SEC Announces Settled Charges Against Two Investment Advisers Regarding Their AI Claims
On March 18, 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") announced that it settled charges against two investment advisers, Delphia (USA) Inc. and Global Predictions Inc., for making false and misleading claims about their use of artificial intelligence ("AI"). According to Bloomberg Law, the charges mark "the beginning of a ...
SEC Adopts New Disclosure Rules Governing SPAC IPOs and De-Spac Transactions
The use of Special Purpose Acquisition Companies ("SPAC")[1] for going public transactions ("IPOs") has grown significantly over the last few years. So has litigation involving SPACs. On January 24, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") adopted new rules to widen the disclosure requirements for SPAC IPOs and subsequent transactions ...
McDonald’s Workers Sue for Lack of Breaks and Private Space for Nursing, in Violation of PUMP Act
On February 14, 2024, McDonald's workers Kathleen Faber and Lexis Mays brought a nationwide collective action against the company and its franchisees for failing to provide sufficient breaks or private spaces for employees who were lactating, in violation of the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (the "PUMP Act"). ...
New York State to Expand Protections for Freelance Workers
Employees possess a wide range of legal protections and benefits that freelancers, who work for themselves, do not. This often leaves freelancers vulnerable to the whims of their clients, who can potentially threaten a freelancer's livelihood in ways that would be plainly illegal if done to an employee. On March 20, 2024, New York will make ...
FDA Announces Formal End to PFAS in Food Packaging Products
On February 28th, 2024, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officially announced an end to per- and polyfluoralkyl substances (PFAS) in food packaging. This effects potential exposure to these harmful substances from materials like "fast-food wrappers, microwave popcorn bags, take-out paperboard containers and pet food bags". This update, ...
New York Prohibits Employers from Requesting Access to Employees or Applicants’ Social Media Accounts
On March 12, 2024, bill S2518A/A836 will go into effect, prohibiting employers from requesting employees and/or job applicants provide usernames, passwords, and/or other personal information necessary to access their social media accounts or from requesting or requiring an employee access their accounts in the employer's presence. Employers ...
ESG Investing and Securities Class Actions
Social media was envisioned to network people, and its development has shifted global perspectives and redefined the Information Age. In securities class actions, social media has made it more convenient to issue notices for suits and to help investigations of potential witnesses, class members, and defendants. But social media has revolutionized ...
SECOND CIRCUIT DECERTIFIES CLASS IN GOLDMAN, ENDING 13-YEAR SAGA
After thirteen years, several trips to the Second Circuit and one to the U.S. Supreme Court, last year the Second Circuit delivered the death blow to the securities fraud 10b-5 class action Arkansas Teacher Retirement System v. Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., 77 F. 4th 74 (2d Cir. 2023), when it held that the Southern District of New York had erroneously ...
NYC Enacts Law Allowing Lawsuits for Violations of Earned Safe and Sick Time Act
On January 20, 2024, New York City enacted a law allowing employees to sue for violations of the City's Earned Safe and Sick Time Act ("ESSTA"). Until now, the only way to enforce rights under the ESSTA was to file a complaint with the NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection ("DCWP"). The DCWP would investigate the complaint and, ...
SEC Approves 11 Exchange-Traded Products Holding Bitcoin In Landmark Order
On January 10, 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") approved 11 exchange-traded products ("ETPs") holding bitcoin, known as spot bitcoin ETPs, in a landmark decision for crypto advocates. ETPs are investment instruments that track underlying securities, commodities, or other financial products, and trade on exchanges just ...
New Jersey Passes Legislation Affording Domestic Workers $15.13 in Minimum Wages and Other Protections
On January 12, 2024, New Jersey Governor, Phil Murphy signed the New Jersey Domestic Worker Bill of Rights, which guarantees New Jersey's approximately 50,000 domestic workers, including childcare providers, home caretakers, and caregivers, a minimum wage of $15.13 along with other protections. Previously, domestic workers were exempt from ...
Southern District of New York Concurs with SEC Finding That Terraform Cryptocurrencies Are Securities
On December 28, 2023, the Southern District of New York granted summary judgment in favor of the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on their claim that Terraform Labs Pte Ltd. and DO Hyeong Kwon ("Defendants") offered and sold unregistered securities in violation of Section 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities Act of 1933[1] ("Securities ...
Securities And Exchange Act Claims Against TaskUs, Inc. Survive Motion To Dismiss
Recently, the Southern District of New York affirmed that repeated assertions conveying a false impression—i.e., a positive workplace culture backed by "low attrition" and Glassdoor ratings—were actionable. Although the analysis was not in favor of Plaintiffs in this case, the District Court tacitly supported the "core operations" doctrine ...
FTC Considering Significant Expansion of Children’s Online Data Privacy
The Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") is poised to open its updated rulemaking for the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) open for public comment. First adopted in 2000, the Rule forbids online service providers and websites from collecting the personal information of individuals under the age of 13 absent verified consent from ...
FTC Bans Rite Aid from Using AI Facial Recognition
On December 19, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission and Rite Aid agreed that Rite Aid will be banned from using facial recognition technology for surveillance purposes for five years to settle FTC charges that the retailer failed to implement reasonable safeguards to prevent its consumers from being falsely identified as shoplifters. In a complaint ...
NYC Enacts Law Requiring Employers to Provide “Workers’ Bill of Rights” to Employees
On December 3, 2023, NYC enacted a new law, Int 0569, requiring employers to provide a yet-to-be-drafted "workers' bill of rights" to employees, beginning July 1, 2024. NYC's Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) will write the workers' bill of rights in coordination with the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA), the NYC ...
NYC Law Prohibiting Height and Weight Discrimination Goes Into Effect
On November 22, 2023, the New York City law prohibiting employment discrimination based on a person's height or weight went into effect. The law amends the NYC Human Rights Law ("NYCHRL") to include height and weight as classes or characteristics protected against employment discrimination. Prior to the amendment, the NYCHRL protected the ...
Recent Second Circuit Decision Blunts Protections Afforded by the Equal Pay Act by Making it Easier for Employers to Prove the Act’s Catch-All Affirmative Defense
The Second Circuit's recent decision in Eisenhauer v. Culinary Institute of America made it easier for employers to defeat pay-discrimination claims under the Equal Pay Act ("EPA"), the federal law that makes pay discrimination based on sex unlawful. Specifically, the Second Circuit made it easier for employers to establish the "factor other ...
Walmart App-Based Delivery Driver Accuses Company of Wage Theft
On November 27, 2023, a class action complaint filed in Washington State court was moved to federal court alleging Walmart improperly misclassified its app-based delivery drivers as independent contractors as opposed to employees, who must receive minimum and overtime wages and other benefits depending on which State an individual resides. ...
Biden Executive Order Makes a Head Start on AI Regulatory Framework
In the past few years, the presence of artificial intelligence has boomed in the workforce with little to no formal regulation directly addressing its impact. This week, President Biden signed a broad executive order aiming to provide a framework for protecting consumers and workers from the potential downsides presented by artificial intelligence. ...