominee Sonia Sotomayor endorsed as an appeals court judge.
New Haven was wrong to scrap a promotion exam because no African-Americans and only two Hispanic firefighters were likely to be made lieutenants or captains based on the results, the court said today in a 5-4 decision. The city said that it had acted to avoid a lawsuit from minorities.
The ruling could alter employment practices nationwide, potentially limiting the circumstances in which employers can be held liable for decisions when there is no evidence of intentional discrimination against minorities.
“Fear of litigation alone cannot justify an employer’s reliance on race to the detriment of individuals who passed the examinations and qualified for promotions,” Justice Anthony Kennedy said in his opinion for the court. He was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.
In dissent, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said the white firefighters “understandably attract this court’s sympathy. But they had no vested right to promotion. Nor have other persons received promotions in preference to them.”
Justices Stephen Breyer, David Souter and John Paul Stevens signed onto Ginsburg’s dissent, which she read aloud in court today.