This was a defamation case, i.e. a civil case. Ten’s defence was that their imputation that Lehrmann raped Higgins was substantially true, so the judge had to rule on whether or not the rape happened. It is not a criminal conviction and there won’t be one in this case because the criminal trial was abandoned due to juror misconduct.

The chamber of commerce and other employer groups never want minimum or award wages to rise by more than inflation.

I recall more than one year (every year?) where they asked for minimum wage increases that were less than inflation. They don’t just want wages to stagnate, they want wages to decrease.