Author Archives: Brian Wolfman

Is there “take-home” liability for an employer’s negligence in causing transmission of Covid-19 (as there is sometimes in the asbestos context)?

That's the question addressed in Employer Liability for 'Take-Home' COVID-19 by Mark Rothstein and Julia Irzyk (forthcoming in the Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics). Here is the abstract: Workplace exposure to SARS-CoV-2 has been a source of morbidity and mortality from COVID-19, especially for “essential workers,” such as those employed in health care and […]

Groups urge the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to strengthen protections against credit discrimination

48 consumer, civil rights, and public interest groups just submitted detailed comments to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s on how to improve enforcement of the prohibitions against discrimination in the extension of consumer credit under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and its regulations. Read about it here.

Article on section 230 immunity

The immunity provided to internet platforms by section 230 of Communications Decency Act is a hot topic these days. Gregory Dickenson has written Rebooting Internet Immunity. Here is the abstract: We do everything online. We shop, travel, invest, socialize, and even hold garage sales. Even though we may not care whether a company operates online […]

The continuing role of state courts in the age of CAFA

That's the topic of The (Surprisingly) Prevalent Role of States in an Era of Federalized Class Actions by law prof Linda Mullenix. Here is the abstract: In enacting the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005, Congress intended to expand access to federal courts for interstate class actions by creating minimal diversity and removal jurisdiction. Congress […]

Washington Supreme Court holds that it violates the state constitution to exclude certain workers from overtime pay

On the potential importance of state constitutional law: The Supreme Court of Washington has just held that the statutory exclusion of dairy workers from state overtime protections violates the state constitution. Read Martinez-Cuevas v. Deruyter Brothers Dairy. HT to Charlotte Garden.

FDA warns companies to stop misleading consumers by promoting herbal products to treat Covid-19

The FDA has issued warning letters to two companies — Griffo Botanicals and Prairie Dawn Herbs — telling them to stop promoting non-FDA-approved herbal products "to mitigate, prevent, treat, diagnose, or cure COVID-19."  These letters include this language: FDA is advising consumers not to purchase or use certain products that have not been approved, cleared, […]

Eleventh Circuit holds that class-action “service” or “incentive” awards for named plaintiffs are a no-no

Yesterday, in Johnson v. NPAS Solutions, the Eleventh Circuit held that so-called "incentive" or "service" awards to named class-action plaintiffs are unlawful. That is, in a class-action settlement, a named plaintiff may not be paid extra money (over and above money paid to all class members) as reimbursement/compensation for her efforts on behalf of the […]

Why “the FDA just had the worst day in its history.”

LA Times columnist Michael Hiltzik explains why "the FDA just had the worst day in its history." Hiltzik says: During a White House event Sunday, FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn stood by silently in the face of an unsupported attack on his agency from the worst threat to public health in the U.S. today, President Trump. The […]