Drivers who worked for ride-hailing service Uber in California and Massachusetts over the past seven years would have been entitled to an estimated $730 million in expense reimbursements had they been employees rather than contractors, according to court documents made public on Monday. Uber and smaller rival Lyft are attempting to settle lawsuits by drivers who contend they …
On Monday, Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced that the DOJ has filed suit against the state of North Carolina over HB 2, which seeks to protect citizens from being intruded upon by transgenders in the restrooms by dictating they can only use the bathroom of their biological sex. In her press announcement, Lynch denounced the law as “state-sponsored discrimination” that denies transgenders …
North Carolina Gov. McCrory today filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice that asks a federal court to determine that House Bill 2, the discriminatory law that removes local legal protections for LGBT people and prohibits transgender people from using public facilities that correspond to their gender identity, does not violate civil rights laws. Last week, the U.S. Department of …
If government–or at least government regulators, apparatchiks and other place-holders–get their way, it’s going to be a lot easier to sue your bank. Just what this country needs. …
CFPB Proposal Would Effectively Eliminate Most Pre-Dispute Consumer Arbitrations To no one’s surprise, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) proposed rules on May 5, 2016 that will effectively, if promulgated as expected, eliminate most pre-dispute arbitrations arising out of the sale of consumer financial products. As detailed below, the proposed rules would, among other things: (1) …
Residents of the New York City borough of the Bronx who have been arrested for a misdemeanor charge are waiting months or even years for their cases to be resolved. Attorneys in the Bronx say that the amount of time their clients have to wait between a misdemeanor arrest and a hearing can be so long that it violates their constitutional right to a speedy trial. On Tuesday, several of these …
In a putative class action alleging widespread copyright infringement commenced in December 2015 against Spotify, Plaintiff, the lead singer for the bands Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven, recently moved pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(d) to monitor — and possibly prevent — Spotify USA, Inc. (“Spotify”) from engaging in communications with individuals who …
The case of Samantha Niemann vs. the Getty Foundation has generated all manner of headlines and Internet jabs after the white university student claimed she had been deterred from applying for an internship program geared toward underrepresented minorities. Boing Boing responded with a tearful emoji under the headline “White woman wants minority internship, sues Getty Foundation.” The arts …
A California federal judge is allowing Paramount Pictures and CBS to boldly go where no Star Trek rights holder has gone before. The two studios are suing over Star Trek: Prelude to Axanar, a short film, as well as Axanar, a proposed feature-length picture that’s been raising money on Kickstarter and other crowdfunding platforms. In response to the lawsuit, Alec Peters’ Axanar Productions …
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is seeking comment on a new proposed regulation that would prohibit mandatory arbitration clauses that deny groups of consumers their day in court, putting into motion discussions that started toward the end of last year. Arbitration clauses generally require that if there’s a dispute, parties must first try to resolve the issue through an arbitration …