Food & Beverage

  • October 21, 2024

    Hooters, EEOC Strike Deal To End Post-COVID Rehiring Suit

    Hooters will pay $250,000 to resolve a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lawsuit claiming it failed to bring back most of its Black employees when it reopened a North Carolina restaurant during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a filing in federal court Monday.

  • October 21, 2024

    5th Circ. Asked To Nix Insurer's $2.2M Assault Coverage Win

    A group of Texas trial lawyers urged the Fifth Circuit to reverse a Texas federal court's order permitting a bar's insurer to pay only its $1 million limit for a $3.2 million personal injury judgment, arguing the underlying plaintiffs made a valid presuit settlement demand.

  • October 21, 2024

    Food Giant Yum Taps 20-Year Vet As CLO Amid Top Atty's Exit

    Erika Burkhardt, who has been a lawyer with fast food giant Yum! Brands Inc. for 20 years, is being promoted to chief legal officer of the company, whose brands include Pizza Hut, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Taco Bell.

  • October 21, 2024

    Conn. Firm Says Attys, Restaurants Filed 'Malicious' Suit

    A restaurant chain and its attorneys abused the legal process by "frivolously and maliciously" suing a plaintiff-side firm after it ran ads alerting workers they might have wage claims against the restaurant, a lawsuit filed in Connecticut state court has alleged.

  • October 21, 2024

    Potbelly Investor Urges Sandwich Chain To Explore A Sale

    An investor in sandwich chain Potbelly Corp. on Monday called for the company to take immediate action to maximize shareholder value, including exploring a potential sale of the quick-service restaurant business, which it called an "underappreciated growth story."

  • October 18, 2024

    Law360 MVP Awards Go To Top Attys From 74 Firms

    The attorneys chosen as Law360's 2024 MVPs have distinguished themselves from their peers by securing hard-earned successes in high-stakes litigation, complex global matters and record-breaking deals.

  • October 18, 2024

    Fritos Didn't Defame In Flamin' Hot Cheetos Feud, Judge Told

    An attorney for Frito-Lay Inc. on Friday urged a California federal judge to dismiss a former employee's suit claiming he invented Flamin' Hot Cheetos and had his livelihood destroyed when the company disavowed his story, saying it's not inherently defamatory to disagree about the snack's origins.

  • October 18, 2024

    False Ad Suit Trimmed Over 'Non-Drowsy' Albertsons Meds

    An Illinois federal judge on Thursday refused to strike class claims that Albertsons markets and sells cough medicine labeled as "non-drowsy" that does in fact cause drowsiness, but threw out breach of warranty claims because the lead plaintiff failed to give the company adequate notice before filing suit.

  • October 18, 2024

    Chancery Calls For Status Quo Order In Del Monte Loan Suit

    A Delaware vice chancellor has given the nod for a hold-the-status quo order sought by a collateral agent accusing Del Monte Foods Inc. officials of carrying out a corporate restructuring and "lien-stripping" said to have jeopardized lender claims under a $725 million term loan agreement.

  • October 18, 2024

    Grocery Co. Sued Over 'Naturally Flavored' Cereal Bars Label

    North Carolina-based supermarket chain Harris Teeter was hit with a proposed class action alleging its fruit-flavored cereal bars aren't "naturally flavored" like the packaging claims, but instead contain a flavoring that is derived from a petroleum substrate.

  • October 18, 2024

    Chamber Of Commerce Seeks Stay Of H-2A Rule For Harvest

    The U.S. Chamber of Commerce pushed a Mississippi federal court to stay a policy allowing H-2A migrant farmworkers to organize, saying its members can't risk being penalized under the policy while the Chamber challenges the rule's legality.

  • October 18, 2024

    Campbell's Health Plan Can't Charge Tobacco Fee, Suit Says

    Campbell Soup Co. is violating federal benefits law by making workers who use tobacco pay more for health insurance because it doesn't offer a wellness program or comparable alternative, according to a proposed class action in New Jersey federal court.

  • October 18, 2024

    Hemp Industry Group Sues Louisiana Officials Over New Law

    Louisiana hemp interests on Friday filed a federal lawsuit against the governor and attorney general challenging a new state law meant to rein in intoxicating hemp products, alleging the new policy runs afoul of the federal law that legalized hemp nationally.

  • October 18, 2024

    UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

    This past week in London has seen Professor Cat Jarman, Earl Spencer's new girlfriend, sue his ex-wife, Bitcoin fraudster Craig Wright file a £911 billion ($1.18 trillion) claim against BTC Core, journalist Oliver Kamm hit novelist Ros Barber with a defamation claim, and a barrister at Cloisters face a claim from a former client. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • October 18, 2024

    Pizzeria, Driver's Biz Expense Deal Approved On 2nd Try

    A pizzeria and a former delivery driver for the business secured court approval for a settlement of the worker's wage suit over business expense reimbursements, as a Georgia federal judge found the deal passed muster now that it no longer involved "impermissible and unfair concessions."

  • October 18, 2024

    Atty Sanctioned For 'Indifference' In Tastykake Co. Bias Suit

    An attorney's "indifference" to court orders and deadlines in a Black Muslim worker's wage and discrimination suit against the maker of Tastykake warrants $30,000 in sanctions, a Pennsylvania federal judge ruled, warning that more serious consequences might come.

