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Consumer Protection
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June 18, 2024
Doubt Cast On Free Whole Foods Delivery 'Bait And Switch'
A Washington federal judge appeared skeptical at a hearing Tuesday of claims that Amazon misled Prime members by advertising free Whole Foods grocery deliveries and then later pulling the perk in a "bait and switch," noting the retail giant has reserved the right to change Prime members' benefits.
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June 18, 2024
Tesla Can't Beat 'Right-To-Repair' Monopoly Suit This Time
Tesla must face an amended proposed class action alleging the company runs an unlawful monopoly on parts for its electric vehicles, a California federal judge has ruled, finding that the plaintiffs have addressed issues in their previously dismissed complaint.
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June 18, 2024
IPhone Buyers Want Canadian Data In Amazon Antitrust Case
Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. must be forced to turn over Canadian sales data as part of a lawsuit accusing the pair of hatching an anticompetitive agreement to choke third-party sales, a group of iPad and iPhone buyers told a Washington federal court.
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June 18, 2024
Man 'Got Exactly What He Wanted' In Sig Sauer, Ga. Jury Told
As a weeklong federal trial wrapped up Tuesday, counsel for American gun-maker Sig Sauer told a Georgia jury that a man who claims faulty design of one of the company's pistols caused his gun to accidentally shoot him offered no credible explanation of how and why the pistol went off.
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June 20, 2024
CORRECTED: Drug Cos., PBMs Score Win In Calif. AG's Insulin Price Suit
A Los Angeles judge ruled Tuesday that the statute of limitations bars the California Attorney General's unfair competition law and unjust enrichment claims against drugmakers and pharmacy benefit managers over an alleged conspiracy to spike insulin costs, but granted leave to amend the allegations.
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June 18, 2024
No Reason To Move Net Neutrality Suits To DC Circ., ISPs Say
Nearly a dozen industry groups are calling on the Sixth Circuit to reject an effort by the Federal Communications Commission to move a raft of lawsuits over the FCC's net neutrality rules to the D.C. Circuit.
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June 18, 2024
9 Firms Vie To Lead Suit Over Ad Tech Co.'s Microsoft Ties
Pomerantz LLP, Levi & Korsinsky LLP and several other firms have filed competing bids to lead a proposed shareholder class action alleging that shares of ad tech company Perion Network declined nearly 40% after its strategic partner Microsoft Bing "unilaterally" changed its search advertising pricing.
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June 18, 2024
SEC's Ether Orders Spur Hope For Crypto, Caution From Attys
The crypto industry received a step toward clarity when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's approval of exchange-traded products holding the token ether signified the cryptocurrency isn't a security subject to SEC regulation, but attorneys say they remain cautious when counseling clients on how to deal in the asset.
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June 18, 2024
Google's Deal With Apple Should Be Busted Up, Users Say
Counsel for consumers accusing Google of making an illegal pact with Apple to serve as the iPhone's default search engine urged a California federal judge on Tuesday to revive their dismissed antitrust suit, saying, "We're looking to bust up the contract to get competition back in the market."
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June 18, 2024
Megan Thee Stallion Escapes IP Suit Over 'Savage' Song
A Manhattan federal judge concluded Tuesday that rapper and songwriter Megan Thee Stallion did not rip off music from a hip-hop producer to create her hit song "Savage" in 2020, saying the plaintiff failed to show that she and the other defendants had access to his composition or that the two songs are substantially or strikingly similar.
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June 18, 2024
Anticompetitive Rules Hinder BEAD Fund, Critic Claims
The success or failure of the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program lies in the "devilish details," according to one free-market think tank, which says that rules encouraging rate regulation and favoring "gold-plated" fiber technology could soon "cause havoc" if oversight is not rigorous enough.
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June 18, 2024
6th Circ. Asks Who's A 'Consumer' In Meta Data Sharing Case
Sixth Circuit judges questioned how a decades-old federal privacy law aimed at protecting people's video rental history applies to website users, as one customer argued Tuesday that the court should revive claims that Paramount unlawfully shared his data with Meta, Facebook's parent company.
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June 18, 2024
Chastened Boeing CEO Vows Fixes In Harsh Senate Hearing
Boeing's chief steadfastly defended the company's commitment to safety, even as he acknowledged a breakdown in how certain managers responded to whistleblowers who had flagged past questionable design or manufacturing practices, as he endured a grueling public hearing before a Senate panel Tuesday.
