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Food & Beverage
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April 07, 2025
Monthly Merger Review Snapshot
The Federal Trade Commission sued to block GTCR BC's planned purchase of a medical device coatings company, the Justice Department's antitrust case against Live Nation survived a dismissal bid and a New York state court found a ski mountain deal hurt competition. Here, Law360 looks at the major merger review developments from March.
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April 07, 2025
Grocers Say Colo. AG Can't Fish For More 'No-Poach' Claims
Kroger and Albertsons have accused Colorado's attorney general of going on a "fishing expedition" as they wait for a ruling on a claim that the grocers brokered an illegal "no-poach" agreement during a 2022 grocery store strike, in a motion asking a Colorado state court to quash document requests into a February strike.
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April 07, 2025
Ex-AG Lynch Exits $10B McDonald's Bias Case Ahead Of Trial
Paul Weiss partner and former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch is stepping away from McDonald's defense in Byron Allen's $10 billion bias lawsuit against the fast food giant, just months before the case is slated to go to trial.
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April 07, 2025
Fla. Judge Halts State's New Criminal Penalties For Migrants
A Florida federal court has temporarily barred the Sunshine State from enforcing its new law criminalizing the entry of unauthorized migrants into the state, saying the law is likely preempted by the federal Immigration and Nationality Act.
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April 07, 2025
Goldberg Segalla Adds Hospitality, Retail Atty In Palm Beach
Litigation firm Goldberg Segalla LLP said it has added retail and hospitality attorney Jason R. Hepperly to its office in West Palm Beach, Florida.
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April 07, 2025
Whole Foods To Settle Bonus Manipulation Suit
Whole Foods has agreed to resolve a lawsuit claiming the grocery chain rigged an employee bonus program to reduce payouts to workers, according to a filing in D.C. federal court.
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April 07, 2025
Woody Allen Resolves Private Chef's Military Leave Suit
Woody Allen struck a deal with his former private chef to resolve his suit accusing the filmmaker of abruptly firing him after he took time off to participate in military exercises as a member of the U.S. Army Reserve, a filing in New York federal court said.
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April 04, 2025
Bigelow Drinkers Overpaid 11% Due To 'USA' Label, Jury Told
An expert testifying for a California class of R.C. Bigelow tea purchasers on Friday told a federal jury considering damages caused by false advertising claims that the class overpaid by 11.3%, or $3.26 million, due to a "Manufactured in the USA 100%" label the judge already found is deceiving.
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April 04, 2025
Bayer Wants Supreme Court To Review Roundup Litigation
Bayer subsidiary Monsanto has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Missouri jury's $1.2 million award to a man who claimed that Roundup weed killer caused his cancer, arguing that courts are split on whether federal law preempts state failure-to-warn claims like the claims in this case.
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April 04, 2025
House Dem Seeks Caffeine Warnings After Student Death
Fast food chains and energy drink makers should be required to slap a "high caffeine" warning on certain beverages, a U.S. House Democrat said, announcing his intention to push such a bill while standing next to the parents of a University of Pennsylvania student who died after drinking a now-discontinued caffeinated drink.
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April 04, 2025
Starbucks Illegally Called Cops On Protest, NLRB Judge Says
A National Labor Relations Board judge said Starbucks illegally called the police on organizers who leafleted a cafe in New York state, saying a manager called to suppress the protest and not to protect an organizer or get nonemployees off its property.
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April 04, 2025
Gibson Dunn Guides Hershey On $750M LesserEvil Buy
Gibson Dunn-advised The Hershey Co. has agreed to acquire organic snack maker LesserEvil as the storied American confectioner continues to expand its portfolio into healthier snacking options, in a deal worth a reported $750 million.
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April 03, 2025
Optum, Express Scripts Want Judge Ousted From Opioid MDL
Pharmacy benefit managers Optum and Express Scripts say the Ohio federal judge overseeing multidistrict opioid litigation should recuse himself because he "regularly communicates" with plaintiffs' attorneys in the litigation and is biased in favor of plaintiffs, according to a motion filed Wednesday.
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April 03, 2025
Bigelow CEO Denies Deliberately Misleading Tea Buyers
The CEO of R.C. Bigelow repeatedly denied from a California federal court witness stand Thursday that her company deliberately misled consumers by labeling its teas as "manufactured in the USA 100%," saying that the phrase — which a judge has already found to be false — was well-intentioned.
