A class action lawsuit was filed against Mattel, Inc. on Tuesday, December 3, 2024, alleging that the packaging for special-edition dolls related to the "Wicked" movie included a link to a pornographic website.
The judges upheld state laws preempting the authority of cities and counties to enact firearm regulations, voicing a reluctance to interfere with the legislature in this area.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is urging a judge to mandate the sale of Google’s Chrome browser in an antitrust case aimed at curbing Google’s monopoly in the search market. Following a 10-week trial last year, Judge Amit Mehta ruled that Google broke antitrust laws in online search and search…
The U.S. Department of Justice is expected to drop its cases against the president-elect due to concerns over interfering with the duties of the executive branch.
Consumers filed a class action lawsuit against McDonald's in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, on October 29, 2024, after eating a Quarter Pounder burger and suffering E. coli symptoms.
Coca-Cola and PepsiCo were sued on Wednesday over plastic pollution Los Angeles County asserts is a public nuisance that violates unfair competition and false advertising law. Plastic is California’s primary source of land litter, according to the complaint, and it does not biodegrade naturally, only breaking down into fragments. LA County…
The ruling addressed the effects of an illegal policy that DHS had authorized at ports of entry on the U.S.-Mexico border.
Alcon Entertainment, LLC filed a lawsuit against Tesla, Inc. and Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. in the U.S. District Court, Central District of California, on Monday, October 1, 2024, concerning an AI-generated fake image used to promote Tesla's new fully autonomous cybercab.
On Wednesday, the FTC announced a new rule aiming to make canceling subscriptions and memberships just as easy as signing up for them.
The lawsuit claims that the state violated the National Voter Registration Act by systematically removing certain voters from the registration list too close to the November election.
On Tuesday, October 8, 2024, rock band Limp Bizkit filed a lawsuit against Universal Music Group in the U.S. District Court, Central District of California, alleging that the record company owes the band over $200 million in unpaid royalties.
A U.K. man faces charges brought by the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a hack-to-trade scheme resulting in over $3 million in profit.
An indictment filed by the U.S. Department of Justice alleges that Mayor Eric Adams committed offenses such as bribery and wire fraud during his dealings with Turkish nationals.
On Tuesday, September 24, 2024, U.S. District Court Judge Analisa Torres ruled in favor of Doordash, Grubhub, and Uber Eats in a lawsuit contesting the City of New York's law requiring the food delivery services to share diners' information with restaurants.
Six academic journal publishers are facing a class action suit in federal court over alleged antitrust violations regarding the payment of peer reviewers and submission restrictions. The proposed class action, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, was brought by Dr. Lucina Uddin, a University…
A Monroe County judge felt that the medical exception complied with the state constitution, despite the challenges that doctors face in these situations.
On Monday, September 9, 2024, the White Stripes sued Donald J. Trump and his election campaign over "flagrant misappropriation" of their song "Seven Nation Army."
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court will soon decide who is entitled to keep the ring of a broken engagement in a case that could alter Massachusetts law. Current Massachusetts law stemming from a 1959 case holds that if an engagement ends without marriage, the person who gave the ring is generally…
The court ruled that a policy encouraging school staff to refrain from disclosing student transgender or gender non-conforming status to a parent did not violate parenting rights under the state constitution.
The National Football League Players Association sued DraftKings on Monday, August 26, 2024, alleging that DraftKings breached its contract related to NFL player likenesses on non-fungible tokens.
A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit against X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday that alleged that the company violated the Americans With Disabilities Act when it began to require employees to come into an office instead of working remotely.
The Court declined to adjust orders barring the enforcement of a federal rule that aims to bolster the rights provided by Title IX.
Four gamers filed a class action lawsuit against Valve Corporation on Friday, August 9, 2024, alleging that Valve's Steam video game distribution platform utilizes anticompetitive pricing restraints to maintain market dominance.
Texas proposed new rules that would allow licensed paraprofessionals and court-access assistants to help low-income Texans by providing limited legal services.
The former president probably will not face trial before the 2024 election, but a pre-trial hearing could call attention to his alleged wrongdoing before then.
On Thursday, July 25, 2024, the Supreme Court of Ohio ruled that a consumer who suffered serious medical problems after having a bone lodged in his throat while eating a boneless chicken wing could have reasonably expected the boneless wing to have bones.
Workers who drive or deliver food for companies such as Uber, Lyft, or DoorDash can be classified as independent contractors under a law approved by California voters, the California Supreme Court ruled on Thursday. Proposition 22, the Protect App-Based Drivers and Services Act, classifies drivers for app-based transportation or delivery companies…
The Arizona Supreme Court seeks to expand access to justice by allowing prospective attorneys with lower scores on the Uniform Bar Exam to practice under supervision in the public sector or in rural areas.
A group of record companies has filed lawsuits against Suno, Inc. and Uncharted Labs, Inc. in an attempt to stop the unlicensed use of copyrighted music to train generative artificial intelligence models.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit outlined a new test for whether college athletes may be considered employees of their schools, paving the way for a possible FLSA claim.
Absentee voters in a potentially critical state may have a broader range of options in the 2024 presidential election after the Court overruled a recent precedent.
On July 1, 2024, the United States Supreme Court granted former President Donald J. Trump broad immunity from criminal prosecution related to any Executive Branch official conduct.
On Thursday the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated a controversial Purdue Pharma bankruptcy settlement plan that shielded Sackler family members from personal liability for their involvement in the opioid epidemic.
A copy of an opinion “inadvertently and briefly uploaded” to the U.S. Supreme Court’s website on Wednesday revealed that it may allow emergency abortions in Idaho. The Idaho law at issue outlaws all abortions unless necessary to prevent a pregnant woman’s death. It does not contain exceptions for abortions necessary to…
Despite its broad view of the Second Amendment, the Supreme Court upheld a restriction on gun possession by certain people under domestic violence restraining orders.
In a win for Starbucks on Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled that the coffee chain could not be compelled to rehire fired employees who were trying to unionize.
A law fast-tracked by the Illinois legislature will not prevent political parties from appointing candidates to run for the legislature in the 2024 election.
A class action lawsuit was filed against the maker of popular prebiotic soda brand Poppi in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, on May 29, 2024. The lawsuit centers around Poppi's claims that the soda is "gut healthy" due to the inclusion of prebiotics in its drinks.
In a concurring opinion, U.S. Circuit Judge Kevin Newsom included thoughts on using AI-powered LLMs to help analyze the ordinary meaning of words in legal texts.
Louisiana added mifepristone and misoprostol to Schedule IV of its drug laws, becoming the first state to take this step and sparking criticism from medical providers.
On Monday, May 13, 2024, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. filed a lawsuit against Meta Platforms, Inc. in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, alleging that Facebook and Instagram censored the "Who is Bobby Kennedy" film.
Federal prosecutors on Wednesday arrested two brothers, who had both studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, on charges that they stole $25 million worth of cryptocurrency on Ethereum’s blockchain. Anton Peraire-Bueno, 24, and James Peraire-Bueno, 28, were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit…
A copyright owner bringing a timely claim for infringement under the general statute of limitations can recover damages regardless of when the infringing acts occurred.
TikTok Inc. and ByteDance Ltd. filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Tuesday, May 7, 2024, seeking a review of the constitutionality of the Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act.
Ex-Nickelodeon producer Dan Schneider sued the creators of the documentary "Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV" on Wednesday, alleging that their series defamed him and falsely implied that he was a child sexual abuser.
The disgraced former producer will get a new trial in the sex crime case against him in New York after the Court of Appeals found that the trial court should not have allowed certain testimony against him.
On Wednesday, April 24, 2024, President Joe Biden signed legislation requiring Chinese tech firm ByteDance to divest itself of the TikTok app or face a ban in the United States.
The Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that employees are not required to show significant harm in federal discrimination lawsuits involving job transfers.
President Biden is expected to veto a resolution disapproving a rule that expands the definition of joint employers under federal labor law.
On Friday, April 5, 2024, New York City agreed to pay $17.5 million to settle a class action lawsuit brought by two Muslim women forced to remove their religious head coverings for New York Police Department post-arrest photos.
Former President Donald Trump sued two co-founders of Trump Media last week following a lawsuit against Trump brought by the co-founders over their stake in the company.
The Tenth Circuit reversed a trial court's decision involving the fair use exception to copyright infringement, allowing a cameraman's lawsuit to continue against Netflix.
On Tuesday, March 26, 2024, DeLorean Motor Company and NBCUniversal Media settled a trademark lawsuit concerning the licensing of the DeLorean trademark for use in merchandising connected to the "Back to the Future" films.
The Justice Department announced an antitrust lawsuit against Apple on Thursday, alleging the company violated antitrust laws by monopolizing the smartphone market.
The lawsuit argues that state officials have violated the National Voter Registration Act by failing to maintain voter rolls in many counties ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
On Friday, March 8, 2024, three authors filed a class action lawsuit against NVIDIA Corporation in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, alleging that NVIDIA copied their copyrighted works to train its NeMo Megatron-GPT large language model artificial intelligence software programs.
On Wednesday, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed a bill protecting in vitro fertilization (IVF) patients and providers from liability if the embryos created during the process are damaged or destroyed. The development was prompted by a recent Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos are people and that people who destroy…
A brief filed by eight attorney generals in SEC litigation involving a crypto exchange argues that the agency exceeded the scope of the authority delegated by Congress.
On Monday, February 26, 2024, Nintendo of America filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court, District of Rhode Island, against Tropic Haze LLC, the developer of the "Yuzu" emulator.
Workday, Inc., a company that provides applicant screening services to employers, has been accused of engaging in illegal discrimination due to its use of AI.
A graduate of a fully online law school may ask the Indiana State Board of Law Examiners for a waiver of the requirement that a bar exam test taker have graduated from an ABA-accredited law school.
On Monday, February 12, 2024, choreographer Kyle Hanagami settled his copyright lawsuit against Epic Games, Inc. alleging that the video game developer and distributor copied his copyrighted dance moves.
Two indictments were unsealed in Brooklyn on Wednesday charging six defendants with defrauding court-appointed criminal defense lawyers.
A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit against the Governor and other Florida officials in which Disney argued that it faced illegal retaliation for its opposition to a law affecting the LGBTQ+ community.
On Tuesday, January 30, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit referred attorney Jae Lee to its attorney grievance panel after Lee admitted to citing a non-existent case in a brief.
A New York painter and performance artist sued the Museum of Modern Art on Monday, alleging it intentionally and negligently failed to take action to prevent recurrent sexual assaults.
A Florida federal judge applied a standard recently developed by the U.S. Supreme Court in finding that the historical record does not support a law banning firearm possession in post offices.
On Friday, January 12, 2024, the United States Supreme Court agreed to decide whether the City of Grants Pass, Oregon may enforce its regulation of homeless encampments by issuing civil citations to people sleeping on public property.
A U.S. judge certified a class of debit card users on Tuesday in a lawsuit brought against American Express. The plaintiffs allege that American Express's non-discrimination provisions for merchants violate state antitrust and consumer protection laws.
