Category Archives: Uncategorized

The meaning of Tyson Foods

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 […]

NCLC Report: Consumers must have a real choice to receive paper credit-card (and other) statements

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 […]

Tobacco companies lobby for e-cigarettes

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 […]

“Honda and Takata’s Stealth Airbag Fix”

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 […]

Jury sides with law school in former student’s consumer deception suit

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 […]

Can police search your prescription drug records without a warrant?

That's the issue on appeal in Pyle v. Woods, in which Public Citizen filed the opening brief today in the Tenth Circuit. Utah law directs the Utah Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing to create and maintain a state Controlled Substance Database of all prescriptions for controlled substances filled at pharmacies in the state. Pharmacists are […]

Supreme Court affirms class certification in Tyson Foods wage/hour case

Today, the Supreme Court decided in Tyson Foods v. Bouaphakeo that a group of 3000-plus meat processing workers were properly permitted to proceed as a class in seeking unpaid wages from their employer. It's an important win for workers, consumers, and plaintiffs generally seeking to hold corporations accountable for wrongdoing. Just as important, in a case […]