In a 113-page opinion just issued, a Massachusetts federal judge has blocked the merger of JetBlue and Spirit Airlines, finding that the merger would create harm to consumers. An appeal is likely, but this is a major win for the DOJ Antitrust Division, and likely for consumers as well, as JetBlue had more or less […]
In the wake of studies showing that cost-cutting by nursing homes contributed to high COVID death rates at New York’s nursing homes, the state legislature enacted a law that set minimum staffing levels, required minimum spending levels on resident care, and capped profits. Though enacted in 2021, implementation was delayed for several years, and the […]
The facts of this case are awful: In August 2018, Plaintiff Jane Doe requested that her boyfriend call her an Uber remotely because her phone had low battery. Plaintiff’s phone, however, lost its charge, and she did not receive from her boyfriend the information identifying the authorized vehicle. Plaintiff then entered a car displaying an […]
The Federal Trade Commission today issued its biennial report to Congress on the National Do Not Call (DNC) Registry. According to the report, more than 249 million consumers have placed their telephone numbers on the Registry over the past two year. The report also notes that the FTC has received more than two million Do […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has published a report on student-loan servicing practices since the resumption of federal student loan repayments in the fall, after a three-year payment pause in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The CFPB report finds that borrowers are “encountering long hold times when trying to reach their student loan servicer, experiencing […]
The Federal Trade Commission on January 4 published in the Federal Register its final rule to rein in widespread unfair and deceptive auto dealer practices. The next day, Reuters reported that the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) and the Texas Automobile Dealers Association filed a petition before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals seeking review […]
Here. The article is The Shape of Consumer Contracts, in the Denver Law Review, available here. Ballard Spahr’s Alan Kaplinsky hosted the conversation.
In its battle to rein the coordinated system facilitating illegal robocalls, the Federal Trade Commission announced a proposed order against a lead generator, which the agency charged with deceptively collecting consumers’ information and then selling their data to telemarketers…leading to harassing calls. The announced proposed order would ban California-based Response Tree LLC and its president […]
The bill would add unfairness and abusiveness to the NY UDAAP statute, increase statutory damages to $1,000, and allow businesses to recover under the statute, among other things. This follows NY’s blocking credit bureaus from reporting medical debt. More here.
A group of consumers brought a class action against the New York Black Car Operators’ Injury Compensation Fund–a statutorily created fund that provides workers’ compensation benefits to New York’s black car drivers. The consumers argued that the fund had unlawfully collected a surcharge on noncash tips they paid to drivers (generally, through the Uber App), […]