Alerts

Pending changes in Obama era federal overtime exemptions and minimum wage requirements could significantly affect how employers pay their employees.

In a case against LabMD, a judge ruled that the FTC must disclose the internal standards it uses to determine whether a company maintains adequate data security.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held that two uses of a racially offensive slur, directed against an employee by another employee were not sufficiently severe or pervasive as to change the terms and conditions of employment and thereby constitute unlawful discrimination.

In a closely watched case, the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has concluded that officers and employees of a foreign government-owned company may be “foreign officials” for purposes of the anti-bribery prohibitions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Office of Exempt Organizations held an informational call yesterday to provide guidance for 501(c)(6) organizations on obtaining and maintaining tax-exempt status.

In 2012, when the National Labor Relations Board launched a webpage addressing protected concerted activity, Chairman Mark Gaston Pearce declared Section 7 rights “one of the best kept secrets of the NLRA.”

On May 21, 2014, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General released a Supplement Specialty Advisory Bulletin entitled to supplement its Special Advisory Bulletin on Patient Assistance Programs for Medicare Part D Enrollees (2005 SAB) (70 Fed. Reg. 70623).

On May 9, 2014, a federal appeals court reversed a California trial court’s determination that 37 API packages that are part of Oracle’s famous Java programming platform were not subject to copyright protection.

Football fans get a chance to invest in player brands.

On May 2, 2014, the Eastern District of Virginia1 held that attorneys must inform the Court of any pending Inter Partes Review (IPR) regarding patents asserted in litigation. Failure to do so may violate the general duty of candor and good faith to the Court.

In a decision filed on May 8, 2014, the California Court of Appeals held that patentable ideas, if kept secret, can constitute information protectable by trade secret law.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently charged two companies — Fandango, LLC, and Credit Karma, Inc. — with violating the FTC Act by misrepresenting the security of their mobile apps and failing to securely transmit sensitive personal information over the Internet.

Often times indenture trustees seek to sit on creditors committees in furtherance of their fiduciary duties to holders. Obviously, the professional fees and expenses can be paid as a first priority pursuant to a charging lien as provided for under the indenture documents.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced that reporting companies are not required to describe their products as “DRC conflict free,” having “not been found to be ‘DRC conflict free,’” or “DRC conflict undeterminable,” as originally required in the Conflict Minerals Rule (CMR).

Fourth Circuit Allows Hostile Work Environment Claim to Proceed Against Employer Based on Third-Party’s Actions.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a press release yesterday (available here) touting its continued focus on trade associations’ compliance with the antitrust laws.

This round includes US export control sanctions on trade in controlled products and technology.

On April 14, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit stuck down portions of the Security and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Final Rule on Conflict Minerals (Final Rule) as unconstitutional.

Working conditions of interns have been the focus of a series of unpaid wage actions in New York City and elsewhere.

It is unlikely that any ruling by a Regional Director of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has ever sparked such nationwide commentary as that of Region 13 Regional Director Peter Sung Ohr in ruling that Northwestern University scholarship football players are “employees” of the University.

Following his recent controversial decision that scholarship football athletes at Northwestern University are employees who can unionize.

By a 2-1 vote, a three-member panel of the National Labor Relations Board (the NLRB or Board) ordered a California hospital found to have bargained in bad faith to reimburse the Union for its negotiating expenses and extended the certification year by another 12 month period.

The Federal Trade Commission alleged that a 2014 promotional contest on Pinterest violated Section 5 of the FTC Act.

The US District Court for the District of Columbia recently dismissed a former university employee’s claims under the District of Columbia Human Rights Act (the DCHRA) that she was wrongfully discharged for opposing gay marriage.