FIRST DEPARTMENT UPHOLDS LARGE INJURY VERDICT FOR BICYCLIST HIT BY A BUS
The First Department recently upheld a $3.9 million dollar award to a bicyclist injured when he was struck by an accordion bus owned and operated by New York City Transit Authority. (Flores v. New York City Transit Auth., 2021 WL 4528787 (1st Dept 2021). Plaintiff was injured riding his bicycle southbound in the parking lane on the right side ...
Construction Injury Damages Award Highlights the Importance of Case Well Prepared
In a recent decision, Masmalaj v. New York City Economic Dev. Corp., 2021 NY Slip Op 05120, the Second Department significantly reduced damages awarded to a construction worker injured on a job. Plaintiff Albert Masmalaj was working on a construction site in 2016 when he fell approximately six feet from a scaffold onto the cement floor below. ...
Former New York Football Giants Employee Who Blew the Whistle on Workplace Violence is Afforded Greater Protections Under the Law Because the Giants are Located in New Jersey, Not New York
David Maltese, a former Video Director at the New York Football Giants, Inc. (the "Giants"), filed a lawsuit (Maltese v. New York Football Giants Inc., et al., Dkt. No. L-3317-21) alleging that the Giants and their General Counsel William J. Heller violated the New Jersey Conscientious Employee Protection Act ("CEPA") when they fired him after ...
FTC Renews Prior Approval Policy for Consent Orders with Firms Accused of Antitrust Violations
As part of the Biden Administration's push to strengthen antitrust enforcement, the Federal Trade Commission has announced that it is restoring its prior approval policy, increasing the agency's authority to block transactions proposed by firms it had previously accused of attempting anticompetitive mergers or acquisitions. The announcement ...
SEC Enforcement Director Indicates Return to Obama-era Policy
While speaking at the Practising Law Institute's SEC Speaks event on October 13, 2021, Gurbir Grewal, Director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement, discussed potential changes to the SEC's enforcement priorities. Particularly, Grewal indicated that the SEC would demand admissions of wrongdoing in appropriate circumstances. According to Grewal, ...
SEC INVESTIGATES ACTIVISION OVER EMPLOYMENT ISSUES, ENFORCING NEW HUMAN CAPITAL DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENT
The Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") has issued subpoenas to video game company Activision Blizzard Inc. ("Activision"), as well as to former and current employees and executives, as part of its investigation into Activision's "disclosures on employment matters and related issues" (From Activision's Press Release, titled "Activision ...
Houses Passes Legislation Expanding Protections Afforded to Nursing Mothers in the Workplace
On October 22, 2021, in a 276-149 vote, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections to Nursing Mothers or PUMP Act, expanding protections under the Affordable Care Act of 2010 for nursing mothers in the workplace. The Affordable Care Act of 2010 had afforded protections to certain working and nursing ...
LOOK BOTH WAYS: A GUIDE TO NYC BIKE SAFETY
In Flores v. New York Transit Authority, 2019 WL 2452757 (New York County 2019), the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York recently upheld a $3.9 million verdict awarded to a cyclist who was struck by a New York City Transit Authority Bus.Here are some of the rules of the road that apply to bicycles: Cyclist Along ...
Gamification Of Online Trading Platforms Exposes Issues With Landmark Investor Protection Rule, According To SEC Official
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's ("SEC") investor advocate, Rick Fleming, called Regulation Best Interest ("Reg BI") into question this month, noting that the rule could fail to protect investors from online trading platforms that use "gamification." According to Law360, Reg BI went into effect last June and "aims to protect investors ...
COVID-19 VACCINE MANDATES
Employees across the nation are swarming the courts in anger against state and federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates. Many federal and state employees argue that the mandates violate the U.S. constitution, free exercise of religion, due process, and equal protection. President Joe Biden recently mandated that government and federal contracting ...
Chief Judge DiFiore weighs in on the legality of vaccine mandates in response to pending lawsuits
In response to pending lawsuits filed by several unions challenging the court system's mandatory vaccination requirements, Chief Judge Janet DiFiore, Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals of the State of New York, released a statement on October 4, 2021, asserting that such mandates are legal. She stated that she looks forward to "demonstrating ...
New York Governor “Absolutely Looking” Into Reclassifying App-Based Gig Economy Workers As Employees
As previously outlined here, the New York City Council recently passed a package of legislation to improve the working conditions for approximately 65,000 to 80,000 app-based food delivery workers. The six-bill package will: (i) set a minimum wage for app-based delivery workers; (ii) prevent companies like Uber Eats, DoorDash, and GrubHub ...
Congress Continues to Push Antitrust Reform
If you are a long-time reader of this blog, and my posts specifically, you know that Big Tech companies, such as Google and Apple, are facing antitrust scrutiny like never before. In February, Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat, introduced a bill to curb the excesses of these multi-trillion dollar companies. And Congress shows no signs of letting ...
Delaware Supreme Court Adopts Three-Part Demand Futility Test
On September 23, 2021, the Delaware Supreme Court, in United Food & Commercial Workers Union and Participating Food Industry Employers Tri-State Pension Fund v. Zuckerberg, No. 404, 2020 (Del. Sept. 23, 2021), affirmed the Court of Chancery's dismissal of a shareholder derivative lawsuit which sought to recover costs incurred by Facebook related ...
In Response to SEC Chair Concerns, SEC’s Investor Advisory Committee Recommends Changes to Rule 10b5-1 Plans
In early June, SEC Chair Gary Gensler expressed support for updating Exchange Act Rule 10b5-1 ("Rule 10b5" or "the Rule"). Rule 10b5 was adopted in 2000 and was intended to allow corporate insiders to buy and sell securities without running afoul of prohibitions on insider trading. The Rule provides an affirmative defense to charges of insider ...
100% Recyclable? Courts Process New Consumer Claims Regarding Unrecyclable Plastic
To say that Americans rely on plastic bottles is an understatement. Americans used about 50 billion plastic water bottles last year, with a recycling rate of only 23%.[1] Given the massive implications for our environment, it is not surprising that 60% to 70% of consumers prefer to purchase and would pay more for sustainable packaging in their ...
Pigs Get Fed . . .
And as the saying goes . . . "hogs get slaughtered." So it may be for the U.S. meat packing industry which appears to have gotten the Biden Administration's attention. According to a recent government report, half of the recent price increases at grocery stores across the country are due to higher meat prices. For example, pork prices have ...
California Court Dismisses ‘Pink Tax’ Case Brought Against Walgreens
On September 23, 2021, Federal Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim dismissed claims brought by a California consumer alleging that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. and its subsidiary Walgreen Co. ("Walgreens") charged female consumers a "pink tax" on women's hair loss products. Specifically, plaintiff alleged that Walgreens sold male and female versions ...
Refined Aronson Standard Affirmed
On September 23, 2021, the Supreme Court of Delaware affirmed the Court of Chancery's decision in United Food & Com. Workers Union v. Zuckerberg, 250 A.3d 862 (Del. Ch. 2020), and held that the Court of Chancery's "refined articulation of the Aronson standard . . . [was] consistent with Aronson, Rales, and their progeny." In affirming the ...
Construction Worker Receives Multi-Million Dollar Jury Award for Unsecured Ladder Injury
The Second Department recently upheld a multi-million-dollar award to a construction worker who was injured when an improperly secured ladder fell on him at a jobsite in Brooklyn in the case Pimenta v. 1504 Cia, LLC, 2021 NY Slip Op 04726 (2d Dept 2021). The Plaintiff was injured in August of 2014 while working as a construction worker. He ...