A lawsuit in Pennsylvania state court argues that U.S. Representative Scott Perry should be disqualified from appearing on the 2024 ballot under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit granted Apple's emergency request on Wednesday, allowing the company to temporarily continue selling its smartwatches after medical technology company Masimo accused Apple of patent infringement.
The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom reached a similar conclusion to federal courts in the U.S. in finding that an inventor for patent purposes must be a person.
On Tuesday, December 19, 2023, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that Donald J. Trump is disqualified from holding the office of President and cannot be listed on Colorado's primary ballot in 2024.
Michael Cohen's lawyer was ordered to produce copies of three cases on Tuesday after neither a lawyer nor the judge could find the cases cited in his motion to end Cohen's supervised release early.
The online marketplace argues that its delivery guarantee for select purchases applies only to the date of the delivery, rather than the preferred time window that a customer selects.
On Tuesday, December 5, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled in favor of Vans, a popular manufacturer of skateboarding shoes and apparel, blocking sales of art collective MSCHF's Wavy Baby sneakers, a purported parody of Vans' Old Skool shoes.
Binance customers sued Cristiano Ronaldo in Florida federal court, alleging he helped cryptocurrency exchange Binance sell unregistered securities.
A non-fiction author argues that the startup and the tech giant have violated federal law by copying thousands of books without permission.
On Friday, November 17, 2023, Chief U.S. District Judge Nancy J. Rosenstengel ruled in favor of robot lawyer DoNotPay in a lawsuit concerning the unauthorized practice of law.
New York sued PepsiCo on Wednesday, arguing that the snack giant's single-use bottles, caps, and wrappers are a large contributor to the pollution of the Buffalo River and have impacted public health, freshwater species, the ecosystem, the public's use and enjoyment of the river, and the aesthetic value of the river and its shoreline.
An alternative way to get a license to practice law in Oregon will involve an evaluation of 675 hours of legal work that a law school graduate has performed under attorney supervision.
The American Civil Liberties Union of South Dakota filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of South Dakota on Friday, November 3, 2023, challenging South Dakota's personalized license plate law.
Jurors awarded home sellers almost $1.8 billion in damages this week in a lawsuit accusing the National Association of Realtors of conspiring with residential brokers to inflate broker commissions for buyer brokers.
The Georgia Supreme Court reversed a decision by a lower court striking down the state's "heartbeat ban," but the lower court now will consider further arguments against the law.
On Tuesday, October 24, 2023, 42 attorneys general filed a lawsuit against Meta in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, alleging that Facebook and Instagram are designed to exploit and manipulate youth and teens in harmful ways.
The Fifth Circuit on Wednesday upheld a Nasdaq rule requiring companies listed on its exchange to have women and minority directors on their boards or provide an explanation as to why they do not.
Google assured its customers that it will take responsibility for IP litigation over the training data for its generative AI products, as well as the generated output that its customers create by using these products.
On Tuesday, October 10, 2023, the United States Supreme Court denied review in Blankenship v. NBCUniversal, a lawsuit seeking to challenge the actual malice rule for defamation cases
A state judge in Montana temporarily blocked the enforcement of a ban on certain types of gender-affirming care, while the federal Sixth Circuit found that similar bans were likely constitutional.
On Tuesday, September 26, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission and 17 states filed an antitrust lawsuit against Amazon, Inc. in the U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington.
An AstraZeneca employee sued the company in South Carolina state court after it refused to pay her her full bonus for failing to come into the office three days a week.
The Center for Reproductive Rights has taken legal action in an effort to clarify and expand patient rights in states with strict abortion bans.
On Tuesday, September 12, 2023, a 10-week trial concerning Google's search dominance began in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Allan Kassenoff, former patent litigation shareholder at Greenberg Traurig, individually and as guardian of his minor children, along with his matrimonial attorney, sued social media influencer Robert Harvey in federal court on Tuesday over “a few clicks of his keyboard and a video upload to TikTok” that allegedly financially destroyed Kassenoff and harmed…
A recent ruling in a federal court suggests that state laws aiming to protect children from the risks of excessive social media use may face First Amendment obstacles.
Nayvadius Wilburn, better known as the rapper "Future," successfully defended a copyright infringement lawsuit in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, brought by another rapper, DaQuan "Gutta" Robinson.
Covering up an artist's murals with acoustic panels does not violate the Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held on Friday.
A potential legal battle between the vaunted newspaper company and the architect of ChatGPT could affect the future of generative AI models.
The author of "The Tetris Effect" sued Apple, Tetris, and others in federal court on Monday, alleging that Apple TV's "Tetris" copied his work.
The shoe company moved closer to trademarking "SNKRS," the name of its smartphone app, after a victory at the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.
On Monday, July 31, 2023, a class action lawsuit was filed against Taco Bell, accusing Taco Bell of falsely advertising the amount of beef and other ingredients in Crunchwraps and Mexican Pizzas.
Booksellers, publishers, and writers sued Texas officials in federal court on Tuesday alleging a new book restriction law violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.
Illinois will become the first state to allow defendants awaiting trial to be released regardless of their financial resources.
On Wednesday, July 19, 2023, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan denied former president Donald J. Trump's request for a new trial in the sexual abuse lawsuit brought by writer E. Jean Carroll.
Sarah Silverman and two novelists sued OpenAI and Meta in federal court on Friday, claiming the companies infringed the authors' copyrights when their works were used to train ChatGPT and LLaMA.
A thumbs up in a text message ultimately left a Saskatchewan farmer on the hook for over $60,000 in damages to a grain buyer.
On Thursday, June 29, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Gerald Groff, a former United States Postal Service worker who resigned due to not receiving religious accommodations over Sunday hours.
In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court on Thursday ruled against the use of race as a factor in university admissions programs.
A case filed in a federal court in Washington State argues that Amazon pushed consumers to enroll in Amazon Prime without their consent and made it unreasonably difficult to cancel a Prime membership.
Skechers filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court, Central District of California, on Tuesday, June 20, 2023, against footwear retail company Steve Madden alleging that the company infringed on Skechers' "S" logo on Steve Madden's "Kennie" sneaker.
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Indian Child Welfare Act on Thursday, a law giving preference to Indian tribes when Indian children are adopted or placed in foster care.
The famous Tennessee whiskey brand succeeded in reviving a lawsuit against humorous dog toys that allegedly infringed on its trademarks.
Delta Air Lines was sued in federal court on Tuesday over allegations that its claimed status as the world's "first carbon-neutral airline" is largely misleading.
The ACLU argues that Florida has violated constitutional principles by passing a law that would largely prevent people "domiciled" in China from acquiring real estate in the state.
The United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of photographer Lynn Goldsmith in her copyright lawsuit against the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts concerning Andy Warhol's Prince Series prints. The lawsuit settles a split among appeals courts concerning the fair use defense in copyright cases.
A Florida school district was sued on Wednesday by Penguin Random House, advocacy group PEN America, authors, and parents, over its recent book banning.
The online marketplace and the camera company allege that 29 accounts on the Amazon marketplace were selling counterfeit Canon products and thus infringing on Canon trademarks.
On May 9, 2023, a civil jury in New York returned a verdict finding that former president Donald J. Trump sexually assaulted and defamed writer E. Jean Carroll. The jury awarded Carroll $5 million in damages.
An ex-product manager for the world's largest NFT marketplace was convicted of wire fraud and money laundering for a scheme in which he used his knowledge of which NFTs the marketplace planned to feature to make more than $50,000.
The D.C. Circuit found that states suing the parent company of Facebook over acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp had waited too long to contest these transactions.
The CEO, CFO, and chief legal officer who left Twitter when Elon Musk took over have asked the Delaware Court of Chancery to award them over $1 million in unpaid reimbursements for legal fees.
On Monday, April 10, 2023, Judge Edward Davila ruled that Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes must serve time in jail while the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals hears her case. Holmes was previously sentenced to 135 months of imprisonment after being found guilty of three counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Planned Parenthood sued for injunctive and declaratory relief in federal court on Wednesday over the Idaho Attorney General's assertion that the state's criminal abortion law prohibits medical providers from referring women to access abortion services outside the state.
The EEOC alleges that Walmart violated federal disability discrimination law by refusing to provide reasonable accommodations to a deli associate with Crohn's disease.
The City of St. Louis filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Missouri, against Kia America, Inc. and Hyundai Motor America, Inc., on Monday, March 27, 2023. The lawsuit concerns Kia and Hyundai's alleged failure to install industry-standard anti-theft technology, "resulting in an explosion of auto-related crime."
The U.S. Supreme Court considered a case involving a parody dog toy, "Bad Spaniels," and its alleged infringement of the Jack Daniel's trademark.
A class action in a federal court alleges that Amazon Go stores violated a New York City law requiring businesses to disclose their collection of customers' biometric information.
Songwriter Angelslang filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against The Rolling Stones on Friday, March 10, 2023, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. The lawsuit alleges that the band's song "Living In A Ghost Town" misappropriates key elements of Angelslang's songs.
Five women and two obstetrician-gynecologists sued Texas on Monday to clarify an exception to its near-total abortion ban that allows medical professionals to provide abortions in life-threatening emergencies.
A Las Vegas law firm featured a Raiders defensive end in a commercial that aired during Super Bowl LVII, and a dispute has developed over whether it did enough to avoid trademark infringement.
On Tuesday, February 28, 2023, Los Angeles County agreed to a settlement with Vanessa Bryant, the wife of late basketball star Kobe Bryant, in a lawsuit concerning photos shared by Los Angeles County Sheriff officers and Los Angeles County firefighters of the helicopter crash that killed Bryant and his daughter, Gianna Bryant.
The Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that a woman could not discharge a debt in bankruptcy brought on by her husband and business partner's fraudulent behavior in selling a home they had flipped.
A judge found that keeping indigent defendants on a waiting list for a free attorney for months or years violated the right to counsel under the Missouri Constitution, parallel to the Sixth Amendment.
On Wednesday, February 8, 2023, a jury in federal court returned a verdict in favor of Hermès International in its trademark lawsuit against the creator of the MetaBirkins NFTs. The jury found for Hermès on its claims of trademark infringement, trademark dilution, and cybersquatting related to Hermès' BIRKIN trademark.
On Tuesday, a California federal court judge certified a $6 billion class action suit against the National Football League (NFL) over the cost of its “Sunday Ticket” package with DirecTV. The suit alleges that the NFL illegally broadcast games and drove up the cost of its Sunday Ticket package, which provides viewers with out-of-market and…
A Maricopa County Superior Court judge found that Phoenix could not involve the NFL in the process of approving ads on property during the weeks surrounding the Super Bowl.
Nike filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Lululemon in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, on Monday, January 30, 2023. Nike alleges that Lululemon's Chargefeel Mid, Chargefeel Low, Blissfeel, and Strongfeel shoes infringe on three of Nike's patents related to its Flyknit technology.
The trial of Alex Murdaugh, a South Carolina lawyer accused of murdering his wife and son, began on Monday with jury selection. The case has caught the attention of many interested in the Murdaugh family's connections, status in the community, and involvement in at least one mysterious death.
