The FTC sued Wyndham Worldwide (the company that operates Wyndham Hotels) for unfair and deceptive trade practices under the FTCA after Wyndham sustained data breaches in 2008 and 2009 leading to more than $10.5 million in fraudulent charges to consumers. The FTC charged that Wyndham's security was deficient and its policies misled consumers. Yesterday, in […]
Author Archives: Scott Michelman
We've covered before the ongoing fight over employers' responsibility to provide insurance that covers contraception, a mandate that some employers argue violates their religious beliefs. The opening of the argument in the Solicitor General's brief in opposition to certiorari in Priests for Life v. HHS summarizes the state of the law as the Court considers whether […]
As NPR reports, a number of presidential candidates have been proposing, to enthusiastic reception, that students be permitted to refinance their student debt in the same manner mortgage borrowers can refinance their home loans. But is this the best policy? In particular, is it a policy that helps the student borrowers who are struggling the […]
We've mentioned before that Alaska is among the latest states to join a slow but steady trend toward accepting the Medicaid expansion enacted as part of the Affordable Care Act but rendered optional by the Supreme Court's 2012 ruling on the constitutionality of the law. Unable to block the governor's decision to accept the Medicaid […]
…is the title of this thoughtful NYT piece, which considers the difficult balance doctors must strike in helping patients manage debilitating pain while avoiding feeding addition. The quote sums it up well: A 2011 report from the Institute of Medicine highlighted how poorly the medical field handles pain. Undertreating pain, we [doctors] are admonished, violates […]
The court explained: The crux of the Plaintiffs’ complaints is that when someone uses a non-bank ATM, the cardholder pays a greater fee and the ATM operator earns a lower return on each transaction because of certain Visa and MasterCard network rules. These rules prohibit differential pricing based on the cost of the network that […]
Beryllium, a known carcinogen, is used in the construction industry, electronics manufacturing, and the nuclear energy industry, among others. Public Citizen estimates that 23,000 construction workers come into contact with beryllium daily. Last week, fourteen years after Public Citizen first petitioned OSHA for stronger worker protections against beryllium, OSHA issued a proposed rule lowering the […]
We’ve discussed several times (see for instance here and here) an issue that’s been percolating in the courts of appeals the last few years and which has been taken up by the Supreme Court for the coming Term in the case of Campbell-Ewald Co. v. Gomez: whether a defendant’s offer of judgment for complete relief under […]
…pretty much sums it up. This policy, announced last week, will hopefully spur other employers toward better policies. Reuters has the story, which notes that the national norm for paid parental leave is only a month.
…is the title of this eye-opening piece in the Washington Post about what the FTC is seeking to learn from hackers about data privacy. As the Post reports, FTC Commissioner Terrell McSweeny and the agency's chief technologist Ashkan Soltani are in Las Vegas this week to talk with hackers and security researchers attending the Black Hat […]