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June 18, 2024
Insurer Countersues In Penile Implant Coverage Dispute
An insurer has no duty to defend or indemnify a urologist, his medical device company or his practice in a proposed class action over a penile enlargement implant and procedure, the company told a California federal court, saying the underlying suit doesn't seek bodily injury damages that would trigger coverage.
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June 18, 2024
CFTC Awards $8M To Whistleblower Behind Multiple Actions
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has announced it awarded more than $8 million to an insider whistleblower who the agency said provided significant information that led to multiple enforcement actions from multiple agencies.
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June 18, 2024
Microsoft Says Starbucks Ruling Hurts FTC's Activision Case
Microsoft told the Ninth Circuit on Monday that the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling requiring labor regulators to meet a four-factor test in order to win a preliminary injunction undercuts the Federal Trade Commission's bid to halt the company's $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard Inc.
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June 18, 2024
Democrats Punt On Spectrum Bill, Claiming GOP 'Obstruction'
A Senate Democratic leader again delayed consideration of a bill Tuesday to renew the Federal Communications Commission's spectrum auction powers, saying the holdup was instigated by Republicans on the Senate Commerce Committee.
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June 18, 2024
Apple Sanctioned In Siri Privacy Suit For Deleting Recordings
A California federal judge has sanctioned Apple Inc. in a privacy lawsuit brought by Siri users who claim the voice-activated software records their conversations, finding the tech giant spoiled evidence by deleting key data, but that a jury should determine whether Apple deprived the users of the data intentionally.
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June 18, 2024
Split Pa. High Court Finds Rental Registry Suit Moot
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court tossed out landlords' appeal of Pittsburgh's 2015 ordinance requiring them to list their rental units in a public registry, because it had been replaced by a newer, narrower law, but two justices said they should have ruled on the case anyway to settle whether other governments could pass similar measures.
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June 18, 2024
Rival Pool Supply Co. Looks To Duck Blueworks Ch. 11 Stay
Pool supply company Hayward Industries Inc. has asked a bankruptcy court for a reprieve from the automatic stay protecting its bankrupt rival Blueworks Corp. as it seeks to secure final orders upholding a $16 million false advertising and unfair business practices judgment.
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June 18, 2024
5th Circ. Keeps Suit Over CFPB's Card Late Fee Rule In Texas
The Fifth Circuit on Tuesday ordered a banking industry lawsuit against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's credit card late fee rule to remain in Texas federal court, rejecting a second attempted transfer of the case to Washington, D.C.
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June 18, 2024
Blue States And Enviro Groups Back DOE Furnace Rule
Several blue states and environmental and consumer groups have thrown their support behind the U.S. Department of Energy's tighter energy efficiency standards for furnaces and water heaters, telling the D.C. Circuit that challenges to the new rules are meritless.
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June 18, 2024
Frontier Airlines Passholder Suit To Be Arbitrated
Frontier Airlines Inc. has successfully pushed out of court a proposed class action claiming its "All You Can Fly" passes are "relatively unusable," after a Colorado federal judge ruled that there is nothing "substantively unfair" about the arbitration clause to which the would-be passengers agreed.
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June 18, 2024
DOJ Says DC Circ. Shouldn't Rethink Realtor Antitrust Probe
The U.S. Department of Justice has told the D.C. Circuit that its April decision allowing it to reopen an investigation into the National Association of Realtors doesn't conflict with any U.S. Supreme Court or circuit court decisions and that the NAR's rehearing petition should be denied.
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June 18, 2024
Noncustomers Cinch Settlement In Citibank Robocall Suit
Citibank has reached a deal with a class of noncustomers who accused the bank of bombarding them with unauthorized robocalls, according to a notice filed in Arizona federal court, ending six years of litigation alleging Citibank had violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.
Expert Analysis
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What FinCEN Proposed Customer ID Number Change Means
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's recent request for comment on changing a requirement for banks to collect full Social Security numbers at account sign-up represents an important opportunity for banks to express their preferability, as communicating sensitive information online may carry fraud or cybersecurity risks, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.
