New Congressional Report Concludes Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google Have Monopoly Power and Suggests Regulation is Forthcoming
A recent report from Democratic congressional lawmakers concludes that four United States tech companies—Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google—have engaged in anticompetitive conduct to obtain monopoly power in their respective fields. Specifically, Amazon dominates the online retail market, Apple dominates the mobile operating system market, ...
New York Sick Leave Law Takes Effect
As of September 30, 2020, employees throughout the Empire State can begin earning paid sick leave in accordance with the New York Sick Leave Law ("NYSLL"). Under the NYSLL, employees accrue sick leave at a rate of one hour for every 30 hours worked and have the right to earn up to 56 hours of paid sick leave per year, depending on the income ...
ACPERA LEGISLATION SIGNED BACK INTO LAW
After sunsetting earlier this year, the Antitrust Criminal Penalty Enhancement and Reform Act (ACPERA) is now the law of the land again. Under the Department of Justice's Corporate Leniency Policy, antitrust conspirators that are the first to report anticompetitive conduct and cooperate fully with the DOJ can avoid criminal charges and pay ...
Five Employment Law Questions Debate Moderators Should Ask the Candidates for Vice President
On Wednesday, October 7, 2020, Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris are scheduled to appear for their first and only debate of the election cycle. Given the advanced age of the presidential candidates, as well as President Trump's recent positive test for COVID-19, the upcoming vice presidential debate has taken on increased ...
UPTICK IN SHAREHOLDER DERIVATIVE LAWSUITS RELATING TO DIVERSITY IN LEADERSHIP
Since the summer of 2020, corporations and boards of directors have seen an increase in various shareholder derivative lawsuits premised on lack of diversity in leadership across a wide range of personal characteristics. A common theme within these lawsuits is that the organization publicly misled shareholders by touting the organization's ...
JPMorgan To Pay Record $920 Million To Resolve Investigations Into Alleged Spoofing
As reported Tuesday, JPMorgan Chase & Co. ("JPMorgan") has "agreed to pay $920.2 million in criminal penalties, disgorgement and restitution under a three-year deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice" ("DOJ"). The DOJ alleged that JPMorgan traders "engaged in 'unlawful trading' in the U.S. treasury futures and precious ...
SEC WINS TRIAL AGAINST FORMER APOLLO MANAGEMENT EXECUTIVE
Following a nine-day bench trial during which thirty-three witnesses testified, U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel ruled that Mohammed Ali Rashid ("Rashid"), a former Apollo Management LP ("Apollo") executive, violated section 206(2) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 by falsifying expense reports for personal spending and being reimbursed ...
The SEC Amends Whistleblower Rules to Increase Efficiency and Transparency
On September 23, 2020, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") voted to adopt amendments to the rules governing its whistleblower program. In a press release issued that day, the SEC explained that the changes are intended "to provide greater clarity to whistleblowers and increase the program's efficiency and transparency." ...
Court Strikes Down Department of Labor Rule Narrowing the Definition of “Joint Employer”
On September 8, 2020, the Honorable Gregory H. Woods of the Southern District of New York struck down a final rule (the "Rule") issued earlier this year by the U.S. Department of Labor ("DOL"). The Rule narrowed the definition of a vertical joint employer under the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA") to require that a company actually exercise ...
Shareholders Overcome Uber Motion to Dismiss Section 11 and 12 Claims
On August 7, 2020, Judge Richard Seeborg of the Northern District of California denied Uber Technologies, Inc.'s ("Uber") bid to dismiss shareholder claims that the Company's registration statement filed for its 2019 IPO was false and misleading in violation of Sections 11, 12(a)(2) and 15 of the Securities Act of 1933. Defendants, which included ...
SEC Charges Two Maryland Companies With Affinity Fraud Ponzi Scheme
The Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") recently announced securities fraud charges against "two Maryland companies and their principals for a scheme that allegedly defrauded approximately 1,200 investors, many of them African immigrants, of more than $27 million." The charges allege that the three principals "directly and through their ...
Rapper T.I. Charged With Promoting Fraudulent Initial Coin Offering
The Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") recently charged rapper T.I. (whose legal name is Clifford Harris, Jr.) with the promotion of two "unregistered and fraudulent" initial coin offerings in the crptocurrency FLiK and its trading platform CoinSpark. The SEC alleges that T.I. "offered and sold FLiK tokens on his social media accounts, ...
Gay Employee Can Sue Church for Hostile Work Environment says the 7th Circuit
On September 1, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled 2-1 that the ministerial exception does not bar an employee from bringing hostile work environment claims linked to protected traits such as sexual orientation and health conditions. In the case at hand, Sandor Demkovich v. St. Andrew the Apostle Parish, Calumet ...
Non-Existent Companies May Have Received More than $1 Billion in COVID-19 Aid
According to a Bloomberg report, more than $1 billion of federal COVID-19 aid may have been sent to companies that don't exist or were ineligible to receive aid. The report analyzed data from the Small Business Administration (SBA) and found that in some parts of the country the SBA approved more $10,000 grants than the number of eligible ...
DELAWARE COURT OF CHANCERY APPLIES ‘INTERNAL AFFAIRS DOCTRINE’ TO STOCKHOLDER INSPECTION RIGHTS
On August 13, 2020, the Delaware Court of Chancery held that the "internal affairs doctrine" precludes a shareholder of a Delaware corporation which maintains its headquarters in a foreign jurisdiction from seeking to inspect corporate books and records under the law of a foreign jurisdiction. Instead, shareholders are limited to the inspection ...
COURT CERTIFIES DIRECT PURCHASER CLASS OF GLUMETZA BUYERS
Judge William Aslup, of the Northern District of California, certified a class of direct purchasers of the diabetes drug, Glumetza, in a case alleging that defendants Bausch Health Co., its subsidiaries Santarus Inc. and Assertio Therapeutics Inc., and Lupin Pharmaceuticals Inc. violated the antitrust laws by conspiring to delay generic entry ...
Senate Democrats Propose College Athletes Bill of Rights
On August 13, 2020, Senate Democrats announced the framework for a College Athletes' Bill of Rights seeking to "guarantee fair and equitable compensation, enforceable safety standards, and improved educational opportunities for all college athletes." This landmark proposal confronts unjust policies enacted by the National Collegiate Athletic ...
9th Circuit Rules Amazon Drivers Don’t Have to Arbitrate
On August 19, 2020, in a 2-1 decision, the 9th Circuit affirmed a Washington District Court's decision rejecting Amazon.com Inc.'s plea to arbitrate wage claims brought by a class action of Amazon drivers alleging they were misclassified as independent contractors as opposed to employees. The 9th Circuit found that the Amazon drivers were ...
Federal Prosecutors Charge Teva in Generic Drug Price-Fixing Probe
On August 25, 2020, the United States Department of Justice announced that it charged Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. in Pennsylvania federal court with conspiring to fix prices, rig bids, and allocate customers for generic drugs. The indictment accuses Teva of taking part in three conspiracies with a number of other generic drugmakers between ...
District Court Grants Final Approval of $120 Million Settlement in Loestrin, Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP, Co-Lead Counsel
On August 27, 2020, Chief Judge William E. Smith of the District of Rhode Island granted final approval of a $120 million settlement of antitrust claims asserted on behalf of a certified class of direct purchasers of the drug Loestrin in In re Loestrin 24 Fe Antitrust Litigation, Civ. No. 13-md-02472 (D.R.I. Aug. 27, 2020). Chief Judge Smith ...