Apr 1, 2016

Federal Court Rules CGL Insurance Covers Data Breach

A federal appeals court in Virginia has upheld a lower federal court in ruling that a commercial general liability policy (CGL) may cover a data breach. In a case involving the publication of private medical records on the internet, the courts found that coverage included in a CGL for personal and advertising injury applied. Monday’s ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit is a …


Amazon Megadam: European Companies Line Up to Bid for Giant New Hydro Project

Major European energy companies are set to build and run the controversial mega-dam project planned for the Tapajos river in the heart of the Amazon. This comes as a senior construction official has implicated the nearby Belo Monte dam in the massive corruption scandal that has engulfed President Dilma Rousseff and the country’s most powerful political figures. The Brazilian government is …


Uber Lawsuits Timeline: Company Ordered to Pay Out $61.9m Since 2009

Uber – which at its latest valuation of $62.5bn is the world’s most valuable private startup – has paid huge sums of money in legal settlements across the world since the taxi-hailing company was founded in 2009. As the increasingly powerful ride-sharing startup continues its rapid growth, we’re tracking the diverse court battles forcing Uber and its investors to pay out. Its strategy of …



“Happy Birthday” Legal Team Seeks to Free “We Shall Overcome” From Copyright

Fresh from a $14 million victory that had Warner/Chappell backing off from ownership claims over “Happy Birthday to You,” the attorneys at Wolf Haldenstein now have chosen their encore with a new lawsuit that seeks to establish that the worldwide famous protest song, “We Shall Overcome,” is conclusively in the public domain. The putative class action, filed Tuesday in New York federal court …


TCPA FCC Petitions Tracker

Kelley Drye’s Communications Practice Group presents this tracker of active Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) petitions before the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”). With the recent increase in litigation regarding alleged violations of the TCPA, many issues relating to the interpretation of the statute have been presented to the FCC by impacted parties. These petitions can be …


California Employers Push Back Over Health Care Arbitration Agreements

Chad Terune, Kaiser Health News Sutter Health, long accused of abusing its market power in California, is squaring off against major U.S. employers in a closely watched legal fight over health care competition and high prices. The latest fight has erupted over Sutter’s demand that employers sign an arbitration agreement to resolve disputes. Without it, Sutter says employers must pay sharply …


Palm Beach Gardens Mother Fought for Kids in Medicaid Lawsuit

More than a decade ago, Rita Gorenflo of Palm Beach Gardens signed on as a plaintiff in the class-action lawsuit against the state of Florida on behalf of nearly two million poor and disabled children on Medicaid. Through a lengthy Miami trial and the appeal of the judge’s scathing findings against the state, Gorenflo lost a son, while she raised six other adopted disabled children to …


New York Is Likely Dropping Its “tampon Tax”

The New York state senate is poised to eliminate New Yorkers’ so-called “tampon tax.” Feminine hygiene products are currently taxed as “luxury items” in New York, but a new bill could result in their reclassification as tax-exempt necessities, instead. The Republican-run senate passed the bill unanimously on Monday (April 11) after it had passed the state assembly in March, also with full …


A Typo in Your Paystubs Could Cost You Millions

Imagine being sued by every single one of the employees who worked for you over the past four years because your paystubs have an extra comma in your company’s name. Or because the zip code is missing from your company’s address. Or perhaps because the paystub includes the pay period end date but not the beginning date.