Food & Beverage

  • April 30, 2025

    Steakhouse Fired Ga. Worker For Reporting Bias, Suit Says

    The Brazilian steakhouse chain Fogo De Chão has been sued in Georgia federal court by a former employee who said she was fired after complaining about discrimination she and other Black workers experienced at the chain's Dunwoody, Georgia, location.

  • April 30, 2025

    Monthly Merger Review Snapshot

    Enforcers opened high stakes court proceedings against Meta Platforms and Google for monopolization claims that could force the tech giants to sell pieces of the companies, while also moving ahead with several challenges and reviews of pending deals in other industries. Here, Law360 looks at the major merger review developments from April.

  • April 30, 2025

    Fired Whataburger Worker's Bias Case Sent To Arbitration

    A Georgia federal judge said Wednesday a Black and gay ex-Whataburger employee should have to arbitrate his claims that he endured racial and homophobic slurs on the job before being fired, saying he signed a valid agreement to handle employment-related disputes out of court.

  • April 30, 2025

    6th Circ. Skeptical Of Chili's 'Culture' Rationale For Firing

    The Sixth Circuit appeared inclined Wednesday to revive an age discrimination case by a former Chili's restaurant manager, indicating that the restaurant's definition of "culture" — the reason given for his firing — has been hard to pin down.

  • April 30, 2025

    McDonald's Operator Loses Assault Suit Coverage Appeal

    Two insurers were correct to deny coverage for a former Pittsburgh-area McDonald's franchisee in a lawsuit accusing it of failing to stop a supervisor from sexually harassing and assaulting underage employees, since the litigation that sent it into bankruptcy fell under exceptions to the insurance policies, a Third Circuit panel ruled Wednesday.

  • April 30, 2025

    Philly Judge Under Fire For Promoting Wife's Cheesesteak Biz

    Pennsylvania's judicial ethics board has accused a Philadelphia judge of using his position on the bench to promote a cheesesteak restaurant opened by his wife and named in honor of his late parents.

  • April 30, 2025

    Wine Tasting Death Suit Revived After Judge Rethinks Order

    The estate of a woman killed in a drunk driving crash after an allegedly mandatory wine tasting event at the Connecticut restaurant where she worked can pursue claims against a server and his employer, who were originally brought into the case as apportionment defendants, a state court judge has ruled after rethinking a prior decision.

  • April 30, 2025

    IHOP Franchisee Dodges Most Of Fired Server's Bias Suit

    A North Carolina federal judge let an IHOP franchisee escape the bulk of a fired waitress's suit claiming she was propositioned for sex by a male manager and fired for complaining about it, ruling she had failed to put forward any corroboration about the alleged harassment to keep her claims in court.

  • April 30, 2025

    Unaccepted Offer Can't End Server's Tip Credit Suit

    A Texas federal court ruled that it still had jurisdiction over a server's proposed collective action accusing a Houston-area restaurant of violating tip credit requirements, saying the worker has not accepted a $1,000 offer to end her case.

  • April 29, 2025

    FTC Defends John Deere Right-To-Repair Suit

    Farm machinery-maker Deere & Co. is trying to get out of an FTC enforcement action using the same arguments that didn't help it escape multidistrict litigation accusing the company of breaking antitrust laws by restricting access to repair services, the government says.

  • April 29, 2025

    Sports Illustrated Owner Ends TM Row With Former Publisher

    Sports Illustrated's owner has agreed to permanently end its trademark dispute against its former publisher over claims that the publisher tore apart a long-standing licensing agreement while sabotaging the brand and holding hostage valuable intellectual property, according to a stipulation filed Tuesday in New York federal court. 

  • April 29, 2025

    Pork Producers Want Ruling Tossed Over Clerk's Conduct

    Pork producers and Agri Stats Inc., which are defending themselves against a major price-fixing suit, are calling on the Minnesota federal judge overseeing the case to recuse himself and vacate his recent rulings, accusing one of his clerks of having inappropriate relationships with plaintiffs' attorneys in a new filing this week.

  • April 29, 2025

    Kroger-Owned Chain Fights To Keep UFCW Suit Alive

    The Kroger-owned grocery chain King Soopers urged a Colorado federal judge Tuesday to preserve its lawsuit against a United Food and Commercial Workers local, saying the company can prove that the union is placing unlawful pressure on it to bargain with multiple locals at once.

