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Washington
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May 06, 2024
9th Circ. Hints Walmart Can't Avoid Jury In Disability Bias Suit
A Ninth Circuit panel indicated Monday that it doubted Walmart Inc. was being honest when it told a vision-impaired employee seeking to come back from a leave of absence that no jobs were available, with one judge suggesting a jury should decide if the retail giant lied to the worker.
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May 06, 2024
GEO Urges Fast End To State Law On Immigration Inspections
GEO Group Inc. has told a Washington state federal judge that a state law allowing surprise inspections at private immigration detention centers so clearly targets its operations that the court should permanently bar the law now, instead of letting its defense continue.
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May 06, 2024
Foreign Grads Settle Suit Against DHS Over Visa Denials
Dozens of foreign college graduates have settled their suit in Washington federal court accusing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security of treating them as accomplices in an alleged visa scam without letting them respond to the allegations, saying DHS has withdrawn its fraud findings relating to the plaintiffs.
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May 06, 2024
Redfin To Pay $9.2M To Exit Broker Fee Class Action
Redfin disclosed to regulators on Monday that it will pay $9.25 million to end claims that it caused home sellers to pay inflated commissions under rules set by the National Association of Realtors, allowing the company to exit a class action that ensnared several brokerage firms.
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May 06, 2024
Prof's Free Speech Suit Over Native Land Statement Falls Flat
A federal judge has tossed a professor's suit alleging the University of Washington violated his First Amendment rights after he opposed including an acknowledgment of Native Americans in his syllabus for a computer science course, saying his stance created a burden for the school.
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May 06, 2024
Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court
A record $100 million settlement, a fishy Facebook decision, a canceled Amazon delivery and an upended $7.3 billion sale dispute topped the news out of Delaware's Court of Chancery last week. There were also new cases involving Hess, Microsoft and the 2022 World Cup.
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May 06, 2024
Amazon Workers Answer Judge's $5.5M COVID Deal Inquiries
Amazon employees assured a California federal court that their $5.5 million proposed class action deal is fit for approval, giving additional information on the terms and saying the company backed ending the lawsuit accusing the e-commerce giant of failing to pay for time spent undergoing COVID screenings before shifts.
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May 06, 2024
Why The Wash. Supreme Court's Docket Has Been Shrinking
When the Washington State Supreme Court met last month, justices could have decided to set new case law in a dispute over contractual royalty payments or when county governments need to turn over public records. But they passed on those cases and 32 others, taking on just three, part of a decadelong trend that’s seen their annual opinion count fall by half.
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May 03, 2024
Meta Asks 9th Circ. To Revisit Predominance In Ad Class Cert.
Meta Platforms Inc. on Friday asked the Ninth Circuit to take a fresh look at a split panel decision affirming certification of a damages class of potentially millions of advertisers who were allegedly deceived about Facebook's "potential reach" tool, taking issue with the panel majority's "sweeping" interpretation of the predominance requirement.
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May 03, 2024
Binance Founder's Sentence Shaped By Plea And Apology
Binance founder Changpeng Zhao's willingness to cooperate with law enforcement and accept responsibility in court for the crypto exchange's anti-money laundering violations helped the former CEO land a deal with prosecutors that got him a relatively short prison sentence to close out a yearslong investigation.
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May 03, 2024
9th Circ. Orders 2nd Look At Stay In PG&E Wildfire Suit
The Ninth Circuit on Friday told a lower court to reconsider its order staying claims PG&E investors brought against officers, directors and others over wildfire liability, saying more factors should have been considered before the stay was granted.
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May 03, 2024
Boeing Can't Avoid Pre-Conception Toxic Birth Defect Claims
A Washington state judge said Friday that the child of two Boeing factory workers can sue the aerospace giant for negligence based on harm he allegedly suffered before he was conceived, allowing him to accuse the company of failing to warn his parents about toxic chemicals they were exposed to on the job.
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May 03, 2024
Cash App's Parent Co. Can't Ditch Referral Text Suit
Block Inc., the parent company of mobile payment service Cash App, can't escape a suit alleging it bombarded cellphone users with "annoying and harassing spam texts," a Washington federal judge ruled, finding the plaintiff has alleged sufficient facts to support a plausible claim for relief under Washington's Consumer Electronic Mail Act.