A New York law restricting firearms that took effect last fall will remain enforceable as litigation challenging its validity under the Second Amendment proceeds through federal courts.
On Friday, January 13, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court granted review in Groff v. DeJoy, a lawsuit alleging violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The case will likely be argued in April, with a decision to arrive in the summer.
United Healthcare must drop its claim for a more than $2 million refund, a Texas appeals court ruled, because it should have been able to intervene before a much smaller settlement check was cashed had it exercised due diligence.
The landlord of a San Francisco office space operated by the social media company has sued for unpaid rent, echoing problems that Twitter has faced at other properties.
Fashion label Marc Jacobs faces trademark infringement litigation over its Eye-Conic line of eye shadow palettes.
After Southwest canceled around 13,000 flights in the days surrounding the Christmas holiday, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced that he would be watching the company very closely and expected it to "go beyond the letter of the law."
Three graduates of the USC Rossier School of Education are seeking reimbursement for tuition and other costs based on incomplete data provided to US News & World Report that allegedly affected Rossier's ranking.
The $1.66 trillion omnibus spending bill, advanced by the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, December 20, 2022, excludes the Open Courts Act of 2021.
The definition of the word "beer" and whether it includes hard seltzers must be left up to a jury to decide, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday in a dispute between Modelo and its U.S. Corona beer distributor.
Musk's company Neuralink, which aims to develop a brain implant for humans, faces an investigation of alleged animal abuse during rushed and poorly executed experiments.
On Monday, December 5, 2022, two plaintiffs filed a class action lawsuit against Apple related to Apple's AirTag in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California. The two plaintiffs have suffered stalking and harassment enabled by the use of Apple's location-based tracking product.
Google Play customers won class-action status on Monday in a lawsuit alleging that Google artificially inflates prices in its app store.
The widow of a USC linebacker who had suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) failed to prove that his death resulted from his repeated head injuries while playing football.
On Monday, November 21, 2022, the United States Supreme Court granted a petition for a writ of certiorari in Jack Daniel's Properties, Inc. v. VIP Products LLC. The lawsuit seeks to clarify whether VIP's Jack Daniel's themed dog-toys are protected from trademark infringement claims due to VIP's First Amendment interest in using Jack Daniel's trademarks on the toys.
A federal judge approved a $6 billion settlement on Wednesday for student borrowers who alleged that they had been greatly misled by their schools.
A defendant convicted of Medicaid fraud argues that the two-year sentence enhancement for identity theft under federal law should not apply to his case, which did not involve misrepresenting another person's identity.
Elizabeth Holmes' motions for a new trial were denied by Judge Edward J. Davila on Monday, November 9, 2022. Holmes, the former CEO and founder of Theranos, was found guilty of defrauding investors earlier this year, and she now faces sentencing on Friday, November 18, 2022.
A postnuptial agreement that included a $7 million penalty payable if a wife discovered that her husband had cheated again was found valid by the Maryland Court of Special Appeals.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has frequently taken Google to court over alleged violations of consumer privacy, voicing a wariness of major tech companies and their influence over American life.
Starbucks was sued in the U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington, on Friday, October 21, 2022. The lawsuit alleges that Starbucks Corporation misappropriated trade secrets and breached an implied non-disclosure agreement related to coffee-flavored lip gloss after a meeting with Balmuccino, LLC.
A disbarred Tennessee personal injury lawyer was not entitled to assert that head injuries from his college football career, including possible CTE, negated the intent element necessary to convict him of federal bank fraud, the Sixth Circuit ruled.
A group of Jewish women argue that a law severely restricting abortion in Kentucky conflicts with religious freedom under both the state constitution and a state law.
On Tuesday, October 11, 2022, plaintiffs in Juliana et al. v. United States of America, a climate change lawsuit previously dismissed by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, cited the recent Supreme Court ruling on abortion rights as novel precedent to support the need to go to trial.
The Onion has filed a Supreme Court brief in support of a man arrested and prosecuted for making fun of a police department on social media, arguing that parodists should not be obligated to "pop the balloon in advance."
As the pandemic eases, the public can return to the Supreme Court for oral arguments, but the Court will continue to make its audio feed available. Live video coverage of oral arguments remains unlikely.
A lawsuit attempting to block President Biden's student debt relief program was filed in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Indiana, on Tuesday, September 27, 2022.
The DOJ charged 47 people on Tuesday for their alleged roles in a plot to steal $250 million from a federally-funded pandemic food program for children.
The lawsuit alleges violations of antitrust and unfair competition laws, based on Amazon policies toward third-party sellers that offer their products on other online platforms for lower prices.
On Friday, September 9, 2022, photographer Robert Barbera sued Miley Cyrus in federal court for copyright infringement related to Cyrus posting one of Barbera's copyrighted photos to her Instagram account.
Elizabeth Holmes, the former Theranos CEO convicted in January of defrauding investors, requested a new trial in two separate filings this week. One filing alleges that a key prosecution witness has expressed regret for his testimony while another asserts that the fact that she was tried before her former partner Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani was unfairly prejudicial.
The restaurant chain sought to boost diversity in its workforce and its contracts after the Black Lives Matter movement, but a conservative shareholder argues that these policies violated federal and state discrimination laws.
Sony Music Entertainment sued Triller, Inc. in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, on Monday, August 29, 2022, alleging that Triller failed to pay licensing fees and permitted the unauthorized use of Sony's copyrighted music in the Triller app.
A federal judge ruled this week that scanning students' rooms during remote exams violates the Fourth Amendment.
A New York resident argues that the name and packaging of the Margarita-Hard Seltzers deceive consumers by leading them to think that the beverages contain tequila when they do not.
The United States government filed an amicus brief on Monday, August 15, 2022, supporting photographer Lynn Goldsmith in Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. v. Lynn Goldsmith, a United States Supreme Court case concerning the fair use defense in copyright cases.
A federal magistrate judge declared a mistrial on Thursday in a high-profile Flint water contamination case after jurors stated that they could not reach a unanimous verdict without threatening their physical and mental health.
A Florida woman who was forced to accept a much more expensive car loan due to an error seeks to launch a class action against the credit reporting company in a Georgia court.
Netflix filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the creators of "The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical" on Friday, July 29, 2022, alleging trademark and copyright infringement.
The FTC filed suit against Meta on Wednesday, seeking to block its acquisition of Within Unlimited, the creator of an extremely popular virtual reality fitness app, over anti-competitive concerns.
A lawsuit in Washington state court targets the administrators of Facebook groups that have solicited review fraud on Amazon marketplaces in seven countries, causing consumers to buy subpar products.
Ex-CIA computer engineer Joshua Schulte was convicted in federal court on Wednesday in the largest theft of CIA secrets in history.
The Supreme Court refused to review a decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that California flight attendants are entitled to the protections of state labor laws on intrastate flights.
On Tuesday, July 5, 2022, Ben & Jerry's sued its parent company, Unilever, in an attempt to stop the sales of its ice cream in the West Bank through a third party distributor.
The U.S. Department of Justice found that Maine failed to comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act by over-institutionalizing children with mental health and developmental disabilities, rather than providing adequate community-based services.
On Tuesday, June 21, 2022, the United States Supreme Court issued a ruling that requires Maine to provide tuition assistance payments to nonsectarian schools. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, dissenting, wrote that "the Court leads us to a place where separation of church and state becomes a constitutional violation."
The Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that a court need not consider all possible ameliorative measures before denying a child's return to their home country under the Hague Convention once it has found that the return would pose a grave risk of harm.
Several Olympic gold medalists and dozens of other women are seeking $1 billion based on a failure to investigate sexual abuse allegations against sports doctor Larry Nassar, who worked for the U.S. women's gymnastics team and Michigan State University.
Paramount Pictures was sued on Monday, June 6, 2022, in the U.S. District Court, Central District of California, over the blockbuster movie "Top Gun: Maverick."
One of the 10 people shot in an April mass shooting on a Brooklyn subway has sued gun manufacturer Glock over its marketing and distribution practices.
A judge in Nevada ruled that claims brought by the former NFL head coach and ESPN analyst should not be dismissed or sent to arbitration.
On Monday, May 23, 2022, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of social media companies that moderate content on their platforms because "the government can't tell a private person or entity what to say or how to say it."
On May 18, the New York Court of Appeals weighed whether an elephant living at the Bronx Zoo named Happy could be considered a person under the law and released to an elephant sanctuary.
A court dismissed claims alleging that the retailer had exposed workers to the coronavirus through deficient safety protocols and had retaliated against workers who reported safety problems in its facilities.
On Monday, May 9, 2022, the Biden-Harris Administration introduced the Affordable Connectivity Program, which will reduce high-speed internet costs for tens of millions of eligible households.
Five New York City pension groups that own stock in Activision Blizzard sued the company over concerns that it undervalued itself in a wrongful and rushed sale to Microsoft.
The Food and Drug Administration aims to curb youth addiction and improve health equity by banning hazardous products that are especially popular among young smokers and African-Americans.
A copyright infringement lawsuit was filed against music artists Justin Bieber and Dan + Shay in the U.S. District Court, Central District of California, on Thursday, April 21, 2022. In the lawsuit, Melomega Music alleges that Bieber and Dan + Shay stole the chorus, verse, and hook of "The First Time Baby Is A Holiday," a song written over forty years ago.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced Tuesday that lawmakers would consider terminating the special status that has allowed Disney to operate free of most state regulation since the 1960s.
Yelp, Apple, Citigroup, and other major companies seek to ease access to abortion services for employees who live in states with tight restrictions, such as Texas.
A class action lawsuit was filed against Louis Vuitton North America, Inc. in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, on Friday, April 8, 2022. The lawsuit alleges that the luxury brand secretly collects complete facial scans of shoppers who use the brand's website to virtually try on designer eyewear.
A former college athlete has sued Lyft over a lack of safety measures for drivers after a carjacking during a Lyft ride left him paralyzed last spring.
The state argued that the modest settlement award in the federal case would allow Activision Blizzard to minimize its losses in a parallel state case based on allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination.
On Monday, March 28, 2022, the United States Supreme Court granted a writ of certiorari in The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. v. Lynn Goldsmith and Lynn Goldsmith, Ltd. The case seeks to clarify a split between the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals concerning the fair use defense in copyright cases.
A former partner sued his ex-firm Tuesday, claiming that it owes him hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid compensation and the value of his equity interest, including an interest in $250 million worth of cryptocurrency accepted by the firm as payment. The suit follows one by another former partner alleging that he was illegally ousted from the firm so that other equity partners would not have to share the $250 million asset.
A business professor at Chapman University alleges that his students posted parts of his exams on an online database without his permission, violating his exclusive right to reproduce and distribute the exam materials.
On Thursday, March 10, 2022, a three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld a verdict favoring Google in a lawsuit brought by song lyrics website Genius. The lawsuit claimed that Google was displaying transcribed lyrics scraped by Google from Genius in search results in violation of Genius's copyright.
