CAN A FORUM SELECTION CLAUSE PRECLUDE SHAREHOLDERS’ FROM ASSERTING FEDERAL CLAIMS?
Late last year, a verified shareholder derivative complaint was filed against The Boeing Co. ("Boeing") in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. See Seafarers Pension Plan v. Bradway et al., Docket No. 1:19-cv-08095 (N.D. Ill. Dec. 11, 2019). The complaint alleged breaches of fiduciary duty against the Boeing directors ...
Colorado Passes Paid Sick Leave Law
On July 14, 2020, Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed the Healthy Families and Workplaces Act ("Act"), guaranteeing paid sick leave to Colorado workers. Colorado joins 12 other states, including New York, and Washington, D.C. in enacting legislation that requires businesses to provide job-protected paid leave to its employees. As of January ...
“Stablecoins” Vulnerable to Criminal Abuse, Financial Action Task Force Says
The Financial Action Task Force ("FATF") recently published its report to the G-20 finance ministers on so-called "stablecoins," "a type of digital currency that aims to maintain a stable value relative to that of an underlying asset or benchmark." The FATF is an inter-governmental body that sets international standards that aim to prevent ...
Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Faces Generic Drug Price-Fixing Charges by the Department of Justice
The Department of Justice recently filed criminal charges in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Inc. for conspiring with Apotex Corporation and an unnamed company "by agreeing to increase and maintain prices of pravastatin and other generic drugs sold in the United States." See Information at 5, United States ...
Philadelphia Passes Law Protecting Coronavirus Whistleblowers
While non-essential businesses across the United States are now beginning to re-open, workers at grocery stores, department stores, pharmacies, parcel delivery services, and other essential businesses have been reporting to work for months, forced onto the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic and constantly putting their health at risk. In ...
Supreme Court Rules “For Cause” Removal Protection For CFPB Director Violates Separation Of Powers
On June 29, 2020, the United States Supreme Court issued a decision in Seila Law LLC v. Consumer Fin. Prot. Bureau, No. 19-7, -- S. Ct. --, 2020 WL 3492641, at *9 (U.S. 2020) ruling that Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's ("CFPB") leadership "by a single individual removable only for inefficiency, neglect, or malfeasance violates the separation ...
Cities and States to Increase Minimum Wages in July
On July 1, 2020, workers in many cities and states across the country are obtaining stronger wage protections. The hourly minimum wage rate that employers must pay their employees is set to increase in several states including Illinois, Nevada, and Oregon, as well as in various cities such as Chicago, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, San Francisco, ...
SEC Declines to Extend COVID-19 Related Filing Extensions
On June 26, 2020, the SEC issued an update regarding its efforts responding to COVID-19, which included an announcement that the 45-day grace period regarding certain public company filings due on or before July 1, 2020 would not be extended. The SEC's decision was based on the recommendation by the Division of Corporation Finance that any ...
SEC Whistleblower Program Passes Half Billion Dollar Milestone
The SEC has announced that after its latest award of $700,000 to a whistleblower, it will have awarded almost $501 million to 84 individuals since issuing its first award in 2012. The announcement, made on June 19, 2020, reiterated that payments do not come from the money recovered to repay harmed investors, but instead are made out of an ...
SEC’s Chief Accountant Releases Covid-19 “Going Concern” Guidance
In light of the Covid-19 financial difficulties facing many companies, Sagar Teotia, the Chief Accountant of the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), has released a statement on the "continued importance of high-quality financial reporting for investors." This statement reminds reporting entities (i.e. public companies) that, under ...
Supreme Court Denies Petition for Cert In Discovery Dispute
The Supreme Court recently denied a petition to review a discovery dispute in a complex, multi-district case concerning allegations that pharmaceutical manufacturers engaged in a price-fixing conspiracy. The petition for certiorari, which was filed by a group of generic drug manufacturers, requested that the Court overturn the district court's ...
Supreme Court Adds Limits To SEC’s Disgorgement Power
In the Supreme Court's 8-1 June 22, 2020 Liu v. Securities and Exchange Commission decision, the Court held that the Securities and Exchange Commission's (the "SEC") practice of obtaining disgorgement is considered equitable relief and is therefore authorized under 15 U.S.C. § 78u(d)(5). However, the Supreme Court placed certain limits on ...
Supreme Court Delivers Landmark Decision for LGBTQ Employees
On June 15, 2020, in a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects gay, lesbian, and transgender employees from discrimination based on sex in the workplace. The historic decision is a blow to the Trump administration, which sided with the employers in the three consolidated cases before ...
Bankruptcy Filings Continue to Rise During the COVID-19 Pandemic
The parent company of Chuck E. Cheese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on June 25, 2020. According to the company, the bankruptcy filing will "strengthen our financial structure as we recover from what has undoubtedly been the most challenging event in our company's history." Just a few days earlier, GNC filed for Chapter 11 citing the dramatic ...
State Attorneys General Broaden their Generic Drug Price-Fixing Litigation with New Complaint
A coalition of state attorneys general filed their third antitrust lawsuit against generic drug manufacturers. The over-600 page complaint alleges that 26 generic manufacturers had long-standing agreements not to compete for customers and to fix prices on 80 different topical generic drugs which are used to treat a range of skin conditions, ...
Allergan and Novartis Settle Restasis Antitrust Suit
Allergan Inc. and Novartis AG recently reached a settlement resolving claims in New Jersey federal court that Allergan engaged in a scheme to block Shire US Inc. (which Novartis later acquired) from competing with Allergan's blockbuster drug Restasis in the market for dry-eye drugs. The deal's terms were not made public as part of the June ...
COMPANIES MAY BE LEFT WITHOUT D&O INSURANCE FOR LITIGATION RELATED TO COVID-19
As the COVID-19 pandemic raged the past few months, many public and private companies fought tooth and nail to stay afloat. Similarly, shareholders maintained a close eye on these companies heavily relying upon disclosures, press releases, and statements made by corporate directors and officers. However, as we slowly emerge from this pandemic, ...
Georgia Senator Cleared of Ethics Charges for COVID-19 Related Trades
On Tuesday, June 16, 2020, the bipartisan Senate Select Committee on Ethics ("Ethics Committee") determined that Georgia Senator, Kelly Loeffler, did not break the law or Senate rules when she and her husband, Jeff Sprecher, chairman of the New York Stock Exchange, traded millions of dollars in stocks after early Senate briefings on the coronavirus. ...
SHAREHOLDERS SEEK CLASS CERTIFICATION IN TEVA PRICE-FIXING ACTION
On June 19, 2020, shareholders accusing Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. ("Teva") of participating in an industry-wide price-fixing scheme in the generic drug market asked a federal judge in Connecticut to certify their proposed class. The class action lawsuit is being led by the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan. In its Memorandum of Law ...
NY State Court Approves a $462.5K Settlement and Holds That Service Awards are Not Prohibited Under CPLR 909.
On June 11, 2020, Justice Kalish of the New York Supreme Court, New York County, approved a $462,500 settlement for a class of restaurant workers asserting minimum wage and tip credit violations. The settlement provides for a complete 100% recovery of all economic damages claimed by class members. See Reeves, et al. v. La Pecora Bianca, Inc, ...