As explained in this article by Stacy Cowley, Massachusetts has become the first state to bar employers from asking job applicants about what they earned at their prior jobs. This excerpt explains why: By barring companies from asking prospective employees how much they earned at their last jobs, Massachusetts will ensure that the historically lower wages and […]
Author Archives: Brian Wolfman
In Meyer v. Kalanick and Uber, the named plaintiff, Spencer Meyer, alleges that Travis Kalanick orchestrated an antitrust conspiracy arising from the algorithm that co-defendant Uber uses to set Uber ride prices. The plaintiffs sued in federal court in New York. Uber and Kalanick moved to compel arbitration saying Mr. Meyer agreed to arbitrate when he […]
This webpage explains what the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau believes it has accomplished over its first five years. Go here or click below for a CFPB video describing the purposes and (brief) history of the agency. (The video features Elizabeth Warren and Richard Cordray.)
Michele Singletary, the Washington Post's consumer reporter, is doing a series of articles assessing the first five years of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The first in the series is an interview with the agency's director Richard Cordray.
The Fourth Circuit has struck down the N. Carolina voter I.D. law, finding that that it was conceived with discriminatory intent. The opinion is here. The court said this: In response to claims that intentional racial discrimination animated [the N.C. General Assembly's action], the State offered only meager justifications. Although the new provisions target African Americans […]
Law prof John Brooks has written Student Loans As Taxes. Here is the abstract: The growth of college tuition and the corresponding rise in student loan debt have become major issues of public importance. Total outstanding student debt is at least $1.3 trillion, and tuitions keep growing, even while we arguably need to invest more in […]
Law prof Margot Pollans has written Drinking Water Protection and Agricultural Exceptionalism, which you may want to read in light of the water crisis in Flint. Here's the abstract: Providing safe drinking water is a basic responsibility of government. The US system is inefficient, unfair, and sets up local water utilities to fail. Under the Safe Drinking […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) today proposed new debt-collection regulations described by the agency here. The agency's press release summarizes the proposal's key provisions this way: Collect the correct debt: Collectors would have to scrub their files and substantiate the debt before contacting consumers. For example, collectors would have to confirm that they have sufficient […]
In this short essay (subscription possibly required), public-interest lawyer Arthur Bryant explains why he thinks the Supreme Court's decision in Spokeo v. Robins is good news for consumers seeking to enforce their rights to statutory damages.
This article by Steven Mufson explains that "the fuel efficiency standards championed by President Obama in 2012 will fall short of the 54.5-miles-per-gallon 2025 target the administration set because consumers are buying more pickup trucks, vans and sports utility vehicles than expected, according to a new technical assessment report by the Environmental Protection Agency and the […]