On Wednesday, March 9, Impossible Foods Inc. filed suit against Motif FoodWorks, Inc. alleging that Motif infringed on Impossible Foods’ meat replica patent by selling its own imitation burger. Impossible Foods is known for its meat imitation products such as its Impossible Burger, Impossible…
A coalition of state attorneys general plans to investigate concerns that the social media platforms may have violated consumer protection laws through certain techniques that promote the engagement of young users.
On Monday, February 28, 2022, Fox Sports, Inc. was sued for trademark infringement by The Real USFL, LLC, in the U.S. District Court, Central District of California. The lawsuit claims that Fox Sports, Inc.'s United States Football League "is an unabashed counterfeit."
Megan Thee Stallion has sued her record label in a dispute over the definition of an album. Her label allegedly considers her release, Something for Thee Hotties, a mixtape that does not satisfy her contractual obligations.
The Kids Online Safety Act would require online platforms to give children and their parents greater control over their experience and personal data.
On Tuesday, February 15, 2022, jurors returned a unanimous verdict of not-liable in Sarah Palin v. The New York Times Company and James Bennet. Palin, the former governor of Alaska and Republican vice presidential candidate, alleged that The New York Times defamed her in a June 2017 editorial.
A California agency sued Tesla on Wednesday, alleging that the company racially discriminated against and harassed workers at its Fremont, California plant.
The states urge a federal judge not to dismiss a $10 billion lawsuit alleging that reckless business practices by U.S. gun manufacturers have increased the rate of violent crimes associated with Mexican drug cartels.
On Friday, January 28, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit upheld a district court's ruling dismissing a lawyer's lawsuit concerning negative online reviews. The appeals court ruled that the negative reviews were expressions of opinion that could not support a libel claim.
Stormy Daniels took the stand as a witness on January 27, 2022 in the trial of Michael Avenatti. Avenatti is accused of stealing almost $300,000 from his former client.
The First Amendment provides certain protections for freedom of speech and association to which government employees may be entitled despite the nature of their jobs.
On Friday, January 14, 2022, the United States Supreme Court granted a high school football coach's petition for a writ of certiorari. The court will hear the coach's case concerning postgame midfield prayers with players and coaches.
Sixteen universities known for their exclusivity and high price tags have been accused of violating antitrust laws and artificially inflating the cost of attendance for students receiving financial aid.
Snap argues that the name "Spectacles" qualifies for protection because consumers have begun to associate the name with its product, but the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office has consistently disagreed.
On Monday, January 3, 2022, Elizabeth Holmes, the former CEO and founder of Theranos, was found guilty of defrauding investors. Holmes was convicted on four of eleven charges.
The California attorney general and various district attorneys in the state allege that the retailer violated state environmental protection and consumer protection laws by improperly disposing of hazardous and confidential materials in landfills.
A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order against an advertiser of a New Year's Eve outdoor music festival near the site of the famous Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival. This prevents the event from being advertised under its current name, due to potential consumer confusion.
On Monday, December 20, 2021, Meta Platforms, Inc., formerly known as Facebook, Inc., filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, in an attempt to disrupt a phishing scam taking place on its platforms. The lawsuit alleges that the defendants created over 39,000 websites to deceive users and collect login information.
The heirs of Dutch artist Piet Mondrian, known for his 20th-century abstract art, have sued the Philadelphia Museum of Art for rightful ownership of his painting Composition with Blue (1926), a painting they assert was wrongfully donated to the museum after it was stolen by the Nazis.
A federal judge declined to grant summary judgment to the pop singer in a copyright infringement case, finding that there were significant similarities between the lyrics of "Shake It Off" and a song written by the plaintiffs.
Former CEO and Theranos found Elizabeth Holmes testified this week that she was the victim of sexual and emotional abuse from her former romantic and business partner, Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani.
A federal judge ruled that consumers who used the StubHub mobile app must have their claims heard in court, while consumers who used the StubHub website must proceed through arbitration, except for certain California consumer law claims.
On Monday, November 22, 2021, a class action lawsuit was filed against Sony Interactive Entertainment. The complaint alleges that Sony "tolerates and cultivates" a workplace environment that discriminates against female employees.
The convictions of two men found guilty in the killing of Malcolm X were vacated Thursday afternoon after a 22-month review of the case found that evidence in favor of acquittal had been withheld.
Two California plaintiffs allege that the restaurant chain produces sandwiches, salads, and wraps that contain animal proteins other than tuna, deceiving customers about the contents of these products.
On Saturday, November 6, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit temporarily stayed President Biden's vaccine mandate requiring U.S. companies with 100 or more employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
Ex-Raiders player Henry Ruggs III was involved in a fatal car crash Tuesday morning in Las Vegas. He may face up to 46 years in prison if convicted of driving under the influence causing death or substantial bodily injury and reckless driving.
A roller derby team known as the Guardians argues that the Cleveland MLB team knowingly chose the same name as a replacement for their traditional but racially insensitive name.
On Wednesday, October 20, 2021, the Honorable Jesus G. Bernal of the U.S. District Court, Central District of California, awarded Afrouz Nikmanesh a $27 million judgment in her wrongful termination lawsuit against Walmart. Nikmanesh, a pharmacist formerly employed by Walmart, alleged that the retail giant fired her in retaliation for reporting multiple pharmacy violations and noncompliance with California laws.
A Maryland couple pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to espionage-related charges. The FBI asserts that the couple sold classified Navy data over the course of several months to an undercover agent they believed to be a representative of a foreign power.
The pop singer and songwriter seeks damages of $1 million or more in a lawsuit over royalty agreements signed during her divorce from Sonny Bono.
On October 8, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld summary judgment entered in favor of singer Abel "The Weeknd" Tesfaye. The summary judgment entered in the U.S. District Court, Central District of California, concerned a copyright infringement claim alleging that The Weeknd's song A Lonely Night copied Brian Clover and Scott McCulloch's song I Need to Love.
On Wednesday, a U.S. judge temporarily blocked enforcement of a recent Texas law that bans most abortions. The law, known as S.B. 8, allows private citizens to sue anyone who provides an abortion or aids and abets or intends to aid and abet an abortion.
Activision Blizzard agreed to pay a settlement to alleged victims of discrimination and harassment in its workforce, while improving its culture by changing its policies and practices.
Two internet trade organizations have challenged a Texas law regulating social media companies’ ability to remove users from their platforms. The law, House Bill 20, was signed by Governor Greg Abbott earlier this month.
The National Labor Relations Board and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration are investigating complaints against the tech giant, which also may face a wrongful termination lawsuit by a former senior manager.
On Wednesday, September 15, 2021, DoorDash filed a lawsuit against New York City in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, concerning a law that requires delivery companies to share customer data with restaurants. The law, set to take effect in December, requires companies like DoorDash to provide restaurants fulfilling orders with customer names, phone numbers, email addresses, and delivery addresses. Customers may opt out of sharing this data.
Opening statements in the fraud trial of Elizabeth Holmes, former CEO and founder of Theranos, began on September 8. Holmes is accused of intentionally misrepresenting Theranos’ blood-testing technology and the company’s business performance.
Designed to protect conservative viewpoints on networks like Facebook and Twitter, the proposed law may face constitutional challenges under the First Amendment.
On Thursday, August 26, 2021, the Supreme Court of California issued a ruling in People v. McDaniel, establishing precedent that jury unanimity and reasonable doubt do not apply to the sentencing phase in California criminal law cases where the death penalty is warranted.
A federal bankruptcy judge is likely to approve Purdue Pharma’s bankruptcy plan, but signaled that he would not approve the Sackler family’s sweeping immunity demand as written.
Amazon warns that new bills in Congress could undermine the businesses of third-party sellers on the Amazon marketplace, and it hopes to enlist sellers in its opposition to the bills.
On Thursday, August 12, 2021, a civil rights complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court, District of Nevada, against Nevada Governor Stephen F. Sisolak, Nevada Attorney General Aaron Darnell Ford, and the Clark County School District. The complaint seeks class action certification for alleged civil rights violations against parents and children in the Clark County School District related to Governor Sisolak's recent mandate that all students and staff in the Clark County School District wear a face mask while attending school.
Central Park Five prosecutor Linda Fairstein may sue Netflix for defamation over its portrayal of her in its 2019 series about the case.
A Texas company alleges that Apple infringed patents that cover a method of creating a digital signature and storing it for user authentication in unlocking an electronic device.
On Tuesday, August 4, 2021, SkinnySchool LLC and Mint Rose Day Spa LLC filed a class action lawsuit against Google LLC in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California. The lawsuit claims that Google retained its dominance by control in online advertising when it made a deal with Facebook that gave Facebook an advantage in virtual auctions related to ad rates, thus limiting revenue for online publishers.
The founder and former CEO of Nikola Corporation, a Tesla competitor, was charged in a securities fraud scheme in the Southern District of New York on Thursday. Trevor Milton is accused of defrauding and misleading investors about the development of his company’s products and technologies in order to drive investor demand.
Male employees, supervisors, and executives may have routinely harassed female employees, while refusing to promote qualified women, paying them less than similarly situated men, and preventing them from complaining about workplace misconduct.
On Friday, July 16, 2021, DoorDash and Grubhub filed a complaint against the City and County of San Francisco in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, claiming that the recently introduced permanent cap on additional fees for app-based delivery orders is unconstitutional.
Abortion rights activists and providers filed a federal lawsuit on Tuesday, challenging Texas Senate Bill 8. S.B. 8 bans abortion in Texas after approximately six weeks of pregnancy and allows private citizens to sue any abortion provider or individual who violates the law.
A bipartisan group of state attorneys general argues that Google has used improper anti-competitive methods to force developers and consumers to use its app store.
On Friday, July 2, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled in favor of three Texas attorneys who filed a civil rights lawsuit alleging that mandatory registration with the State Bar of Texas violated their First Amendment rights. The lawyers claimed that their rights were violated due to the State Bar of Texas's engagement in political and ideological activities not germane to the interests in regulating the legal profession.
On Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Arizona’s laws prohibiting ‘ballot harvesting’ and allowing counties to discard ballots cast in the wrong precinct.
The litigation involved voice command and bar code scanning technology that Amazon had promoted in connection with online shopping at Whole Foods.
The United States Supreme Court ruled 8-1 in favor of protecting public school students' free speech rights on Wednesday, June 23, 2021, in Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L. The ruling expounds upon Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, bringing student free speech jurisprudence into the internet era. "[S]ometimes it is necessary to protect the superfluous in order to preserve the necessary."
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday in favor of a Philadelphia Catholic foster agency accused of discrimination by the City of Philadelphia.
Rideshare drivers are classified as independent contractors rather than employees, so they are not entitled to health care coverage through Uber except in California, as provided by a distinctive state law.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a police officer who provided information from a police license plate database to an acquaintance in exchange for around $5,000 did not violate the law.
Tech industry groups argue that the law violates the Constitution by exposing social media companies to potential fines and lawsuits based on their application of content moderation rules.
A class action lawsuit was filed against Roblox Corporation in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, on Tuesday, May 25, 2021. The lawsuit alleges that Roblox, in a "sham 'content moderation'" scheme, deletes content paid for by users without providing refunds on the grounds that the content violates the platform's policies. At least 70% of Roblox's users are under the age of 18, and over 50% of Roblox's users are under the age of 13.