  • October 17, 2024

    Miami Bar's Security Failed To Stop Mass Shooting, Suit Says

    The estate of a man killed in a mass shooting at a Miami-area martini bar has sued the companies that handled the security of the shopping center, in addition to real estate company Avison Young, claiming they were negligent in keeping the area safe.

  • October 17, 2024

    Burford Again Loses Fight Against Meat Price-Fixing Deal

    An Illinois federal judge on Thursday refused for a second time to let a Burford Capital LLC unit unbind itself from a global settlement Pilgrim's Pride and Sysco entered to resolve chicken, pork and beef price-fixing claims.

  • October 17, 2024

    Treasury Unit Says Booze Maker Violated N. Korea Sanctions

    The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control said Thursday that it has reached an $860,000 settlement with a Vietnam-based alcoholic beverage company over its alleged role in allowing U.S. financial institutions to process $1.1 million in payments to North Korea, violating sanctions regulations.

  • October 17, 2024

    Justices Urged To Fix 'Novel Misreading' Of IP Safe Harbor

    Edwards Lifesciences is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to rein in what's covered under a drug-development safe harbor to avoid patent infringement, saying the Federal Circuit wrongfully expanded it in a "novel misreading" of the law.

  • October 17, 2024

    Man Says He Was Forced From Security Job For Being 'Too Old'

    Food, janitorial and security service provider Blackstone Consulting Inc. has been sued in Georgia federal court by a former employee who alleges the company engaged in a "relentless campaign of age-based harassment and disparate treatment" against him before demoting him, significantly decreasing his pay and effectively forcing him to resign.

  • October 17, 2024

    $20B Verizon-Frontier Deal Faces Scrutiny, And Other Rumors

    A growing list of Frontier Communications' largest shareholders are concerned about its planned $20 billion takeover by Verizon Communications, and a group of former professional athletes are in talks to buy a stake in the NFL's Buffalo Bills. Here, Law360 breaks down these and other notable rumors from the past week.

  • October 17, 2024

    Restaurant Says Toast Refusing To Update Bank Info

    A Boston restaurant says it's struggling to stay afloat because point-of-sale provider Toast Inc. won't update its banking information and is sitting on more than $200,000 in revenue, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday in Massachusetts state court.

  • October 17, 2024

    Restaurant Barred From Intimidating Workers In FLSA Dispute

    A Connecticut federal judge ordered a restaurant group and its owners not to retaliate against workers who speak to the U.S. Department of Labor during a Fair Labor Standards Act investigation, issuing an injunction following the DOL's allegations that two owners threatened to kill an ex-worker for assisting the agency.

  • October 16, 2024

    H2-A Workers Allegedly Forced To Work In Potato Warehouses

    Three Mexican citizens filed a proposed collective action in Colorado federal court Tuesday alleging a company lured them to work in the U.S. under guest worker visas with false promises, then trafficked them into forced labor in Colorado potato warehouses.

Expert Analysis

  • And Now A Word From The Panel: The MDL Map

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    An intriguing yet unpredictable facet of multidistrict litigation practice is venue selection for new MDL proceedings, and the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation considers many factors when it assigns an MDL venue, says Alan Rothman at Sidley Austin.

  • Why Now Is The Time For Law Firms To Hire Lateral Partners

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    Partner and associate mobility data from the second quarter of this year suggest that there's never been a better time in recent years for law firms to hire lateral candidates, particularly experienced partners — though this necessitates an understanding of potential red flags, say Julie Henson and Greg Hamman at Decipher Investigative Intelligence.

  • A Look At The Economic Impact Of Drug Patent Differentiation

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    Given the Federal Trade Commission’s recent emphasis on unfair competition based on disputed patent listings, pharmaceutical market participants are likely to require nuanced characterizations of actual and but-for market competition when multiple patents differentiate multiple products, say economists at Competition Dynamics.

  • Considering Possible PR Risks Of Certain Legal Tactics

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    Disney and American Airlines recently abandoned certain litigation tactics in two lawsuits after fierce public backlash, illustrating why corporate counsel should consider the reputational implications of any legal strategy and partner with their communications teams to preempt public relations concerns, says Chris Gidez at G7 Reputation Advisory.

  • How Labeling And Testing May Help Reduce PFAS Litigation

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    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.

  • It's No Longer Enough For Firms To Be Trusted Advisers

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    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.

  • Expect More Restaurant Ch. 11s As COVID Debt Comes Due

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    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.

  • 'Greenhushing': Why Some Cos. Are Keeping Quiet On ESG

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    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.

  • Co-Tenancy Clause Pointers For Shopping Center Landlords

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    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.

  • Complying With FTC's Final Rule On Sham Online Reviews

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    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.

  • Nuclear Waste Storage Questions Justices May Soon Address

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    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.

  • 3 Patent Considerations For America's New Quantum Hub

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    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.

  • Navigating A Potpourri Of Possible Transparency Act Pitfalls

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    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.

  • Fed. Circ. Ruling Creates New Rule For Certification Marks

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    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.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Conservation Rule Already Faces Challenges

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    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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