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May 03, 2024
Colo. Jury Hits Berkshire Unit With $7M Monopoly Verdict
A Colorado federal jury on Friday awarded the rival of a Berkshire Hathaway-owned construction supplier $6.7 million for the larger company's monopolistic practices, hours after a judge scolded the Berkshire company's lawyer because he "crossed a line" during closings.
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May 03, 2024
Robbins Geller Attys To Take Stand In $8M Sanctions Dispute
A petroleum refiner will put current and former Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP attorneys on the stand May 7 in an extraordinary evidentiary hearing testing what the plaintiffs' lawyers knew about an analyst's now-discredited findings as they pursued since-nixed price-fixing claims.
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May 02, 2024
DaVita Says Nurses Trying Go Around Wage Rulings
Nationwide kidney care service provider DaVita Inc. has urged a Colorado federal judge to reject a bid by nurses and technicians to merge their wage class action with another suit, arguing Wednesday the plaintiffs are seeking to "circumvent" earlier rulings limiting the case's reach.
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May 02, 2024
Attys Due For Spam Suit Sanction, But Not $750K, Judges Say
Class counsel's misconduct in helping instigate a spam text suit against stock-trading app Robinhood Financial LLC warranted sanctions, a Washington state appeals court panel ruled Thursday, but the judges said the $750,000 penalty went over the top in deterring the bad behavior.
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May 02, 2024
House Seeks FTC Info On Scuttled Amazon-IRobot Deal
The Republican-controlled House Committee on Oversight and Accountability is launching an investigation into the Federal Trade Commission's purported efforts to block Amazon's purchase of iRobot, according to a Wednesday letter from Rep. James Comer, R-Ky.
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May 02, 2024
Microsoft, Activision Seek Del. Court Patch For $68.7B Sale
Microsoft Corp. and Activision Blizzard petitioned Delaware's Court of Chancery on Thursday for an order validating Activision's already closed but officially "defective" $68.7 billion sale agreement, arguing that the court pointed the two companies to a "solution for missteps in Delaware's General Corporation Law.
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May 02, 2024
9th Circ. Backs Game Developer's Win In Sex Harassment Suit
The Ninth Circuit declined Thursday to reinstate a lawsuit a former employee brought against a video game developer accusing it of subjecting him to lewd jokes and firing him after he complained, saying a lower court didn't err by admitting certain evidence at trial.
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May 02, 2024
USAA Wrongly Denied Fire Damage Claim, Wash. Couple Says
A Washington couple accused their homeowners insurer of unreasonably denying their fire damage claim despite their timely response to all of the insurer's claim inquiries and requests, further accusing the insurer of violating Washington's Consumer Protection Act and Insurance Fair Conduct Act.
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May 01, 2024
Monsanto Gets $185 Million Wash. PCB Verdict Overturned
A Washington state appeals court sided with Monsanto on Wednesday, undoing a $185 million jury verdict for three teachers who claimed they were sickened by PCBs at a Washington school site and ruling the case could be limited by the Evergreen state's 12-year statute of repose for product liability claims.
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May 01, 2024
NLRB Dings Amazon CEO Over 'Better Off Not' Unionizing Talk
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy violated federal labor law by making public predictions that workers looking to unionize would be "better off not doing so," a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled Wednesday, but determined Jassy's comments that unionization would change workers' relationship with the company were lawful.
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May 01, 2024
NJ, NY Law Firms Dominate Class Action Filings Since 2021
Class actions have been steadily increasing over the past decade, with two firms from New Jersey and New York filing the most suits over the past three years, according to a new Lex Machina report surveying the class action field.
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May 01, 2024
Colorado Asks Judge To Review New Kroger Spinoffs At Trial
Kroger can't throw a new divestiture plan on the table two months before discovery closes and then ask the court to consider it when deciding whether to hand down a preliminary injunction blocking its $25 billion union with Albertsons from moving forward, the state of Colorado says.
Expert Analysis
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4 Ways To Refresh Your Law Firm's Marketing Strategy
With many BigLaw firms relying on an increasingly obsolete marketing approach that prioritizes stiff professionalism over authentic connection, adopting a few key communications strategies to better connect with today's clients and prospects can make all the difference, say Eric Pacifici and Kevin Henderson at SMB Law.
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9th Circ. Ruling Puts Teeth Into Mental Health Parity Claims
In its recent finding that UnitedHealth applied an excessively strict review process for substance use disorder treatment claims, the Ninth Circuit provided guidance on how to plead a Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act violation and took a step toward achieving mental health parity in healthcare, says Mark DeBofsky at DeBofsky Law.
