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Food & Beverage
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February 14, 2024
FinCEN Head Vows No 'Gotcha' Enforcement Of New Rules
The director of the U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network said during a Wednesday congressional hearing that the agency is not pursuing "gotcha" enforcement when it comes to companies complying with new rules for reporting their beneficial ownership information.
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February 14, 2024
NYC Servers Sue Korean BBQ Eateries Over Tipped Wages
A proposed class of servers hit two Manhattan-based Korean barbecue restaurants with a wage-and-tipping suit Wednesday in New York federal court, claiming their former employers failed to adhere to "strict" tip credits governed by the state and the Fair Labor Standards Act.
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February 14, 2024
Mondelez Sued Over Ritz Bits Sandwiches 'Real Cheese' Claim
Mondelez Global was hit with a proposed class action on Wednesday in New York federal court by a customer alleging the snack food giant falsely advertises that its Ritz Bits cracker sandwiches are made with real cheese when the filling's main ingredient is whey.
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February 14, 2024
Ind. Justices Find Eateries Can Be Liable Under Dram Shop Act
Two restaurant owners could be held liable in a negligence case over a drunken driver who crashed into and killed another man, the Indiana Supreme Court has held, finding the state Dram Shop Act changed common-law liability for businesses that provide alcohol — but did not eliminate it.
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February 14, 2024
Zimbabwe Says It Didn't Waive Immunity In $440M Award Feud
A D.C. federal judge improperly leaned on Second Circuit precedent in ruling that Zimbabwe can't escape the enforcement of two arbitration awards stemming from the southern African country's controversial land reform program, Zimbabwe told the D.C. Circuit.
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February 14, 2024
'Besieged' Melamine Biz Calls For Tariffs On 6 Countries
A Louisiana chemical company saying it's "besieged" by foreign competition pressed U.S. trade officials Wednesday to investigate imports of a plastic compound, alleging that producers from six countries were using unfair trade practices to squeeze it out.
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February 14, 2024
Colo. Wants To Stop $24B Kroger Merger, 'No Poach' Deal
Colorado's attorney general on Wednesday sued to block a proposed $24.6 billion merger between Kroger and Albertsons, alleging in a state court complaint that the deal between the state's two largest grocery chains would result in a virtual monopoly in some regions and harm consumers and workers.
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February 14, 2024
Chicago Eatery Biz Exec's Bid For Atty Privilege Challenged
Investors in Chicago restaurant Maple & Ash told an Illinois court that a principal at the eatery's management firm wrongly acted as a lawyer in their corporate theft lawsuit against the firm, saying he inappropriately seeks to assert attorney-client privilege over 6,000 documents in the suit.
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February 14, 2024
Va. Farms Settle H-2A Workers' Allegations Of OT Violations
A wage dispute lodged by two Mexican farmworkers who accused a Virginia agricultural association and two farms of cheating them and other temporary agricultural workers out of over $2.5 million in overtime pay is now settled, the parties said Wednesday.
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February 14, 2024
McDonald's In US Lack Adequate Lactation Spaces, Suit Says
McDonald's employees from Kansas and New York filed a collective action in Illinois federal court Wednesday alleging the fast-food giant, which has more than 13,000 U.S. locations, and its franchisees failed to provide reasonable lactation accommodations to nursing mothers in restaurants nationwide, forcing them to pump in unsanitary spaces.
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February 14, 2024
Walmart Says Ex-Manager's OT Claims Too Vague To Proceed
Walmart urged a Georgia federal court to dismiss a former manager's claims that she was misclassified as overtime-exempt, arguing that the worker failed to specify what overtime tasks she performed or when she performed them.
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February 14, 2024
Navajo Say Hopi Tribe Bid To Join Land Trust Suit Is Untimely
The Navajo Nation has said the Hopi Tribe's attempt to intervene in its lawsuit against the U.S. government over a land trust and casino road easement dispute is untimely, coming after nearly four years of litigation.
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February 14, 2024
Bulleit Is No Household Name, Distiller Tells 2nd Circ.
The Bulleit brand may be well known among whiskey drinkers but does not have the general fame needed to support a jury's finding that its bottle shape is protected by trademark law, an attorney for rival distiller W.J. Deutsch & Sons Ltd. told the Second Circuit during a hearing Wednesday.
