Category Archives: Uncategorized

FDA issues new rule to protect against food adulteration

The Food and Drug Administration today finalized a new food safety rule under the landmark, bipartisan FDA Food Safety Modernization Act. The rule requires companies in the United States and abroad to take steps to prevent intentional adulteration of the food supply. Although the FDA says that intentional adulteration is unlikely, the new rule advances […]

Appeals court reverses DOJ’s win in fraud case against Bank of America

ThinkProgress reports: Bank of America does not have to pay a $1.3 billion penalty assessed years ago, an appeals court ruled Monday. A jury found the megabank guilty of fraud in 2013, after Department of Justice (DOJ) officials decided not to settle a case involving a program run by its subsidiary Countrywide. Countrywide employees created […]

11th Circuit affirms that debt collector can be liable under FDCPA for filing bankruptcy claim on time-barred debt

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit yesterday affirmed its 2014 holding that a debt collector violates the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act when it files a proof of claim in a bankruptcy case on a debt that it knows to be time-barred. In this case, the debt collector argued that the earlier […]

Two for-profit colleges drop forced arbitration clauses

The Washington Post reports today that DeVry University and the University of Phoenix will stop using pre-dispute mandatory arbitration clauses that bar students from filing class-action lawsuits or otherwise taking their grievances to the courts. The story is here. In a related story, the Post recently explained that "It's almost impossible for students to sue […]

Holes in the federal overtime rules and the decline of unions

We discussed here the Department of Labor's new rule that will significantly expand the number of U.S. workers eligible for overtime pay. But, still, a much smaller percentage of U.S. workers are eligible for overtime today than were eligible in the past, and federal law categorically exempts many jobs from entitlement to overtime pay. (Some state laws […]

Mesa, Arizona tells insurgent candidate not to put the city’s seal on his lawn signs

by Paul Alan Levy The city of Mesa, Arizona, has threatened suit against a local businessman, Jeremy Whittaker, who is running for city council in opposition to a longtime city employee who enjoys endorsements from several current elected city officials.  His offense?  His lawn signs and campaign literature include a single-color version of the city’s logo […]

Bill would clarify when food is too old to eat

Legislation announced Wednesday by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) aims to put an end to consumer uncertainty about whether or not their food is safe to eat. With the Food Date Labeling Act, they have proposed standardized language for retail packaging: “Best if used by” to indicate peak quality for shelf-stable foods, and […]