In an antitrust case brought by Epic Games, Inc., Apple has asked the court to dismiss a claim that its iOS is an essential facility. While Epic’s claim iOS is an essential facility is only one of ten counts alleged against Apple, a win for Apple on this issue could be impactful.
A federal judge ruled that Oprah did not have plausible access to the allegedly infringed memoir, nor did her TV series resemble the memoir with sufficient precision to justify a finding of liability.
On Tuesday, May 11, 2021, Judge Harlin D. Hale of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of Texas, dismissed the National Rifle Association of America's Chapter 11 bankruptcy case. Judge Hale warned that, should the NRA file a new bankruptcy case, the Court would consider appointing a trustee to fulfill the fiduciary duties required for a debtor in possession.
On Wednesday, the Facebook Oversight Board upheld former President Donald Trump’s January suspension from the platform, citing his creation of “an environment where a serious risk of violence was possible.”
The tech giant and the luxury designer are alleging claims based on breach of contract and intellectual property infringement.
The United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments today, April 28, 2021, in Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L. At issue in the case is whether the precedential case, Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, applies to student speech that occurs off-campus.
Derek Chauvin was convicted of second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter on Tuesday after three weeks of trial and approximately one day of deliberation.
Former employees of HP are alleging that the tech giant intentionally sought to target older workers for replacement by younger employees, violating federal and state age discrimination laws.
On Friday, April 9, 2021, the United States Supreme Court voted 5-4 to grant an application for injunctive relief in Ritesh Tandon, et al v. Gavin Newson, Governor of California, et al. The lawsuit concerns California's restrictions on at-home religious gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals previously denied the request for an injunction. This marks the fifth time that the Supreme Court has rejected the Ninth Circuit's analysis of California's COVID-19 restrictions on religious exercise.
Utah may be the first state to enact a specific law requiring biological fathers to pay half of a mother’s pregnancy-related medical costs. The law will take effect on May 5.
The court determined that the law prohibiting secret recordings of phone calls covers parties to a call as well as third parties who are eavesdropping on it.
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling on Friday, March 26, 2021, holding that Andy Warhol's series of prints depicting the musical artist Prince are not transformative fair use under copyright law. The three-judge panel further ruled that Warhol's prints and Lynn Goldsmith's photograph, the source material for Warhol's prints, are substantially similar as a matter of law.
The recently implemented California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and the recently passed Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act have policymakers and regulators gearing up for more state legislation and potential federal input.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has launched a special investigation into a Michigan car accident involving a Tesla, calling attention to safety issues with its self driving technology.
On Tuesday, March 16, 2021, the Judicial Conference of the United States proposed the addition of 79 new federal judgeships along with initiatives to improve courthouse security and personal security for judges. The personal security initiatives are proposed in light of the murder last year of Daniel Anderl, the son of Judge Esther Salas. Despite bipartisan support, Congress did not act on the Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act before adjourning in December, but the bill's cosponsors plan to reintroduce the bill soon.
Recreational marijuana may soon be legalized in Mexico. The bill, approved by the Chamber of Deputies and soon to be introduced to the Senate, not only allows adults to smoke marijuana recreationally, but allows permit holders to cultivate and sell it.
A proposed state law would require app store operators such as Apple and Google to allow app developers to use their own payment processing systems, thus avoiding fees for the use of systems provided by app stores.
On Tuesday, February 23, 2021, Judge John A. Gibney, Jr., U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia, ruled that travelers have a clearly established right to record TSA screeners. Judge Gibney further ruled that the TSA agents involved in the lawsuit are not protected by qualified immunity.
A Texas woman has filed a proposed class action against the power provider Griddy Energy LLC for over $1 billion in damages.
Companies with $100 million or more in global annual gross revenue would need to pay a percentage of the revenue received from digital advertisements shown in Maryland.
On Tuesday, February 16, 2021, the Honorable Bennie G. Thompson, Member of the United States House of Representatives, filed a lawsuit, in his personal capacity, against Donald J. Trump and Rudy Giuliani, in their personal capacities, alleging a violation of the Ku Klux Klan Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1985(1). The lawsuit stems from Trump and Giuliani's roles in the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot. The complaint also names as defendants Proud Boys International, L.L.C. and Oath Keepers, two right-wing extremist groups associated with the riot.
Virginia is poised to become the second state in the country to adopt a comprehensive online data protection law for consumers.
The second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump began this week in the Senate with Trump’s lawyers arguing in part that the former President’s statements are protected under the First Amendment as free speech.
The National Labor Relations Board rejected efforts by the corporate giant to postpone an election or prevent employees from voting remotely, which echoed Amazon's previous attempts to hinder unionization at its facilities.
Robinhood, the online brokerage firm known for its stock trading app, now faces over 30 lawsuits in 10 states related to the brokerage firm's GameStop stock freeze last week. Members of the /r/WallStreetBets subreddit helped propel the stock values of multiple "meme stocks," including AMC, Bed Bath & Beyond, BlackBerry, GameStop, and Nokia, garnering massive media attention. Amidst the unprecedented surge, Robinhood abruptly froze trading on several of these stocks in a "risk-management decision." A number of the lawsuits filed against Robinhood allege market manipulation.
A federal judge found that the social network had not provided adequate evidence to support its complaint of antitrust and other business violations by hosting provider Amazon Web Services.
In a second defamation suit, Dominion Voting Systems filed a complaint against lawyer Rudy Giuliani on Monday for his statements concerning Dominion’s voting machines during the 2020 election.
On Monday, January 18, 2021, Paul MacNeal Davis, a participant in the January 6th U.S. Capitol riot, filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court, Western District of Texas, alleging that the 117th United States Congress is illegitimate due to voting changes made in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The lawsuit is filed on behalf of Latinos for Trump, Blacks for Trump, and five individuals. Davis was fired from his in-house counsel position after posting a video of his participation in the U.S. Capitol riot.
Filed in a federal district court in New York, the lawsuit claims that the e-commerce company is working with publishers to stifle the competition.
Kevin Wooten, an English teacher in North Carolina, has sued Netflix for alleged copyright infringement related to its show “Outer Banks.” Wooten wrote a novel called “Pennywise: The Hunt for Blackbeard’s Treasure” in 2016. He argues that Netflix stole material from his book for “Outer Banks,” based on parallels between the…
On Thursday, January 7, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a case by Republican Congressman Louie Gohmert asking it to prohibit Vice President Mike Pence from certifying the election results.
More than 400 Google engineers and other workers have formed a union, a rarity in Silicon Valley.
Followers of institutional accounts will receive a notice asking them whether they want to continue following these accounts, which will technically start at zero followers.
On November 19, 2020, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) proposed an expansion of facial recognition at the border to include photographs of every non-citizen coming in or out of the United States, regardless of their means of travel, entry and exit points, or even age.
On Monday, December 21, 2020, Google, Microsoft, Cisco, Github, LinkedIn, VMWare, and Internet Association filed a joint amici curiae brief in support of Facebook in NSO Group Technologies Limited, et al v. WhatsApp Inc., et al. The case is on appeal from the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, concerning a lawsuit filed by WhatsApp, owned by Facebook, alleging that NSO Group's spyware was used to hack multiple devices through a vulnerability in WhatsApp's messaging service. NSO Group previously argued that it should enjoy sovereign immunity since its tools are sold to foreign governments.
The U.S. Supreme Court announced that it would review a case testing whether the NCAA's limits on compensation for student athletes violate antitrust laws.
This decision could guide many other courts across the U.S. in determining whether strict liability as a retailer or distributor should apply to online marketplaces like Amazon.
On Friday, December 11, 2020, the State of California filed a motion for joinder in United States of America et al v. Google, LLC, the antitrust lawsuit filed by the United States Department of Justice in October against Google. Eleven states are already named parties in the complaint; California is the first Democratic state to join the lawsuit.
The United States House of Representatives passed H.R. 8235: the Open Courts Act of 2020 on Tuesday, December 8, 2020. The bill seeks to provide free access to federal court documents filed on PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records). The federal judiciary opposes the bill, citing "devastating budgetary and operational impact on the Judiciary."
YETI is the latest company to join Amazon's crackdown on counterfeiters with a joint lawsuit filed in the United States District Court the Western District of Washington.
DoorDash reached a settlement with the District of Columbia Office of the Attorney General that included payments worth $2.5 million and greater transparency in tipping policies.
Lennon Image Technologies, LLC filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Target Corporation on Friday, November 13, 2020, in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas. The lawsuit concerns United States Patent No. 6,624,843, entitled "Customer Image Capture and Use Thereof in a Retailing System," and alleges that Target infringes the patent through its Beauty Studio Tool.
The California Department of Public Health has deemed Tesla employees "essential workers" in the state.
The Trump administration had issued an executive order banning TikTok from operating in the U.S., but a court had blocked the enforcement of the order.
On Thursday, November 12, 2020, a panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals, First Circuit, ruled in favor of Harvard University in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College. The panel ruled that Harvard's race-conscious undergraduate admissions process does not violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
An Airbnb host filed a class-action lawsuit against the short-term rental vacation company on Thursday, November 5, 2020, alleging that Airbnb did not properly compensate hosts for guests who canceled bookings related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, and brings claims for breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and violation of unfair competition law. The complaint requests damages and appropriate injunctive and equitable relief.
Ballot measures intended to reform policing and other criminal justice changes gained approval in many jurisdictions last week.
The judge found that Apple met the relevant standards according to FCC tests, and considering alternative tests would undermine efficiency and uniformity.
On Friday, October 23, 2020, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Apple, Inc., on behalf of Ohio residents, alleging that Apple "promotes, enables, and profits from games downloaded from its App Store. . . that constitute illegal gambling." Plaintiff Sean McCloskey filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio, seeking recovery of all money paid through in-app purchases in gambling games made through Apple's App Store, pursuant to Section 3763.02 of the Ohio Revised Code.
If it passes, a privacy ballot measure in California could give you more control over personal data.
Many law school graduates who took the online bar exam in New York State reported technical difficulties and a negative experience.
On Wednesday, October 7, 2020, the First District Court of Appeal in California ruled that California law prevents anyone from recording either side of a phone conversation without both parties' consent. San Francisco attorney Eric Gruber previously filed suit against Yelp, Inc., alleging violations of the California Invasion of Privacy Act ("CIPA") (Pen. Code, § 630 et seq.) for recording conversations between himself and Yelp sales representatives without his notice or consent. The trial court ruled in Yelp's favor on a motion for summary judgment, finding no triable issues as to whether Yelp violated CIPA. The First District Court of Appeal reversed and remanded the trial court's decision.
On Tuesday, October 13, 2020, the United States Supreme Court denied a petition for a writ of certiorari in Malwarebytes, Inc. v. Enigma Software Group USA, LLC. The high court appeal stems from a case wherein Malwarebytes used software to block its users from accessing products from its competitor, Enigma. The district court rejected Enigma's claim based on immunity provided by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. The Ninth Circuit panel reversed the district court's ruling, stating that "[i]mmunity under that section does not extend to anticompetitive conduct." Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas penned a concurring opinion to the denial of certiorari, suggesting that a review of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act may be warranted in an appropriate case.