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February 13, 2024
Fluoride Can Harm Brain, EPA Scientist Says As Trial Wraps
The government wrapped its defense Tuesday in a California federal bench trial over environmental groups' efforts to ban fluoride in America's drinking water, with the government's final witness acknowledging under cross-examination that fluoride is capable of causing "neurodevelopmental harm."
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February 13, 2024
Food Co. Whole Earth Brands Taken Private In $209M Deal
Food company Whole Earth Brands said Tuesday it will be acquired by private equity-backed Sweet Oak Holdings, which will take the company private in a deal worth about $209 million that was crafted by DLA Piper and Greenberg Traurig LLP.
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February 13, 2024
Fruit Co. Seeks $122M Private Sale To Avoid Ch. 11 Auction
California stone fruit producer Prima Wawona has asked a Delaware bankruptcy court to approve a streamlined credit bid sale rather than force it to face the uncertainties of a Chapter 11 auction, given the company's urgent need to address its financial situation.
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February 13, 2024
Kroger Says Its Past Shows Albertsons Deal Will Drop Prices
Kroger has shared some statistics that it says show its merger with the country's second-biggest grocery chain, Albertsons, won't be a bad thing, pointing to evidence that prices usually drop at a grocery chain after being acquired by Kroger.
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February 13, 2024
Restaurants Trying To Derail Chicken Deals, 7th Circ. Told
Direct broiler chicken purchasers who've inked nearly $285 million in price-fixing settlements blasted Boston Market and other restaurants' attempts to stop an $8 million deal from Simmons Foods, telling the Seventh Circuit the companies are trying to illegally unwind a strategic mistake.
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February 13, 2024
Insurer Wants Security Cos. To Repay Assault Defense
An insurer said it does not owe coverage to two security service companies facing several lawsuits filed by grocery store customers who claim they were battered by security guards, telling a California federal court that the companies owe it reimbursement because their policies don't cover bodily injuries.
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February 13, 2024
Starbucks Made Statements With Actual Malice, Union Says
Workers United accused Starbucks of posting statements with actual malice that relate to the union's now-deleted tweet saying "Solidarity with Palestine," telling a Pennsylvania federal court that the coffee chain implied that the union "committed a felony."
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February 13, 2024
NY Court Refuses To Toss E. Coli Suit Against Salad Chain
A New York appellate panel on Tuesday refused to toss a suit seeking to hold Chopt Creative Salad Co. LLC liable for a woman's E. coli food poisoning, allegedly due to eating contaminated spinach in a sandwich, saying that she had shown sufficient testimony and tests to go to trial.
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February 13, 2024
Campbell Soup Sued For Claiming V8 Splash Is 'Healthy'
Campbell Soup Co. is misleading customers into thinking its V8 Splash beverages are healthy and nutritious despite containing little to no actual fruit juice and consisting mostly of artificially-flavored "sugar water" and high-fructose corn syrup, according to a proposed class action filed in California federal court.
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February 13, 2024
Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court
A pizza chain, an energy company, a medical-device maker and a Manila casino were all hit with book-and-record demands last week in Delaware's Court of Chancery. A shoe company also walked away from a shareholder suit, two cryptocurrency companies tallied the costs of a broken merger, and three cigarette giants argued over Florida settlement payments.
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February 13, 2024
Rancher Accuses Biden Admin Of Abusing Antiquities Act
A sixth-generation Arizona rancher has slapped the Biden administration with a complaint in Arizona federal court, accusing the president of abusing the Antiquities Act to designate a million acres of land in the state as a national monument.
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February 12, 2024
Justices Asked To Ignore 'Unremarkable' McDonald's Ruling
Former McDonald's workers urged the U.S. Supreme Court not to review the hamburger chain's appeal of a Seventh Circuit ruling reviving a proposed class action targeting the company's since-discontinued franchise agreement's no-poach provisions.
Expert Analysis
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How To Avoid A Zombie Office Building Apocalypse
With national office vacancy rates approaching 20%, policymakers, investors and developers will need to come together in order to prevent this troubling trend from sucking the life out of business districts or contaminating the broader real estate market, say Ryan Sommers and Robyn Minter Smyers at Thompson Hine.
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Legal Profession Must Do More For Lawyers With Disabilities
At the start of Disability Pride month, Rosalyn Richter at Arnold & Porter looks at why lawyers with disabilities are significantly underrepresented in private practice, asserting that law firms and other employers must do more to conquer the implicit bias that deters attorneys from seeking accommodations.