  • April 29, 2025

    DoorDash, Grubhub Settle Fee Cap Fight With NYC

    DoorDash, Grubhub and Uber Eats have reached a settlement in a case accusing New York City officials of passing legislation that unconstitutionally capped fees the delivery apps could charge restaurants, prompting a federal judge to sign off on a joint stipulation and order Monday that stayed the matter pending final resolution.

  • April 29, 2025

    Ex-Pot Water CEOs Denied Bid For More Info In Stock Case

    An Ohio federal judge on Tuesday denied bids by former CEOs of and others associated with American Premium Water Corp. for bills of particulars on an indictment alleging they manipulated the company's stock prices, finding the indictment gives them enough information to prepare their defenses.

  • April 29, 2025

    Judge Blocks Fla. Migrant Law, Wants Briefs On TRO Violation

    A Florida federal judge on Tuesday issued a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of a state law criminalizing the entry of unauthorized migrants and set a show cause hearing on whether the attorney general should be held in contempt for possibly violating the judge's temporary restraining order against the law.

  • April 29, 2025

    Chicken Joint Sticky's Gets $2M Sale After Turnaround Woes

    Chicken restaurant Sticky's won a Delaware bankruptcy judge's tentative permission Tuesday to sign a contract to sell its assets to an investment fund for $2 million after surging poultry prices and New York City's congestion pricing program imperiled the company's Chapter 11 turnaround plan.

  • April 29, 2025

    Drinkers Not Vexed By Brand In 'Sea Of Tequilas,' 5th Circ. Told

    A Fifth Circuit panel seemed hesitant to accept a U.S. tequila startup's argument that it was selling its product in a "sea of tequilas" that all have similar marks, questioning Tuesday whether its branding had enough similarities to an older Mexican brand called "Clase Azul" to confuse consumers.

  • April 29, 2025

    Dem Reps. Introduce Bill To Repeal Ban On Fed. Pot Studies

    The co-chairs of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus on Tuesday introduced a bill to eliminate a portion of federal law blocking the Office of National Drug Control Policy from researching use of substances on Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act.

  • April 29, 2025

    Union Pension Fund Wins $132M Bailout Suit At 2nd Circ.

    A union pension fund won its multimillion-dollar dispute with the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. on appeal Tuesday, with the Second Circuit reversing a New York federal judge's 2023 decision that the PBGC was within its rights to reject the fund's 2022 application for $132 million in financial assistance.

  • April 29, 2025

    Boston Seafood Co. Says Salmon Exec Stole Trade Secrets

    A former C-suite executive and head of salmon accounts at a Boston-area seafood distributor spent months emailing sensitive trade secrets from his work account to a Norwegian competitor before joining it to launch a rival business in the U.S., according to a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday. 

  • April 29, 2025

    Opioid MDL Judge Won't Recuse Over Ex Parte Allegations

    An Ohio federal judge will not step aside from multidistrict opioid litigation after the plaintiffs' attorney, who had alleged the judge "regularly communicates" with other lawyers involved in the litigation, testified that there was no such communication after all, the judge ruled Tuesday.

  • April 28, 2025

    3rd Circ. Won't Rethink Teamsters Fund's Win In $39M Row

    The Third Circuit won't give a group of dairy businesses a second chance to prevent a Teamsters union pension fund from suing them and their affiliates to enforce a $39 million settlement, the court announced Monday.

  • April 28, 2025

    Ex-Celsius VP Gets 13 Months In Prison For Insider Trading

    A Florida federal judge sentenced Celsius Holdings Inc.'s former vice president and controller to more than a year in prison on Monday after the former executive of the energy drink company admitted to insider trading and using confidential financial information to acquire stocks and options, then sold them a month later for a profit.

  • April 28, 2025

    Judge In NY Dismisses Athlete's Suit Over Gatorade Gummies

    A New York federal judge on Monday tossed a lawsuit lodged by a promising Texas-based sprinter alleging the Gatorade Co. supplied him with contaminated recovery gummies that led to his doping ban, saying lost endorsement opportunities were purely economic harm and not a personal injury.