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Sorting Circuit Split On Foreign Arbitration Treaty's Authority
A circuit court split over whether the New York Convention supersedes state law barring arbitration in certain disputes — a frequent issue in insurance matters — has left lower courts to rely on conflicting decisions, but the doctrine of self-executing treaties makes it clear that the convention overrules state law, says Gary Shaw at Pillsbury.
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Surveying Legislative Trends As States Rush To Regulate AI
With Congress unlikely to pass comprehensive artificial intelligence legislation any time soon, just four months into 2024, nearly every state has introduced legislation aimed at the development and use of AI on subjects from algorithmic discrimination risk to generative AI disclosures, say David Kappos and Sasha Rosenthal-Larrea at Cravath.
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Series
Whitewater Kayaking Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Whether it's seeing clients and their issues from a new perspective, or staying nimble in a moment of intense challenge, the lessons learned from whitewater kayaking transcend the rapids of a river and prepare attorneys for the courtroom and beyond, says Matthew Kent at Alston & Bird.
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New Wash. Laws Employers Should Pay Attention To
The Washington Legislature ended its session last month after passing substantial laws that should prompt employers to spring into action — including a broadened equal pay law to cover classes beyond gender, narrowed sick leave payment requirements for construction workers and protections for grocery workers after a merger, say Hannah Ard and Alayna Piwonski at Lane Powell.
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This Earth Day, Consider How Your Firm Can Go Greener
As Earth Day approaches, law firms and attorneys should consider adopting more sustainable practices to reduce their carbon footprint — from minimizing single-use plastics to purchasing carbon offsets for air travel — which ultimately can also reduce costs for clients, say M’Lynn Phillips and Lisa Walters at IMS Legal Strategies.
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Questions Persist After Ruling Skirts $925M TCPA Award Issue
After an Oregon federal court's recent Wakefield v. ViSalus ruling that the doctrine of constitutional avoidance precluded it from deciding whether a $925 million Telephone Consumer Protection Act damages award was constitutionally sound, further guidance is needed on when statutory damages violate due process, says Michael Klotz at O'Melveny.
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How DEI Programs Are Being Challenged In Court And Beyond
In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's affirmative action decision last year declaring the consideration of race in university admissions unconstitutional, employers should keep abreast of recent litigation challenging diversity, equity and inclusion training programs, as well as legislation both supporting and opposing DEI initiatives in the workplace, say attorneys at Skadden.
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Employers Beware Of NLRB Changes On Bad Faith Bargaining
Recent National Labor Relations Board decisions show a trend of the agency imposing harsher remedies on employers for bad faith bargaining over union contracts, a position upheld in the Ninth Circuit's recent NLRB v. Grill Concepts Services decision, says Daniel Johns at Cozen O'Connor.
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Practicing Law With Parkinson's Disease
This Parkinson’s Awareness Month, Adam Siegler at Greenberg Traurig discusses his experience working as a lawyer with Parkinson’s disease, sharing both lessons on how to cope with a diagnosis and advice for supporting colleagues who live with the disease.
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Series
Playing Hockey Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Nearly a lifetime of playing hockey taught me the importance of avoiding burnout in all aspects of life, and the game ultimately ended up providing me with the balance I needed to maintain success in my legal career, says John Riccione at Taft.
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Opinion
High Court Should Settle Circuit Split On Risk Disclosures
The U.S. Supreme Court should grant the petition for writ of certiorari in the Facebook case to resolve a growing circuit split concerning when risk disclosures can be misleading under federal securities laws, and its decision should align with the intent of Congress and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, says Richard Zelichov at DLA Piper.
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9th Circ. TM Ruling Expands Courts' Role In Application Cases
The Ninth Circuit’s recent ruling in BBK Tobacco v. Central Coast Agriculture is the first time a federal appeals court has explicitly authorized district courts to adjudicate pending trademark applications, marking a potentially significant expansion of federal courts' power, says Saul Cohen at Kelly IP.
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Opinion
Why Supreme Court Should Allow Repatriation Tax To Stand
If the U.S. Supreme Court doesn't reject the taxpayers' misguided claims in Moore v. U.S. that the mandatory repatriation tax is unconstitutional, it could wreak havoc on our system of taxation and result in a catastrophic loss of revenue for the government, say Christina Mason and Theresa Balducci at Herrick Feinstein.