Keurig Dr Pepper Selling Chobani Stake, Facility For $925M

By Al Barbarino

Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. said Tuesday it will sell its minority stake in Chobani and a Pennsylvania warehouse to the yogurt maker for $925 million, as the company looks to reduce debt and help fund spinoffs tied to its roughly $18 billion purchase of JDE Peet's. 

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Nestlé Selling Supplements Business To PE Firm For $1B

By Al Barbarino

Nestlé SA said Tuesday that it will sell its mainstream vitamins, minerals and supplements business to Boston-based private equity firm Yellow Wood Partners for $1 billion, as the food and beverage giant sharpens its focus on businesses where it sees a competitive advantage.

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PepsiCo Sued Over 'Made With Avocado Oil' Chip Claims

By Gina Kim

PepsiCo misleads customers into believing its Tostitos and Siete chips exclusively contain avocado oil, alleges a proposed class action filed Monday in New York federal court, referencing a recent UC Davis study that revealed the chips exhibited chemical profiles consistent with dilution of other oils.

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High Court Should Skip Ruby Tuesday Benefits Suit, SG Says

By Alex Wittenberg

The U.S. solicitor general has urged the Supreme Court to decline to consider a suit from former Ruby Tuesday executives alleging Regions Bank inadequately protected their retirement plan benefits that were liquidated in bankruptcy, saying the "idiosyncratic" nature of the dispute makes it a poor candidate for high court review.

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Brief

Instant Brands Judge Stops Delaware Suit Against Trustee

By Alex Wittenberg

A Texas bankruptcy judge on Tuesday told former Instant Brands owner Cornell Capital it must get his permission before suing the Instant Pot maker's litigation trustee, blocking a suit Cornell brought in Delaware Chancery Court in July.

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Congress Approves Bill Delaying Hemp Ban One Month

By Sam Reisman

The U.S. House of Representatives gave final approval Tuesday to a stopgap spending bill which includes language to delay implementation of a federal ban on products containing hemp-derived THC by one month.

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Utz Sued Over Alleged Avocado Oil Chip Labeling Deception

By Celeste Bott

A putative class action filed Monday in Illinois federal court accuses Utz Brands of falsely marketing Boulder Canyon chips as cooked solely in avocado oil when scientific testing allegedly found the products contained other, cheaper vegetable oils.

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Brief

Dunkin' Worker Drops Suit Over AI Tip Inquiry Firing

By MJ Koo

A Connecticut woman who alleged she was fired from a Dunkin' franchise after using artificial intelligence to research whether her employer could legally withhold tips has dropped her lawsuit, state court records show.

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Analysis

Image Search Technology Raises New Copyright Questions

By Ivan Moreno

Technology that can uncover decade-old online images is testing the practical limits of copyright’s discovery rule, as courts weigh reasonable diligence against the reality that sophisticated search tools still miss infringement and defendants may no longer possess records proving authorization.

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McLane Model Keeps Drivers Overtime-Exempt, 9th Circ. Says

By Ben Adlin

A Ninth Circuit panel on Tuesday affirmed a lower court's ruling that truck drivers behind a proposed class action against food distributor McLane Foodservice Inc. are exempt from overtime pay, holding that the employees engaged in interstate commerce despite driving only in California.

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Pot Co. CEO Says US Can't Recoup PPP Loan On Fraud Claim

By Mike Curley

The former CEO of a group of California cannabis companies is urging a Southern District of California court to throw out the U.S. government's intervenor complaint seeking to recoup $2.5 million in PPP loans, saying that she doesn't live in the district and that the alleged fraud was not a factor in her companies getting the loans.

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CEO Says HR Co. Oversold Life Insurance Policy Terms

By Grace Elletson

The CEO of an Italian food company said a human resources provider duped him into signing up for a life insurance policy by making false promises about the plan's terms, according to a suit filed in Connecticut state court.

