Company

The Biggest Lesson From Volkswagen: Culture Dictates Behavior

Culture is a powerful force that can cause people to make decisions that aren’t in their companies’ best interests. And when the status quo doesn’t allow for honest internal communication, businesses can end up facing disaster. Consider what happened with Volkswagen’s “no-failure” culture and its emissions-test scandal.


Spotify Hit With Second Songwriter Lawsuit in Two Weeks

Another songwriter has sued streaming music service Spotify — accusing the company of “wholesale copyright infringement” — in an escalation of the ongoing battle over online royalties and licensing. A complaint filed Friday on behalf of Newburyport, Mass.-based artist Melissa Ferrick accused the digital music giant of using her music without properly licensing her work, marking the second …


Chipotle Faces Uphill Battle to Win Back Reputation After E Coli Outbreak

“I don’t care,” Anna said, as she screwed up a brown paper bag that had contained a steak and black bean Chipotle burrito. “If I die, I die.” Anna, who had wolfed down her lunch in a Manhattan branch of the fast food chain, said she would continue to visit Chipotle at least twice a week despite the Mexican grill chain having been struck by outbreaks of E coli and norovirus that left more than …


Sweden’s Spotify Hit by New $200 Million Action

The lawsuits, each filed by individual artists in a US federal court in Los Angeles, ask a judge to create a class-action suit in which other alleged victims can collectively seek damages. The latest lawsuit was filed Friday by Melissa Ferrick, the Massachusetts-based indie folk singer who teaches at the prestigious Berklee College of Music and rose to prominence as Morrissey’s last-minute …


Why It’s Totally Legal to Dock Employees’ Pay for Going to the Bathroom

Last week, 6,000 workers of a Pennsylvania company achieved a small victory. A federal judge ruled that their employer, American Future Systems Inc., has to pay up for making them clock out for bathroom breaks. The company will have to put out about $1.75 million in back pay and damages for forcing employees to clock out at offices in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Ohio between July 2009 and …


Double or Nothing: Spotify Hit With Another Class-Action Lawsuit for $200 Million

If Spotify was hoping for a quiet start to 2016 on the legal front, it’s going to be disappointed. Just two weeks after musician David Lowery filed a $150 class action suit against the company, it’s facing another separate class action suit — this time for $200 million. On Friday the Los Angeles law firm Gradstein & Marzano filed a complaint on behalf of the artist Melissa Ferrick, accusing …


Spotify Hit by New $200 Million Copyright Suit

Streaming leader Spotify has been hit by a new copyright lawsuit seeking $200 million, in the second such case within weeks. The lawsuits, each filed by individual artists in a US federal court in Los Angeles, ask a judge to create a class-action suit in which other alleged victims can collectively seek damages. The latest lawsuit was filed Friday by Melissa Ferrick, the Massachusetts-based …


Volkswagen’s CEO Plans to Present Remedies for Fixing Diesel Engines at EPA Meeting

TOM KRISHER, AP Auto Writer DETROIT (AP) — Volkswagen’s new chief executive plans to present remedies for fixing diesel engines that cheat on emissions tests when he meets with the top U.S. environmental regulator this week. CEO Matthias Mueller said that as of now VW has only given technical data to the Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board. But he hopes to …


VW CEO Plans to Submit Emissions Fixes to EPA Chief

DETROIT (AP) — Volkswagen’s new chief executive plans to present remedies for fixing diesel engines that cheat on emissions tests when he meets with the top U.S. environmental regulator this week. CEO Matthias Mueller said that as of now VW has only given technical data to the Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board. But he hopes to reach agreement with EPA …


Didi Kuaidi Announces 1.43 Billion Rides in Challenge to Uber

Uber wants you to believe it’s emerged as the global leader in the world of on-demand rides. To be sure, some signs do already point to that: it’s raised more than $10 billion in venture funding, and the company’s worth a reported $62.5 billion. Still, it would be shortsighted to assume Uber has the edge in every aspect of the fight, especially in one of the biggest battlegrounds for ride- …