Expert Analysis

  • Looking Back At 2024's Noteworthy State AG Litigation

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    State attorneys general across the U.S. took bold steps in 2024 to address unlawful activities by corporations in several areas, including privacy and data security, financial transparency, children's internet safety, and other overall consumer protection claims, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • Opinion

    No, Litigation Funders Are Not 'Fleeing' The District Of Del.

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    A recent study claimed that litigation funders have “fled” Delaware federal court due to a standing order requiring disclosure of third-party financing, but responsible funders have no problem litigating in this jurisdiction, and many other factors could explain the decline in filings, say Will Freeman and Sarah Tsou at Omni Bridgeway.

  • 5 Advertising Law Trends To Watch In 2025

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    Although advertisers are encouraged by the incoming Trump administration's focus on deregulation, this year could feel like wading through uncharted waters, and decreased federal government regulation may mean increased state regulation, say attorneys at Reed Smith.

  • 5 E-Discovery Predictions For 2025 And Beyond

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    In the year to come, e-discovery will be shaped by new and emerging trends, from the adoption of artificial intelligence provisions in protective orders, to the proliferation of emojis as a source of evidence in contemporary litigation, say attorneys at Littler.

  • NY Plastic Pollution Verdict May Not Bode Well For Other Suits

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    The dismissal of New York state's public nuisance complaint against PepsiCo over pollution of the Buffalo River with the company's single use plastic bottles may not augur well for similar lawsuits filed by Baltimore and Los Angeles County, although tort law varies from state to state, say attorneys at Winston & Strawn.

  • 2024 Was A Banner Year For Shareholder Activism

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    Shareholder activism campaigns in 2024 continued at an elevated pace globally, with activist investors exploiting valuation gaps and pushing aggressively for corporate governance reforms, including the ouster of many companies' chief executives, a trend that could continue once President-elect Donald Trump takes office, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • 7 Ways 2nd Trump Administration May Affect Partner Hiring

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    President-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House will likely have a number of downstream effects on partner hiring in the legal industry, from accelerated hiring timelines to increased vetting of prospective employees, say recruiters at Macrae.

  • How Trump 2.0 May Change Business In Latin America

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    Companies in Latin America should expect to face more trade restrictions, tighter economic sanctions and enhanced corruption risks, as the incoming administration shifts focus to certain non-U.S. actors, most notably China, says Matteson Ellis at Miller & Chevalier.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Rulings On Custodian Selection

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    Several recent rulings make clear that the proportionality of additional proposed custodians will depend on whether the custodians have unique relevant documents, and producing parties should consider whether information already in the record will show that they have relevant documents that otherwise might not be produced, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Surprise NC COVID Ruling Revises Reasonable Expectations

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    The North Carolina Supreme Court's recent finding in favor of policyholders in a suit for business interruption coverage due to COVID-19 shutdown orders runs contrary to most other state and federal courts' holdings on the issue, and may revitalize the reasonable expectations doctrine in the state, say attorneys at Goldberg Segalla.

  • Complying With Seasonal Product Labeling Requirements

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    Though the holiday season is in the rearview, many seasonal alcohol products remain in the market, and producers should ensure that their labels comply with the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau's additional requirements for such products, say attorneys at McDermott.

  • Series

    Exercising On My Peloton Bike Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    While I originally came to the Peloton bike for exercise, one cycling instructor’s teachings have come to serve as a road map for practicing law thoughtfully and mindfully, which has opened opportunities for growth and change in my career, says Andrea Kirshenbaum at Littler.

  • 5 Drug And Device Developments That Shaped 2024

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    The last year saw significant legal developments affecting drug and device manufacturers, with landmark decisions and regulatory changes that require vigilance and agility from the industry, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

  • How To Manage During A Trade Dispute With USMCA Partners

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    Companies can try to minimize the potential impacts of future tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods, and uncertainty about future trade relations, by evaluating supply chains, considering how they may be modified, and engaging with the new administration over exemptions and the upcoming review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Exploring Venue Strategy For Trump-Era Regulatory Litigation

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    Litigation will likely play a prominent role in shaping policy outcomes during the second Trump administration, and stakeholders have several tools at their disposal to steer regulatory litigation toward more favorable venues, say attorneys at Covington.

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