NPR reports that the U.S. Department of Labor is looking critically at a practice by thousands of employers in Texas and Oklahoma to opt out of conventional state workers' compensation in favor of benefits plans that provide lower and fewer payments, make it more difficult to qualify for benefits, control access to doctors and limit […]
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The story provides detailed account of what happens to students of for-profit colleges when they find themselves stuck in arbitration. Particularly revealing about the arbitrariness of the system was this side-by-side comparison of two plaintiffs with the same evidence and the same lawyer before two different arbitrators: Eventually, Jacob and a classmate both hired the […]
The Federal Trade Commission has charged that Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. deceived consumers with the advertising campaign it used to promote its supposedly “clean diesel” VWs and Audis, which Volkswagen fitted with illegal emission defeat devices designed to mask high emissions during government tests. The FTC is seeking a court order requiring Volkswagen to […]
The Washington Post reports: The Food and Drug Administration said this month that it will delay enforcement of menu labeling rules — again — until next year. Passed as part of the health care overhaul in 2010, the rules will eventually require restaurants and other establishments that sell prepared foods and have 20 or more […]
Last week's Supreme Court decision in Tyson Foods v. Bouaphakeo represents not just a reprieve but an affirmative win both for workers and for class action plaintiffs more generally. First, as to workers: In applying Anderson v. Mt. Clemens Pottery, the Court reinvigorated and confirmed an important extension of the principle that workers can use representative proof […]
Credit-card (and other) companies would love it if consumers received their monthly statements electronically only. It's cheaper. But, according to a a new report from the National Consumer Law Center — entitled Paper Statements: An Important Consumer Protection— policy makers (and consumers) should resist the pressure to move to an electronic-only world. Here's an excerpt from the […]
Plastic utensils are very cheap to make, and so lots and lots of them are produced day after day, year after year. But plastic utensils take up room in landfills and degrade slowly. So, what about edible utensils? They are delicious (we're told) and have a long shelf life. And, even if you don't want […]
The Center for Public Integrity reports today on the expensive lobbying effort by the big tobacco companies to fend off state taxes and regulation of e-cigarettes. Despite the tobacco industry’s tarnished public image, it is operating a powerful and massive influence machine in statehouses from Salt Lake City to Topeka. With a playbook crafted nearly […]
The New York Times reports today: In August of 2009, after ruptured airbag inflators in Honda vehicles were linked to least four injuries and a death, the automaker quietly requested a design change and did not notify U.S. regulators, Honda confirmed in response to inquiries from Reuters. Honda Motor Co asked supplier Takata Corp to […]
We told you a little while back about a suit by a former law student alleging that her school (Thomas Jefferson School of Law) had taken her money (and caused her student loans to run up) while unlawfully exaggerating her prospects for post-graduation legal employment. As reporter Karen Sloan explains, a San Diego jury yesterday found in favor […]