In a reversal, Facebook is increasing its enforcement against hate speech.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has filed felony charges against Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman based on a robocalling program that they operated in August.
On Friday, September 25, 2020, U.S. District Court Judge Nancy D. Freudenthal granted Google's motion to dismiss in a privacy lawsuit concerning Google's G Suite for Education. The court dismissed state law claims on the basis of declining to exercise jurisdiction, but granted Google's motion to dismiss as to the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act claim brought by the State of New Mexico.
Despite the Trump administration's attempt to ban the app in the United States, TikTok has been partially granted a request for a temporary injunction.
During the coronavirus pandemic, California joined many other states in adjusting court procedures to reduce the risk of spreading the virus. Now, Governor Gavin Newsom has signed a law that will make some of these reforms permanent. The law takes effect immediately. Depositions now may be taken remotely rather than in…
US Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away on Friday, September 18, 2020 at the age of 87 due to complications of metastatic cancer of the pancreas. Serving on the nation’s highest court for 27 years, she was known for her role in advancing equality and legal rights related to gender.
On Monday, September 14, 2020, three law school graduates with disabilities filed a lawsuit against the State Bar of California and the National Conference of Board Examiners alleging disability discrimination in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the California Unruh Act. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California and concerns the State Bar of California's remote administration of the bar exam during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In anticipation of the upcoming US presidential election, Google is removing certain autocomplete search suggestions.
A video and e-commerce technology company has sued the rapper for breaching an oral partnership and a non-disclosure agreement.
On Thursday, August 24, 2020, U.S. District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers issued a ruling on Epic Games, Inc.'s request for temporary restraining order against Apple Inc. The order grants Epic Games' request for a temporary restraining order against Apple from restricting, suspending, or terminating any affiliate of Epic Games from Apple's Developer Program. However, the order denies Epic Games' request for a temporary restraining order against Apple's ban of Epic Games' videogame, Fortnite, from Apple's App Store.
The Texas Supreme Court recently announced that it will allow service of process in civil cases through social media or email if the usual methods of serving in-person or through the mail fail.
The Arizona Board of Regents is suing in federal court to shut down an Instagram account that uses ASU trademarks in spreading misinformation about the coronavirus.
On Monday, August 17, 2020, Children's Health Defense filed a lawsuit against Facebook, Inc. in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California. The lawsuit alleges that Facebook acted jointly or in concert with federal government agencies or actors to deny Children's Health Defense's First Amendment speech and Fifth Amendment property rights. At issue in the case is Facebook's use of fact-checking warning labels and Facebook's disabling of the fundraising feature on Children's Health Defense's Facebook page.
Democratic state attorneys general across the country are reportedly in the process of filing lawsuits against the Postmaster General of the United States Postal Service (USPS) and the federal government in response to changes to postal operations that challengers argue could undermine mail-in voting during the November general election. In light of the backlash that has resulted, the USPS has reversed course on operational changes including removing mailboxes, reducing hours, and eliminating overtime.
The website recently announced updates to its policies on deceptive videos and other content designed to meddle with the voting process.
The lawsuit alleges that Uber and Lyft drivers are employees rather than independent contractors, so they should receive the benefits to which employees are legally entitled.
On Wednesday, July 29, 2020, Triller, Inc. sued TikTok, Inc. and its parent company, ByteDance Ltd., in the U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas, over patent infringement claims. The complaint alleges that TikTok and ByteDance infringe on Triller's U.S. Patent No. 9,691,429 for "[s]ystems and methods for creating music videos synchronized with an audio track."
A teen in Tampa, Florida, is accused of taking over the Twitter accounts of Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, and other celebrities.
Tesla alleges that former Tesla employees who now work at Rivian brought confidential and proprietary information to their new jobs.
On Friday, July 17, 2020, Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court, District of Oregon, against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Marshals Service, and the Federal Protective Service. The lawsuit is filed on behalf of Oregon citizens and alleges that defendants have violated the First, Fourth, and Fifth Amendment rights of Oregon citizens by seizing and detaining citizens without probable cause for protesting against police brutality.
Governor Brian Kemp of Georgia has filed a lawsuit against Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, seeking to bar her from ordering city residents to wear face coverings to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The lawsuit comes days after Kemp issued an executive order prohibiting municipalities from mandating that residents utilize face masks. Kemp argues that Bottoms does not have the authority to modify or change his executive orders.
Instacart is suing Uber's Cornershop grocery service as both companies are taking advantage of the demand for food deliveries during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A consumer in New York alleges that LinkedIn violated consumer privacy by programming its apps on Apple devices to collect sensitive data.
On Thursday, July 2, 2020, Grammy award-winning composer and musician Maria Schneider filed a class action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, against YouTube, LLC, Google, LLC, and Alphabet, Inc. The lawsuit concerns copyright piracy on YouTube and alleges that YouTube's copyright management tool, Content ID, "actually insulates the vast majority of known and repeated copyright infringers from YouTube's repeat infringer policy" and leaves plaintiffs in the class with "no meaningful ability to police the extensive infringement of their copyrighted work." The complaint requests, among other things, equitable relief in the form of providing Content ID to all copyright owners and monetary relief in the form of defendants' profits derived from copyright infringement on YouTube.
A Las Vegas resident has filed a lawsuit against the City of Sacramento, California regarding a section of the city code that requires people to stand when the national anthem is played. He alleges that he plans to attend at least one Sacramento Kings NBA game in the foreseeable future, but that it will be impossible for him to go if he must subject himself to criminal prosecution for exercising his freedom of speech by refusing to stand for the anthem at such an event.
In a new complaint brought by Facebook operations program manager Oscar Veneszee Jr. on behalf of himself and all other black workers at Facebook, employees are claiming that there has been a “pattern or practice of discrimination against Black employees, including in evaluations, promotions, and pay.”
The Court determined that internet companies can trademark the combination of a generic word and ".com" if the combination has acquired a secondary meaning.
On Monday, June 22, 2020, the United States Supreme Court issued a ruling in Liu v. Securities and Exchange Commission, 591 U.S. ___ (2020). In an 8-1 decision, the Supreme Court held that, in civil enforcement cases brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission, "[a] disgorgement award that does not exceed a wrongdoer's net profits and is awarded for victims is equitable relief permissible under [15 U.S.C.] §78u(d)(5)."
A ruling issued last week by the US District Court for the District of Maryland states that the federal government must face a lawsuit filed by the families of US citizen children whose parents have been denied coronavirus stimulus checks due to their status as undocumented immigrants. The court rejected the Department of Justice's arguments that federal officials are immune from constitutional claims arising from how Congress and the US Treasury Department decided to administer relief funds.
The dispute between the tech giant and the smart speaker maker raises issues involving antitrust and anti-competition in addition to intellectual property.
Two plaintiffs have filed a lawsuit against the City of Cincinnati, alleging violations of the First and Fourteenth Amendments arising from the curfew the City recently imposed in light of ongoing protests against police violence and systemic racism. The plaintiffs state that they wanted to participate in the protests, but did not for fear of being subjected to arrest or injury due to police use of tear gas, pepper projectiles, rubber bullets, and other displays of force.
The U.S. Congress plans to update the Digital Millennium Copyright Act later this year. A lengthy report produced by the U.S. Copyright Office suggests that this update may enhance protections for rights holders.
On Tuesday, May 19, 2020, a class action lawsuit was filed against the College Entrance Examination Board ("College Board") in the U.S. District Court, Central District of California. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of high school students who took Advanced Placement ("AP") testing online as a result of the shift to distance learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Deloitte Consulting LLP has been sued by a group of Ohio residents in two proposed class actions after their personal information was compromised on state websites the company built to administer coronavirus-related unemployment benefits. Officials in Ohio, Colorado, and Illinois announced that applicant information including home addresses and social security numbers had been exposed to the public on these sites. The lawsuits have been filed in federal court in New York, as well as state court in Ohio.
Ubisoft argues that the American tech giants should have removed a mobile game from their digital marketplaces that infringed on the popular Rainbow Six Siege game.
On Tuesday, May 12, 2020, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed and remanded the United States District Court for the District of Oregon's decision in Soul'd Out Productions, LLC v. Anschutz Entertainment Group, Inc. (Case No. 19-35301). The district court previously dismissed Soul'd Out Productions, LLC's ("Soul'd Out") claims of tortious interference and unlawful competition against Anschutz Entertainment Group, Inc. ("AEG") for lack of standing. The three-judge panel for the Ninth Circuit found that "[n]o plaintiff is better suited to assert the tort claims alleged here, and there is therefore no prudential reason to deny Soul'd Out standing."
Electric car maker Tesla has filed a lawsuit against Alameda County, California, where its Fremont production plant is located, in light of County restrictions prohibiting the Tesla factory from fully reopening pursuant to the County's current shelter in place order. The lawsuit seeks, among other things, to enjoin the County from enforcing its order against the company, and a declaratory judgment that the order is unconstitutional as applied to Tesla.
Thousands of female Oracle employees have alleged that the tech company paid them less than male employees with substantially similar jobs.
On Monday, April 27, 2020, in Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, Inc., the United States Supreme Court ruled that annotations accompanying the Official Code of Georgia Annotated were not protected under copyright law. In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Public.Resource.Org, a nonprofit company devoted to public access to government records and legal materials.
A class action lawsuit has been filed in Illinois federal court naming defendants including President Donald Trump, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin by a US citizen who alleges that he was unlawfully denied a stimulus payment because he is married to an immigrant. The plaintiff claims that the federal government's restriction allowing only married couples who both have valid Social Security numbers to receive payments is a form of discrimination and violates the US Constitution.
A lawsuit between competing tobacco companies involves the tobacco heating technology used in their devices, which are alternatives to traditional cigarettes.
On Tuesday, March 31, 2020, Judge John Padova, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, ruled mostly in favor of Epic Games, Inc. in a lawsuit involving the Fortnite dance emote "Phone It In." Judge Padova granted Epic Games, Inc.'s motion to dismiss concerning plaintiff Leo Pellegrino's causes of action concerning the following claims: (1) unauthorized use of name or likeness; (2) misappropriation of publicity; (3) invasion of privacy by misappropriation of identity; (4) unjust enrichment; (5) unfair competition; (6) trademark infringement under Pennsylvania common law; and (7) trademark dilution under the Lanham Act. However, Judge Padova ruled that plaintiff's claim for trademark infringement under the Lanham Act could proceed.
A Zoom shareholder has filed a class action lawsuit against the online videoconferencing company in the US District Court for the Northern District of California. The lawsuit claims that Zoom failed to disclose its lack of end-to-end encryption, and overstated its privacy protections.
The COVID-19 Community Mobility Reports website is designed to show the extent to which people in various areas are reducing their normal activity to slow the spread of the virus.