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Legal Issues To Address As AI Crops Up In Agriculture
The Farmers Business Network recently unveiled what is likely the first dedicated artificial intelligence platform designed specifically for farmers, raising legal issues for agriculture companies and questions about how these platforms might benefit or hinder the industry, says Todd Janzen at Janzen Schroeder.
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DC Circ.'s Perchlorate Ruling Means Regulatory Restart
The D.C. Circuit's recent ruling in National Resources Defense Council v. Regan, requiring the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to regulate perchlorate under the Safe Drinking Water Act, reopens a decadeslong regulatory debate and creates renewed uncertainty for companies, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.
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Opinion
Appellate Funding Disclosure: No Mandate Is Right Choice
The Advisory Committee on Appellate Rules' recent decision, forgoing a mandatory disclosure rule for litigation funding in federal appeals, is prudent, as third-party funding is only involved in a minuscule number of federal cases, and courts have ample authority to obtain funding information if necessary, says Stewart Ackerly at Statera Capital.
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Emmentaler Case Elucidates Recipe For EU Food Trademarks
In light of the EU General Court recently rejecting the Emmentaler cheese trademark application for lacking distinctive character and not meeting the geographical indication requirements, producers must ensure to protect their trade names before they become commercially generic, says Lars Karnoe at Potter Clarkson.
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FTC Order May Guide Cos. In Avoiding Pyramid Scheme Label
The Federal Trade Commission's recent determination that Success By Health is a pyramid scheme provides invaluable information for direct selling organizations to consider in avoiding that designation, including aspects of that company's business model, policies and procedures, say Branko Jovanovic at Edgeworth and Lia Bozzone at Brattle.
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NBA Players Must Avoid Legal Fouls In CBD Deals
The NBA’s recently ratified collective bargaining agreement allows athletes to promote CBD brands and products, but athletes and the companies they promote must be cautious of a complex patchwork of applicable state laws and federal regulators’ approach to advertising claims, says Airina Rodrigues at Brownstein Hyatt.
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How Attys Can Avoid Exposing Their Firms To Cyberattacks
Attorneys are the weakest link in their firms' cyberdefenses because hackers often exploit the gap between individuals’ work and personal cybersecurity habits, but there are some steps lawyers can take to reduce the risks they create for their employers, say Mark Hurley and Carmine Cicalese at Digital Privacy & Protection.
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Foreign Investment In Real Estate Is Getting More Complicated
Increasing federal scrutiny and a proliferation of new state laws targeting foreign investment in real estate may complicate or prevent transactions even by U.S. companies or funds that have shareholders or limited partners from China and other countries of concern, say attorneys at Akin.
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Virginia 'Rocket Docket' Slowdown Is Likely A Blip
After being the fastest or second-fastest federal civil trial court for 14 straight years, the Eastern District of Virginia has slid to 18th place, but the rocket docket’s statistical tumble doesn't mean the district no longer maintains a speedy civil docket, says Robert Tata at Hunton.
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A Look At 2023's Major NLRB Developments Thus Far
Over the last six months, the National Labor Relations Board has broadened its interpretation and enforcement of the National Labor Relations Act, including increasing penalties and efforts to prohibit restrictive covenants and confidentiality agreements, say Eve Klein and Elizabeth Mincer at Duane Morris.
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Preparing For Md. Adult-Use Cannabis: Operations And More
As a new regulatory body takes the reins before Maryland’s adult-use cannabis market launches on July 1, industry stakeholders should understand key provisions related to management agreements, secured creditors and receiverships, dispensary operations, and hemp, say Seth Gitner and Jonathan Havens at Saul Ewing.
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Preparing For Md. Adult-Use Cannabis: Licensing Provisions
As the launch of Maryland’s adult-use cannabis market quickly approaches, current and prospective businesses will need to understand key provisions and limitations related to license conversion, qualifying partnerships, social equity applications and microlicenses, say Seth Gitner and Jonathan Havens at Saul Ewing.
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Now Is The Time For State And Local Sales Tax Simplification
In the five years since the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair, state and local governments increasingly rely on sales tax, but simple changes are needed to make compliance more manageable for taxpayers, wherever located, without unduly burdening interstate commerce, says Charles Maniace at Sovos.