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April 03, 2025
Website, Licensing Co. Settle Food Photo Copyright Suit
The owner of a Las Vegas-based promotional website has agreed to settle its copyright dispute with a food photo licensing company that was previously criticized for so-called "copyright trolling."
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April 03, 2025
Nestlé, Other Parent Cos. Freed From Baby Food Metals MDL
Overseas food giants Nestlé, Danone and Hero can exit a multidistrict litigation alleging baby food tainted with toxic metals caused children to develop autism, a California federal judge has ruled, but domestic subsidiaries who manufactured the products, such as Gerber, Nurture and Beech-Nut, must remain as defendants.
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April 03, 2025
7th Circ. Doubts SuperValu's Bid To Lower $22.5M Pension Bill
The Seventh Circuit appeared Thursday to lean against a grocery store's effort to lower its $22.5 million union pension bill, with multiple judges challenging the employer's argument that stores sold months before a complete fund withdrawal should be excluded from its annual payment calculation.
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April 03, 2025
Baby Food Suit Must Face Trial Or Calif. Panel, 9th Circ. Told
Plum Organics buyers urged the Ninth Circuit on Thursday to ask the California Supreme Court to clarify Golden State's deception-by-omission law, or reverse Plum's summary judgment win and send to trial the consumers' allegations that the baby-food-maker failed to disclose potential toxins in its baby food products.
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April 03, 2025
Kroger, Albertsons Argue Colo. No-Poach Suit Is Preempted
Kroger Co. and Albertsons urged a Colorado federal judge to toss a worker's proposed class action claiming the grocers violated state antitrust law with a no-poach agreement, arguing Thursday that the claims are exclusively governed by federal labor law.
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April 03, 2025
ADM Faces Del. Derivative Suit Amid Accounting Fraud Claims
Agricultural supply chain giant Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. was hit with a derivative complaint Thursday in Delaware's Court of Chancery, seeking damages from 17 current or former officers entangled in claims of years of fraudulent accounting and disclosures involving its nutrition segment.
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April 03, 2025
Tequila Maker Sues Acquirer In Del. Alleging Earnout Dodge
A stockholder representative of tequila company 21Seeds Inc. has filed suit against Diageo North America, accusing the global liquor giant of undercutting post-acquisition earn-out targets for 21Seeds and putting the company "in mothballs" in a scheme to develop its own competing brand to the women-founded flavored tequila.
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April 03, 2025
NC Panel Scraps Subrogation Suit Over Misidentified Plaintiff
An insurer for a Hardee's restaurant can't revive its subrogation suit over a 2019 fire after it accidentally misnamed itself in the complaint, the North Carolina Court of Appeals has ruled, finding the incorrectly identified plaintiff lacked standing to sue, and the complaint was a "nullity."
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April 03, 2025
Skadden Steers $1.5B Deal For SunnyD, Juicy Juice Maker
Skadden-led Castillo Hermanos said Thursday it has agreed to purchase Brynwood Partners portfolio company Harvest Hill Beverage Co., whose brands include SunnyD, Juicy Juice and Little HUG, in a reported roughly $1.5 billion deal.
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April 03, 2025
Online Alcohol Shop, Distributor Near Deal In Antitrust Fight
Online marketplace Provi and major wine distributor Southern Glazer's Wine have struck a deal in principle to resolve their dispute in an antitrust suit claiming the distributor conspired to stifle competition, according to a notice they have filed in Illinois federal court.
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April 03, 2025
Loan Fraud Plea Adds 6 Mos. To Pizzeria Owner's Prison Term
The owner of a Boston-area pizzeria chain who was sentenced to 8½ years in prison in October for an alleged forced-labor scheme will spend an additional six months behind bars after pleading guilty to submitting false information to the U.S. Small Business Administration to obtain a loan.
Expert Analysis
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How Labeling And Testing May Help Reduce PFAS Litigation
As regulators take steps to reduce consumers’ exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as forever chemicals, companies can take a proactive approach to mitigating litigation risks not only by labeling their products transparently, but also by complying with testing and marketing standards, says Sarah La Pearl at Segal McCambridge.