On Thursday, March 26, 2020, Judge Laura Taylor Swain of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York granted summary judgment in favor of defendants, 2K Games, Inc. and Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc., in a lawsuit concerning five tattoos appearing in three basketball simulation video games. Plaintiff Solid Oak Sketches, LLC claimed copyright infringement of tattoos depicted on NBA players Eric Bledsoe, LeBron James, and Kenyon Martin in NBA 2K14, NBA 2K15, and NBA 2K16. The tattoos in question were included in the basketball simulation video games "[t]o further the goal of simulating an actual NBA game."
The National Rifle Association (NRA) and affiliated parties are suing the governor of California along with a number of Los Angeles area and other government officials in response to the decision to close gun stores due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The plaintiffs, which include individuals, nonprofits, and a gun retailer, allege that the Los Angeles County Sheriff's decision to order gun retailers to close because of their "non-essential" business status violates the constitutional right to bear arms. The suit also claims that current county and state-wide orders affecting gun store operations are unconstitutionally vague.
Earlier this week, Google decided to extend the contracts of many temporary staff members by 60 days. These extensions apply automatically to staff members whose assignments were due to end between March 20 and May 15 of this year. Even if an assignment has reached its maximum length, a 60-day extension…
On Monday, March 16, 2020, New York design firm Uber, Inc. filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, against the ride-sharing company Uber Technologies, Inc., alleging "willful, wanton, and intentional infringement, deceptive trade practices, and unfairly competitive use" of the design firm's trademark. The design firm requested relief in the form of damages, an injunction, and for the ride-sharing company to implement corrective advertising in the form of a campaign.
In a patent infringement lawsuit filed in Delaware federal court, IBM claims that Airbnb has unlawfully been using multiple IBM patents in running its online short-term rental platform business. IBM alleges that it has been attempting to negotiate a licensing agreement with Airbnb since 2014, but that these efforts have been unsuccessful.
A federal district court judge ruled that Google is not a state actor, so the First Amendment does not apply to its efforts to regulate its platform.
On Tuesday, March 3, 2020, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit vacated a district court's grant of summary judgment in Razak v. Uber Technologies, Inc. The lawsuit involves plaintiff drivers who used Uber's ride-sharing app to provide limousine services in Philadelphia via UberBLACK. Plaintiffs brought claims under the federal minimum wage and overtime requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act, and the Pennsylvania Wage Payment and Collection Law.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has ruled that the Trump Administration failed to follow procedures set forth under federal law in appointing Ken Cuccinelli to a leadership role in US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in 2019. As a result, two rule changes to the asylum process implemented under his leadership should be considered nullified, according to the judge.
The lawsuit alleges that Google uses its G Suite for Education platform to mine the personal information of schoolchildren, violating federal and state laws.
On Tuesday, February 18, 2020, United States District Court Judge Amos L. Mazzant of the Eastern District of Texas denied Huawei Technologies USA, Inc.'s motion for summary judgment in a lawsuit challenging the National Defense Authorization Act ("NDAA"). Huawei, a Chinese telecommunications equipment maker, challenged the constitutionality of Section 889 of the NDAA, which prevents federal agencies and their contractors from utilizing Huawei's equipment and services. Judge Mazzant granted the U.S. Government's motion for summary judgment, concluding that Congress acted appropriately within its powers.
Nanoco, a British nanotechnology company that makes quantum dots for vibrant screen displays, announced that it has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Samsung. The case was filed last week in Texas federal court, and alleges that Samsung has willfully infringed Nanoco's patents with regard to importing and selling televisions that unlawfully incorporated Nanoco's technology.
The federal appeals court allowed the FCC to continue giving internet service providers substantial discretion to control the way in which consumers access the internet.
On Wednesday, January 29, 2020, a federal jury reached a verdict in California Institute of Technology v. Broadcom Limited and Apple, Inc, a lawsuit involving alleged patent infringement of the California Institute of Technology's patents on Wi-Fi networking technologies. The jury awarded $1.1 billion in damages to the university for the patent infringement. Specifically, the jury awarded the university $270 million for Broadcom's infringement and $837 million for Apple's infringement.
A $550 million settlement has been announced in a class action lawsuit against Facebook alleging that it violated an Illinois privacy law through its use of facial recognition technology. Since 2010, the social media platform has used a photo recognition feature on users' photos in order to offer Tag Suggestions. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit alleged that the practice of collecting biometric data of this nature without users' permission or any information as to how long the information would be kept violated Illinois law.
Tech giant Google faces scrutiny from state attorneys general and the federal Justice Department for potential violations related to online searches, advertising, and Android products.
On Friday, January 17, 2020, a three-judge panel in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed and remanded a climate change lawsuit brought by Our Children's Trust against the federal government. The panel reversed the district court's interlocutory orders and remanded the case to the district court with instructions to dismiss the case for lack of standing. The lawsuit involves 21 young people who allege climate-change related injuries caused by the federal government's "permit[ting], authoriz[ing], and subsidiz[ing] fossil fuel."
Last week, 14 states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit against the federal government to challenge new regulations put forth by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) that are estimated to cause almost 700,000 people to lose food stamp assistance. The proposed changes would affect states' ability to obtain waivers for work requirements that apply to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by implementing more restrictive definitions of exceptions to work mandates related to things including insufficient job availability, geographic boundaries, and duration.
The proposed law would criminalize the use or possession of cell phones by Vermont residents who are under 21.
A new lawsuit filed on behalf of 12 plaintiffs aims to protect immigrant children from "aging out" of the immigration system when they turn 21 if their parents are H-1B visa holders from India. Dependents of H-1B holders have the ability to remain in dependent H-4 status if their wait for lawful permanent resident status is increased due to per country limits on the number of immigrant visas. However, current per country limits and national origin-specific visa bulletin charts dictate that children from India are subject to decades-long waits, which causes them to lose eligibility to immigrate with their parents when they turn 21.
A state court judge struck down a New York City rule that targeted Uber and Lyft in an alleged effort to reduce traffic congestion in Manhattan.
In what is believed to be the first settlement of its kind in the country, Sutter Health has agreed to pay $575 million and be the subject of ongoing monitoring in a class action antitrust lawsuit. The action, which was brought by the California Attorney General, unions, and employers, alleged anti-competitive conduct by the large Northern California health system, and represented renewed interest in major health care providers using their market share to discourage competition.
The shareholders allege that the Alphabet board improperly covered up incidents of sexual harassment and other misconduct by company executives.
On Tuesday, December 10, 2019, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania ruled against actor Bill Cosby in his appeal to overturn three counts of aggravated indecent assault. Cosby and his lawyers presented eight (8) grounds for appeal. The appeal was denied in a nintey-four (94) page order, written by President Judge Emeritus, John T. Bender.
Seven transgender women who are inmates in Colorado men's state prisons have filed a class action lawsuit against multiple government defendants, alleging that abuse occurring in those prisons violates state anti-discrimination law, and that state prison officials are discriminating against them on the basis of gender identity. The case was filed on behalf of an estimated 170 transgender women, and alleges that they are being held in unsafe conditions which have led to systemic violence, rape, and harassment.
Operators of websites on which users advertise firearms for sale are not legally responsible for illegal sales and resulting injuries or deaths.
On Monday, November 18, 2019, Judge Edward M. Chen of the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, issued an order declining to grant a motion for partial summary judgment in a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union against multiple federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Homeland Security, and other federal immigration agencies. The ACLU seeks information, via a FOIA request, as to the federal agencies' surveillance of social media users. Judge Chen's ruling allows the case to move forward.
Last week, Judge William Alsup of the US District Court for the Northern District of California joined federal courts in New York and Washington state in striking down the Denial of Care Rule put forth by the US Department of Health and Human Services earlier this year. Judge Alsup declared the rule, which would permit health care workers to decline to provide services, care, or information to patients due to the worker's personal religious or moral beliefs, discriminatory and unconstitutional.
The Court's decision in a battle over basic software codes will end a decade of litigation between the two tech companies and shape the future of the software industry.
A former employee of a Michigan McDonald's franchise has filed a class action lawsuit in state court alleging a "culture of sexual harassment" at the company, and seeking $5 million in damages for the purported class members. If the case moves forward as a class action, over four dozen women who have worked at the restaurant in question could join the lawsuit.
Rather than suing hacking websites directly, Facebook is suing the companies that provide hosting services for these websites, alleging trademark infringement and cybersquatting.
On Tuesday, October 29, 2019, Judge Myron H. Thompson of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama granted a preliminary injunction in Robinson et al v. Marshall, a lawsuit challenging Alabama Act No. 2019-189. The statute imposes criminal liability on abortion providers for almost all abortions, whether completed or attempted, regardless of fetal viability. The preliminary injunction prevents enforcement of the statute only as applied to pre-viability abortions. The statute is set to go into effect on November 15, 2019.
Plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the organizers of a 2017 white power rally in Charlottesville, Virginia are seeking to invoke a Civil War-era statute in utilizing the defendants' online statements to prove that they engaged in an illegal conspiracy to commit racially motivated violence. Defendants insist that their actions are protected by the First Amendment, though the judge in this case has declined to dismiss the plaintiffs' complaint on free speech grounds. The outcome of this case will likely be a strong indicator of whether and to what extent the statute at issue can be relied upon to curb online hate speech and its consequences.
Senators Chuck Schumer and Tom Cotton recently sent a letter to US intelligence officials requesting an investigation of the security risk.
The proposed Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act would end per-country caps on green cards, a reform endorsed by Apple CEO Tim Cook on Twitter.
On Tuesday, October 15, 2019, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ordered rehearing en banc in District of Columbia v. Donald J. Trump. The lawsuit, filed by the attorneys general of Maryland and the District of Columbia, alleges violations by President Donald J. Trump of the Foreign and Domestic Emoluments Clauses of the U.S. Constitution.
The mother of an 18-year-old Juul user who passed away due to respiratory complications has filed what appears to be the first wrongful death lawsuit against vaping company Juul. The lawsuit alleges that the teen was first exposed to Juul's advertising in 2015, became strongly addicted to its nicotine vaping products, and in 2018 was found dead by his father.
YouTube is allowing politicians and their campaigns to purchase limited ad space, including ads that target important voting states like Ohio and South Carolina.
Gigi Sohn, a former counselor to the Federal Communications Commission during the administration of President Barack Obama, has urged the federal government to pass a law to protect the privacy of consumers. Sohn argued that consumers may suffer more than just financial losses due to violations of their privacy. She noted…
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has filed a lawsuit against Match Group for fraudulent business practices. The agency alleges that Match, which owns most major online dating platforms, has knowingly profited from deceiving hundreds of thousands of users into purchasing subscriptions on Match.com, and also exposed them to potential fraud.
Bandai Namco is claiming that AtGames misrepresented itself in negotiations for the royalty rights to the game.
Detroit police plan to use facial recognition technology to help investigate allegations of home invasions and certain violent crimes, despite concerns over accuracy and fairness.
On Monday, September 9, 2019, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the compensatory damages award of $5.25 million in litigation stemming from author John Steinbeck's estate, brought by Steinbeck's stepdaughter, Waverly Scott Kaffaga. In its ruling, the Ninth Circuit vacated the $7.9 million punitive damage award against Steinbeck's daughter-in-law, Gail Knight Steinbeck.