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Monthly Merger Review Snapshot

By Bryan Koenig

Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery pressured state attorneys general challenging their merger to settle, the Federal Trade Commission successfully challenged a construction adhesives tie-up, state officials waded in against the NextEra-Dominion transaction, and Union Pacific Corp. and Norfolk Southern Corp. defended their combination under review by federal regulators.

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7 Brew's $143M Bid Tops Dutch Bros. In Salad Chain Ch. 11

By Ben Zigterman

Coffee chain 7 Brew emerged as the top bidder for 73 of drive-thru chain Salad and Go's leases with a $143 million offer, besting competitor Dutch Bros.' stalking horse bid of $105 million for 65 leases, counsel for the debtor said at a hearing Tuesday in Texas.

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NY Tax Talk: Evaluating The Sales Tax Vendor Relief Program

New York state’s new penalty abatement and interest discount program, recently enacted alongside mandated sales tax vendor reregistration, may be most useful for vendors that recently lost a protest or have not yet fully paid all the interest and penalties associated with an assessment, says Elizabeth Cha at Eversheds Sutherland.

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How Does In-House Pay Compare? Take The Law360 Survey

How do in-house salaries vary across industries, roles, and organizational revenue? What compensation tools are companies using to lure top talent? Help Law360 Pulse answer these questions and more in this year's In-House Compensation Survey.

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HSF Kramer Added To $1B King & Spalding Malpractice Suit

By Jack Karp

Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer LLP and several of its partners on Tuesday were added to a $1 billion legal malpractice suit against King & Spalding LLP alleging that the firms engaged in multiple schemes to enrich a lawyer's friend at the expense of investment firm White Oak Advisors.

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Fla. Bar Tosses Complaint Over DHS GC's 'Worst' Judge Posts

By Adrian Cruz

The Florida Bar has refused to investigate the general counsel of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for potential ethics violations over his recent series of social media posts attacking sitting judges, citing a potential conflict with the authority of the federal government.

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Approach The Bench: Judge Rodriguez On The Uses Of AI

By Cara Bayles and Steven Trader

Today, Judge Xavier Rodriguez is known as an expert in electronic discovery and a proponent of artificial intelligence, but his interest was piqued before he joined the bench of the Western District of Texas in 2003, when he was still a lawyer and the methods for sifting through electronically stored information were still primitive.

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Judges Say Social Media, Political Rhetoric Endanger Them

By Adrian Cruz

Increased access to social media and personal data via the internet, a larger number of high-profile cases, and inflammatory comments made by politicians have led to a rise in violent threats against judges and concerns about their safety, according to a recently published report.

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5th Circ. Judge Hints Court Order With AI Errors Can't Stand

By Spencer Brewer

A Fifth Circuit judge wanted to know why a panel should keep intact a court order blocking an anti-DEI Mississippi law that contained artificial intelligence hallucinations, asking whether the judges could confidently find that made-up citations did not ultimately sway the district court's decision.

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Ex-Warriors GC, DEI Exec Say Bias Complaints Led To Firings

By Lauren Berg

The Golden State Warriors' former associate general counsel and its former vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion allege they were unlawfully fired in retaliation for speaking up about enduring a workplace marked by gender and race-based discrimination.

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NY Firm, Clinics Reject FedEx's 'Staged' Crashes Claims

By Linda Chiem

A New York personal injury firm and various healthcare providers have told a Manhattan federal judge that FedEx has asserted implausible claims alleging they orchestrated an insurance fraud scheme to fabricate medical records and inflate accident claims, saying there is no such racketeering enterprise.

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Brief

Barnes & Thornburg Says Ex-NBA Star Owes $1M Legal Fees

By Jonathan Capriel

Former NBA player Luol Deng is being sued for more than $1 million by a Chicago-based law firm that claims he failed to pay legal fees connected to two real estate matters, according to a suit filed in Illinois state court.

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Roundup

The Top In-House Hires Of August

By Michele Gorman

Legal department hires during the past month included high-profile appointments at Anthropic, Zillow and ConocoPhillips. Here, Law360 Pulse looks at some of the top in-house announcements from August.

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