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It's No Longer Enough For Firms To Be Trusted Advisers
Amid fierce competition for business, the transactional “trusted adviser” paradigm from which most firms operate is no longer sufficient — they should instead aim to become trusted partners with their most valuable clients, says Stuart Maister at Strategic Narrative.
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Expect More Restaurant Ch. 11s As COVID Debt Comes Due
The wave of restaurant bankruptcies is likely to continue in the coming months as companies face the looming repayment of COVID-19 pandemic-era government loans, an uncertain economy and increased interest rates, says Isaac Marcushamer at DGIM Law.
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'Greenhushing': Why Some Cos. Are Keeping Quiet On ESG
A wave of ESG-related litigation and regulations have led some companies to retreat altogether from any public statements about their ESG goals, a trend known as "greenhushing" that was at the center of a recent D.C. court decision involving Coca-Cola, say Gonzalo Mon and Katie Rogers at Kelley Drye.
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Co-Tenancy Clause Pointers For Shopping Center Landlords
Large retail tenants often require co-tenancy provisions in their leases, entitling them to remedies if a shopping center's occupancy drops in certain ways, but landlords must draft these provisions carefully to avoid giving tenants too much control, says Gary Glick at Cox Castle.
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Complying With FTC's Final Rule On Sham Online Reviews
The Federal Trade Commission's final rule on deceptive acts and practices in online reviews and testimonials is effective Oct. 21, and some practice tips can help businesses avert noncompliance risks, say Airina Rodrigues and Jonathan Sandler at Brownstein Hyatt.
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Nuclear Waste Storage Questions Justices May Soon Address
The petition for the U.S. Supreme Court to review U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission v. Texas stands out for a number of reasons — including a deepening circuit split regarding the NRC's nuclear waste storage authority under the Atomic Energy Act, and broader administrative law implications, say attorneys at MoloLamken.
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3 Patent Considerations For America's New Quantum Hub
Recent developments signal an incredibly bright future for Chicago as the new home of quantum computing, and it is crucial that these innovators — whose technology has the potential to transform many industries — prioritize intellectual property strategy, says Andrew Velzen at McDonnell Boehnen.
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Navigating A Potpourri Of Possible Transparency Act Pitfalls
Despite the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's continued release of guidance for complying with the Corporate Transparency Act, its interpretation remains in flux, making it important for companies to understand potentially problematic areas of ambiguity in the practical application of the law, say attorneys at Sidley.
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Fed. Circ. Ruling Creates New Rule For Certification Marks
The Federal Circuit's decision last month in Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac v. Cologne & Cognac Entertainment is significant in that it establishes a new standard for assessing evidence of third-party uses of a certification mark in deciding whether the mark is famous, say Samantha Katze and Lisa Rosaya at Manatt.
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Series
After Chevron: Conservation Rule Already Faces Challenges
The Bureau of Land Management's interpretation of land "use" in its Conservation and Landscape Health Rule is contrary to the agency's past practice and other Federal Land Policy and Management Act provisions, leaving the rule exposed in four legal challenges that may carry greater force in the wake of Loper Bright, say Stacey Bosshardt and Stephanie Regenold at Perkins Coie.
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A Preview Of AI Priorities Under The Next President
For the first time in a presidential election, both of the leading candidates and their parties have been vocal about artificial intelligence policy, offering clues on the future of regulation as AI continues to advance and congressional action continues to stall, say attorneys at Mintz.
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How Companies Are Approaching Insider Trading Policies
An analysis of insider trading policies recently disclosed by 49 S&P 500 companies under a new U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rule reveals that while specific provisions vary from company to company, certain common themes are emerging, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.
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How Methods Are Evolving In Textualist Interpretations
Textualists at the U.S. Supreme Court are increasingly considering new methods such as corpus linguistics and surveys to evaluate what a statute's text communicates to an ordinary reader, while lower courts even mull large language models like ChatGPT as supplements, says Kevin Tobia at Georgetown Law.
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The Fed. Circ. In August: Secret Sales And Public Disclosures
Two recent Federal Circuit rulings — Sanho v. Kaijet and Celanese International v. ITC — highlight that inventors should publicly and promptly disclose their inventions, as a secret sale will not suffice as a disclosure, and file their patent applications within a year of public disclosure, say Sean Murray and Jeremiah Helm at Knobbe Martens.