Governor Andrew Cuomo has issued an emergency executive order aiming to ban the sale of flavored e-cigarettes in New York. Announcing the action this past weekend, Cuomo accused e-cigarette manufacturers of recklessly and intentionally targeting young people with fruit and candy flavored e-cigarettes in an effort to get them addicted to nicotine. He also indicated that state health officials and police will be increasing enforcement efforts against retailers who illegally sell e-cigarettes to underage buyers.
The National Labor Relations Board ordered Google to remind employees that they have the right to talk about politics and other issues at work.
Led by New York State Attorney General Letitia James, the attorneys general of eight states and the District of Columbia will investigate Facebook for possible violations of antitrust laws. The investigation arises from concerns over the dominance of Facebook in its industry, and it will examine whether Facebook may be restricting the choices available to consumers.
On Friday, August 30, 2019, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit rejected lawyer Arnold Fleck's challenge to the State Bar Association of North Dakota's collection of mandatory bar association dues. Fleck v. Wetch, No. 16-4564 (8th Cir. 2019), was remanded to the Eighth Circuit from the United States Supreme Court in light of the Supreme Court's June 2018 ruling in Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, 585 U.S. ___ (2018), holding that public-sector unions may not collect mandatory fees from nonmember employees unless the employees waive their First Amendment rights.
Singer Ariana Grande has filed a $10 million lawsuit against clothing retailer Forever 21 and a related beauty company, claiming that they misappropriated her name, image, and likeness to promote their products following failed endorsement deal talks between Grande and Forever 21. Grande claims that after she declined to enter into the deal due to an insufficient financial offer, Forever 21 and beauty company Riley Rose hired a lookalike model and launched a social media campaign intended to coincide with the release of her fifth album.
Walmart is suing Tesla for compensation and the removal of its solar panels after alleged problems with their condition and maintenance caused fires at several Walmart stores.
On Friday, August 16, 2019, Judge Brian C. Wimes of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri ruled that Mike Campbell was deprived of his constitutional right to free speech when Missouri Representative Cheri Toalson Reisch blocked Campbell from her Twitter page after Campbell retweeted a comment criticizing Reisch's political views. Judge Wimes granted Campbell's request for declaratory and injunctive relief against Reisch under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
Fifteen plaintiffs and two nonprofit organizations have filed a new class action lawsuit seeking improvement of what is reported to be severely inadequate healthcare in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facilities. Filed by the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Civil Rights Education and Enforcement Center, Disability Rights Advocates, and the law firm of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, the lawsuit does not seek money damages, but instead requests that ICE closely track these conditions and improve healthcare at its facilities.
Citing flaws in the current technology, a federal judge has ordered Georgia officials to stop using its outdated electronic voting machines by the end of 2019.
The technology giant could face billions of dollars in damages after a panel of federal judges allowed a class action lawsuit by Illinois users to move forward.
On Monday, August 1, 2019, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit held that KWP, a seven year old boy attending the Kansas City Public Schools system, did not have his constitutional rights violated by Officer Brandon Craddock or the school's principal, Anne Wallace, when KWP was handcuffed for twenty minutes by the officer on school grounds. The Court further ruled that both the officer and principal met the requirements for qualified immunity on KWP's claims of unreasonable seizure and excessive force in violation of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments, brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
In the aftermath of a March 2019 Capital One data breach that reportedly compromised the data of over 100 million Capital One customers and credit card applicants, plaintiffs are suing not only the credit card company but also the software development platform where the alleged perpetrator posted information about the breach. The hack is said to have exposed the social security numbers, bank account numbers, and credit card applications of millions of people in the US and Canada.
Last week, a federal judge in Santa Ana, California ruled that the Second Amendment does not prevent California from enacting reasonable gun safety laws. This case arose when the California Rifle and Pistol Association, part of the National Rifle Association, challenged a state law that prevents California residents from making, owning,…
On Wednesday, July 24, 2019, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia declined to impose a temporary restraining order which would pause the Trump administration's new rule limiting asylum requests from migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. The new rule requires that migrants and refugees passing through a third country en route to the United States must seek asylum from said third country in order to apply for asylum in the United States. Under the new rule, migrant and refugee Hondurans and Salvadorans must be denied asylum in Guatemala or Mexico before seeking asylum in the United States, and Guatemalans must be denied asylum in Mexico in order to apply for asylum in the United States.
Last week a joint motion for approval was filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California reflecting a settlement agreement between Google and 227 people alleging age discrimination in hiring by the tech giant. The $11 million settlement will be comprised of a minimum amount of over $11,000 for each plaintiff, as well as additional amounts for lost wages on a case-by case basis. As part of the settlement, Google denies having discriminated on the basis of age.
Senator Chuck Schumer sent a letter to the FBI and the FTC last Wednesday expressing his concerns regarding FaceApp, stating that it could “post national security and privacy risks for millions of U.S. citizens.”
A judge ruled that San Francisco must adhere to the terms of a 10-year exclusivity agreement signed with Lyft in 2015, which prevents it from inviting other bike rental vendors to compete with Lyft.
Multiple civil rights groups filed suit today against the Trump administration, challenging its new rule seeking to severely limit the asylum protections that are available under US and international law to migrants at the US-Mexico border. The American Civil Liberties Union, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and the Center for Constitutional Rights filed one of the main legal challenges in California's Northern District Court on behalf of immigrant advocacy groups, alleging that the new rule violates US immigration law as well as administrative law. The lawsuit seeks declaratory relief stating that the interim final rule is invalid and unlawful, as well as preliminary and permanent injunctive relief to block its implementation.
In a new rule that is planned to be effective Tuesday, the Trump administration is seeking to reverse decades of asylum policy by effectively denying protections to most migrants seeking asylum at the southern border of the US. The new policy, which the American Civil Liberties Union plans to promptly challenge in court, would require asylum seekers at the US-Mexico border to prove that they have sought and been denied asylum in a so-called "safe third country" before they can apply for protection in the US.
On Wednesday, July 10, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit unanimously dismissed a lawsuit that claimed President Trump is violating the so-called Emoluments Clauses of the U.S. Constitution by accepting payments from state and foreign governments at his luxury hotel in downtown Washington. Brought by the attorneys general of Maryland and the District of Columbia, the lawsuit alleged that the type of business transactions with foreign governments was exactly the type anticipated and prohibited by our nation's founders.
On Tuesday, July 9, 2019, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that President Donald J. Trump engaged in unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination, in violation of the First Amendment, by blocking certain users' access to his Twitter account based on those users' speech on Twitter. The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University sued the President on behalf of seven Twitter users who were blocked from the President's Twitter account after said users tweeted replies to the President critical of his personality and policies. Judge Barrington D. Parker concluded "that the First Amendment does not permit a public official who utilizes a social media account for all manner of official purposes to exclude persons from an otherwise-open online dialogue because they expressed views with which the official disagrees."
According to news reports, since May the federal government has filed four condemnation lawsuits against local residents in the Brownsville, Texas area for the purpose of constructing a border wall along the southern border of the US. Some residents, who have been informed that the government wants access to their property for purposes of surveying land that would be involved in border wall construction, are contesting the government's terms for use of their land.
Using state driver's license databases, agents are scanning through millions of Americans' faces without their knowledge or consent.
This week marked the end of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2018–2019 term, and, as is typical for this last week, the Court issued some highly anticipated (and some highly divisive) decisions.
On Monday, June 24, 2019, the United States Supreme Court issued a decision in Iancu v. Brunetti, 588 U.S. ___ (2019), holding that the Lanham Act's bar on registration of immoral or scandalous trademarks violates the First Amendment. At issue in the case is the trademark FUCT, pronounced as four letters, which is the clothing brand founded by Erik Brunetti. Justice Elena Kagan, writing for the majority, wrote that the Lanham Act's bar on immoral or scandalous trademarks is viewpoint-based discrimination in violation of the First Amendment.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has canceled the deportation of a worker who was arrested and detained in a 2008 immigration enforcement raid on a California factory, ruling that immigration authorities violated federal regulations and the Constitution when they conducted the raid without reasonable suspicion that the approximately 130 people they detained were in the country without authorization.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit found that the administration's policy of blocking abortion services served as an "across-the board ban" on access to the procedure.
Recent investigations have revealed that telecommunications companies have sold the real-time location data of their customers without the informed consent of the customers. In other situations, AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, and Sprint simply have allowed third parties to access the data, rather than actively selling it to them. As a result, a group of parties include…
On Wednesday, June 5, 2019, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that Washington State police officers lacked reasonable suspicion to arrest Daniel Brown after the police received an anonymous report of a black man possessing a gun in Washington, a concealed-carry state. After the police received the anonymous report, the police saw Brown, activated their police lights, and then pursued him going the opposite direction down a one-way street. Brown ran for about a block before being arrested at gunpoint. Police found a gun in Brown's waistband, prompting a further search finding drugs and cash. The Ninth Circuit found that the officers lacked reasonable suspicion of criminal activity when they stopped and frisked Brown and, thus, granted Brown's motion to suppress the evidence of drugs and cash.
In a tentative order issued last Friday, a Santa Clara County Superior Court judge allowed a former Google employee's lawsuit alleging discrimination by the company against conservatives, men, white people, and people of Asian descent to go forward. The lead plaintiff, whose suit has been joined by a small number of other men, is a former Google engineer who was fired after he circulated an internal memo that was critical of the company's efforts to increase gender and racial diversity among its workforce, and suggested that the lack of female engineers in the profession had to do with biological differences.
The ruling stemmed from the arrest of a man who had yelled "f--- you" out of his car window at an Arkansas state trooper.
A vast New Mexico oilfield lies near Carlsbad Caverns National Park, a region comprised of deserts and caves. The federal government recently has allowed substantial oil and gas development in this area. This may affect the stability of the terrain and the air quality near the national park, according to WildEarth Guardians. This environmentalist group…
On Thursday, May 23, 2019, the Center for Biological Diversity and San Francisco Baykeeper sued the United States Fish and Wildlife Service in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California for failing to protect eight highly imperiled species in the United States. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined that the longfin smelt, Hermes Copper butterfly, Sierra Nevada red fox, red tree vole, eastern gopher tortoise, Berry Cave salamander, Puerto Rico harlequin butterfly, and marrón bacora all warrant protection as afforded under the Endangered Species Act, 16 U.S.C. §§ 1531-1544. The plaintiffs are suing U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for failing to actually provide protection as mandated by the law.
The State of California has filed a new lawsuit against the Trump administration, arguing that the Federal Railroad Administration's sudden decision to pull almost $1 billion in funding for a planned high-speed rail connection between San Francisco and Los Angeles was payback for the state's opposition to Trump's plans to construct a wall along the southern border of the US as part of his immigration policy. The state's lawsuit alleges that in the days following certain criticisms made by California Governor Gavin Newsom of Trump's border wall plans, Trump made a series of Tweets criticizing the state's position on his immigration policies as well as its handling of the rail project, demonstrating the link between the funding cancellation and the border wall dispute.