Last week, the California legislature voted to send five amendments to the CCPA to the California governor’s desk.  The amendments include a one-year exemption for access and deletion rights to employee data and B2B communications; a provision exempting online-only businesses from operating a toll-free number to accept consumer requests; and a new mandate for data... Continue Reading…

On Tuesday, the FTC issued warning letters to three companies selling CBD products.  The companies, which FTC did not identify publicly, allegedly illegally advertised CBD products as being able to treat or cure serious diseases and health conditions without competent and reliable scientific evidence to support such claims. As we have written about previously, FTC and... Continue Reading…

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali recently ruled in the Chapter 11 case of Pacific Gas & Electric (“PG&E”) that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) has no jurisdiction to interfere with the ability of a bankrupt power utility company to reject power purchase agreements (“PPAs”). Although this question has divided courts which have considered it,... Continue Reading

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. But does that age-old maxim apply to a bankrupt customer offering to pay you 100% of your unsecured claim through a “prepackaged” bankruptcy or under a critical vendor program? The answer can be complicated. Partner Eric Wilson and senior associate Maeghan McLoughlin were featured... Continue Reading

On August 27, 2019, USDA’s Risk Management Agency (“RMA”) announced that it will provide crop insurance for industrial hemp beginning in the 2020 crop year.  Insurance coverage will be provided under the Whole-Farm Revenue Protection (“WFRP”) program for hemp producers growing hemp for fiber, flower, or seeds and who are part of a state or... Continue Reading

Today, the FTC issued warning letters to three companies selling CBD products.  The companies, which FTC did not identify publicly, allegedly illegally advertised CBD products as being able to treat or cure serious diseases and health conditions without competent and reliable scientific evidence to support such claims. As we have written about previously, FTC and... Continue Reading

In this two-part edition of Full Spectrum’s recurring series on FCC enforcement, Partner Steve Augustino and Senior Associate Brad Currier highlight a recent trend and cover some of the most interesting late-summer enforcement items. Part one of this episode focuses on the significance and implications of Commissioner-led investigations, such as Commissioner O’Rielly regarding E-Rate overbuilding,... Continue Reading…

FCC regulatory fees for FY 2019 must be paid by September 24, 2019, under an order issued by the agency earlier this week. Federal law requires the FCC to assess regulatory fees each year to cover its operating costs (thus, the agency is largely self-funding). The FCC plans to collect a total of $339 million... Continue Reading…

Tuesday, the FTC issued warning letters to three companies selling CBD products.  The companies, which FTC did not identify publicly, allegedly illegally advertised CBD products as being able to treat or cure serious diseases and health conditions without competent and reliable scientific evidence to support such claims. As we have written about previously, FTC and the...… Continue Reading

We’ve written a lot about FDA’s current position on CBD in food and the ongoing process to evaluate a potential non-drug pathway for the ingredient that emerged seemingly out of nowhere to capture the attention of consumers, legislators, and regulators alike.  While we all wait for FDA to announce an update to its review, states...… Continue Reading

The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA), which administers Proposition 65, wasted no time in punching back at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which declared, in an August 8 press release, that Prop 65 labeling  identifying the pesticide glyphosate as a carcinogen is false and misleading and that EPA would not approve... Continue Reading

The latest front in the ever-expanding Proposition 65 enforcement battle:  plastic packaging.  Since the start of the year, dozens of notices of violation have been filed, not for actual products, but for the packaging in which they are wrapped. The allegations contained in this latest series of Prop 65 “60 day notices” involve phthalates, primarily... Continue Reading

A Los Angeles jury awarded a black former UCLA phlebotomist nearly $1.6 million in damages for being subjected to racial harassment by co-workers. Birden v. The Regents of the University of California, No. BC6681389 (Los Angeles Superior Court May 30, 2017). Birden, who worked at UCLA as a per diem phlebotomist for approximately one year,... Continue Reading…

The Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Treasury recently issued joint final regulations expanding the availability of health reimbursement arrangements (“HRAs”) by introducing two new types of HRAs – Individual Coverage HRAs and Excepted Benefit HRAs. The following is a brief overview of the requirements employers must satisfy in order to offer HRA... Continue Reading…

Elizabeth Warren is calling for aggressive enforcement of the antitrust laws. The House Judiciary is opening hearings on big tech, and the Justice Department and FTC have allocated amongst themselves responsibility for particular Big Tech companies. Pundits are saying it’s time for Big Tech to be broken up. So, should Big Tech be worried? Are...… Continue Reading

There seems to be a growing concern that Facebook is too big and should be broken up. Among those calling for the breakup are Elizabeth Warren, Chris Hughes and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The FTC has asked Congress to pass a national privacy law to regulate the industry. While some disagree, it seems pretty clear that foreign...… Continue Reading

This article was originally written by Diana R. Hamar & Barbara E. Hoey and posted to Kelley Drye’s Labor Days Blog. A Los Angeles jury awarded a black former UCLA phlebotomist nearly $1.6 million in damages for being subjected to racial harassment by co-workers. Birden v. The Regents of the University of California, No. BC6681389 (Los... Continue Reading

This article was edited by Barbara E. Hoey, Mark A. Konkel, and Matthew C. Luzadder and originally posted to Kelley Drye’s Labor Days Blog. The Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Treasury recently issued joint final regulations expanding the availability of health reimbursement arrangements (“HRAs”) by introducing two new types of HRAs –... Continue Reading

On Friday, August 23, China announced its plans to impose 5% to 10% tariffs on $75 billion of American products in response to Washington’s recent tariffs on $300 billion of Chinese products.  China’s new tariffs will take effect in two stages, the first on September 1, 2019 and second on December 15, 2019.  The new... Continue Reading

The U.S. Department of Commerce announced on Wednesday that it is self-initiating an inquiry into whether U.S. imports of corrosion-resistant steel products (CORE) from Costa Rica, Guatemala, Malaysia, South Africa, or the United Arab Emirates using hot-rolled or cold-rolled substrate from China and Taiwan are circumventing existing antidumping (AD) and countervailing (CVD) duties.  This is... Continue Reading