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Circumstantial Evidence Requires A Pointillist Approach
Because complex cases with sophisticated defendants are unlikely to reveal much, if any, direct evidence, attorneys must aggregate many pieces of circumstantial evidence into a cohesive narrative — much like the painting technique of pointillism, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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Questions Persist After Ruling Skirts $925M TCPA Award Issue
After an Oregon federal court's recent Wakefield v. ViSalus ruling that the doctrine of constitutional avoidance precluded it from deciding whether a $925 million Telephone Consumer Protection Act damages award was constitutionally sound, further guidance is needed on when statutory damages violate due process, says Michael Klotz at O'Melveny.
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Benzene Contamination Concerns: Drugmakers' Next Steps
After a citizen petition to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and a flurry of class actions over benzene contamination in benzoyl peroxide acne products, affected manufacturers should consider a thoughtful approach that includes assembling internal data and possibly contacting the FDA for product-specific discussions, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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Blocked JetBlue-Spirit Deal Illustrates New Antitrust Approach
The U.S. Department of Justice’s recent successful block of a merger between JetBlue Airways and Spirit Airlines demonstrates antitrust enforcers’ updated and disparate approach to out-of-market benefits versus out-of-market harms, say Lisa Rumin and Anthony Ferrara at McDermott.
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Back Labels In False Ad Cases Get Some Clarity In 9th Circ.
Courts in the Ninth Circuit have recently delivered a series of wins to advertisers, making clear that any ambiguity on the front of a product's package can be resolved by reference to the back label — which guarantees defendants a powerful tool to combat deceptive labeling claims, say attorneys at Patterson Belknap.
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Series
Fla. Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q1
Early 2024 developments that could have a notable impact on Florida's finance community include progress on a bill that would substantially revise the state Securities and Investor Protection Act, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's final rule capping late fees for larger credit card issuers, say Benjamin Weinberg and Megan Riley at Leon Cosgrove.
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Series
NY Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q1
The first quarter of 2024 saw a number of notable legal and regulatory developments that will significantly affect New York's financial services industry, including the New York Department of Financial Services' finalized novel guidance directing banks to continuously monitor the character and fitness of key personnel, say Brian Montgomery and Nathan Lewko at Pillsbury.
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Opinion
Federal MDL Rule Benefits From Public Comments
The new Federal Rule of Civil Procedure concerning multidistrict litigation that was approved this week by the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules incorporates ideas from public comments that will aid both plaintiffs and defense attorneys — and if ultimately adopted, the rule should promote efficient, merits-driven MDL case management, say Robert Johnston and Gary Feldon at Hollingsworth.
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Practicing Law With Parkinson's Disease
This Parkinson’s Awareness Month, Adam Siegler at Greenberg Traurig discusses his experience working as a lawyer with Parkinson’s disease, sharing both lessons on how to cope with a diagnosis and advice for supporting colleagues who live with the disease.
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Opinion
Aviation Watch: Not All Airline Mergers Hurt The Public
The U.S. Department of Justice's actions to block recent attempted airline mergers have been touted as serving the interests of the consumers — but given the realities of the deregulated air travel market, a tie-up like the one proposed between JetBlue and Spirit might have been a win for the public, says Alan Hoffman, a retired attorney and aviation expert.
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The Merger Cases That Will Matter At ABA Antitrust Meeting
While the American Bar Association's Antitrust Spring Meeting this week will cover all types of competition law issues in the U.S. and abroad, expect the federal agencies' recent track record in merger enforcement to be a key area of focus on the official panels and in cocktail party chatter, say attorneys at Freshfields.
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How Banks Should Respond To Calif. AG's Overdraft Warning
Banks and credit unions should heed recent guidance from California’s attorney general, along with warnings by consumer regulators of all stripes, regarding unfair fee practices by properly disclosing their fees and practices, and ensuring the amounts charged mirror federal benchmarks, say Brett D. Watson and Madeline Suchard at Cozen O'Connor.
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Cos. Should Prepare For Foreign Data Transfer Regulations
A new regulatory regime designed to protect U.S. sensitive data from countries of concern may complicate an already intricate geopolitical landscape and affect even companies beyond the data industry, but with careful preparation, such companies can endeavor to minimize the effect on their business operations and ensure compliance, say David Plotinsky and Jiazhen Guo at Morgan Lewis.
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Climate Disclosure Mandates Demand A Big-Picture Approach
As carbon emissions disclosure requirements from the European Union, California and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission take effect, the best practice for companies is not targeted compliance with a given reporting regime, but rather a comprehensive approach to systems assessment and management, says David Smith at Manatt.