Two years after the National Labor Relations Board General Counsel declared that McDonald’s could be held responsible for franchisees’ bad labor practices, the fast food giant has agreed, for the first time, to pay $3.75 million to settle a lawsuit that claimed the company was liable for labor law violations by a California franchisee. [More]
california
California Investigating Wells Fargo For Criminal Identity Theft
By 10.20.16
In a piece of heartening consumer justice news, it’s recently become public that the state of California is conducting a criminal investigation against Wells Fargo for identity theft. Earlier this month, the state served a search warrant on the bank, which asks for information about customers with fake accounts, and the identities of the bankers who opened those accounts. [More]
Pharmaceutical Companies Accused Of Colluding To Delay Generic Version Of Popular Cholesterol Drug
By 10.10.16
If you’ve got a patent-protected drug that’s bringing in more than $1 billion a year in sales, you stand to lose a significant chunk of that revenue when the patent expires and lower-cost generic versions come on the market. A California prosecutor alleges that a number of drug companies illegally colluded in a nearly decade-long “pay-for-delay” deal intended to prevent the release of a cheaper competitor to a popular cholesterol drug. [More]
CEO Of Backpage.com Charged With Allegedly Pimping A Minor, Conspiracy To Commit Pimping
By 10.6.16
Popular listings site Backpage.com has long been a topic of debate for its decision to continue advertising escorts even as other sites like Craigslist tried to back away from these lucrative listings. But now comes news from California that the state has actually arrested the website’s CEO and charged him, along with two of Backpage’s controlling shareholders, with illegally promoting prostitution. [More]
7 Things We Learned About The Rapid Expansion Of Meal Kit Service Blue Apron
By 10.3.16
If you haven’t yet tried the meal kit service Blue Apron, you’ve probably read about it somewhere, or seen one of its many, many ads online or on TV. Yet who is on the other end of the transaction, making sure that you have your tiny bag of cilantro and packing the ice with your catfish filets? An army of blue-collar workers in one of three chilly warehouses make these meal boxes happen. [More]
Illinois, California End Some Business With Wells Fargo — At Least For Now
By 10.3.16
The fallout from the Wells Fargo fake account fiasco continues to pile up, with state officials in both California and Illinois announcing they would stop doing business with the bank for the time-being. [More]
Man Who Punched Nutella-Loving Elderly Man Sentenced To Two Years In Jail, Released
By 9.21.16
Is an extra sample of Nutella worth going to jail for? A Burbank man who spent a year locked up for punching a 78-year-old man in the face over free samples of the chocolate hazelnut spread at Costco might be able to answer that question. [More]
2 Men Accused Of Using ATM Skimmer To Take $500K From US Bank Customers
By 9.2.16
If you’re hitting the road this holiday weekend, you might find yourself visiting some unfamiliar gas stations, ATMs, or kiosks that accept credit cards. The recent arrest in California of two men who are accused of draining $500,000 from US Bank customers’ accounts should remind people across the country and all over the world: be careful where you swipe your debit card, and be protective of your PIN. [More]
Homeowner Says Airbnb Guest Did $25K In Water Damage, May Have Shot Porn In Her House
By 8.10.16
We’re not saying this is the way things should be, but it’s the way things are: If you’re going to use Airbnb or some other service to rent out your house like a hotel, you need to know there’s a chance that the people you let stay in your home while you’re away might also see it as nothing more than a hotel room they can mess up and leave behind. [More]
Do You Have A Constitutional Right To Shop At Home Depot?
By 8.5.16
It’s not uncommon for a retailer to ban shoplifters from ever stepping foot on the premises again. However, a California man convicted of stealing from a Home Depot says that being barred from going back to the store — or any other Depot in the state — is a violation of his rights. [More]
Report: OxyContin Makers Ignored Internal Warnings Of “Organized Drug Ring” & Pill Mills
By 7.18.16
As the current opioid addiction/overdose epidemic spread out across America over the last 20 years, it wasn’t just greedy drugstore chains that turned a blind eye to fake and questionable prescriptions. A new report highlights how the company behind one of the epidemic’s signature drugs ignored warning signs of obvious illegal activity. [More]
Online Charter School K12 Hit With $169M Settlement For False Advertising Allegations
By 7.8.16
For years now, for-profit colleges have come under fire from federal and state lawmakers and investigators over allegedly misleading and deceiving prospective students into enrolling. Today, the state of California announced a $168.5 million settlement to resolve similar allegations, not with an institution of higher education, but with a for-profit online grade-school operator called K12. [More]
Volkswagen’s Emissions Scandal Tab Just Grew By $86M
By 7.7.16
Last week, Volkswagen agreed to pay at least $15 billion to settle federal allegations that it used so-called “defeat devices” in nearly 500,000 diesel-engine vehicles in the U.S. to skirt emissions standards behind it. While the settlement is a first step for VW, the second step came this week when the carmaker agreed to pay an additional $86 million to settle similar charges in California. [More]
How One Email Set Off A 6-Year Legal Battle With No End In Sight
By 6.30.16
It was a simple email: four sentences sent in early 2010 to a nursing home administrator about the care of one of the home’s residents. Days later, the author of that email — along with his girlfriend, the resident’s daughter — were accused of trespassing, civil harassment, intentional interference with contractual relations, and, bizarrely, defamation; ostensibly because they had exercised their legal right to copy their attorney on the message. [More]
What Are SLAPPs And Anti-SLAPPs… And Why Should You Care?
By 6.30.16
We all know the stories about big companies and well-heeled individuals filing nuisance lawsuits against whistleblowers, competitors, or other troublemakers just to shut these less-resourceful parties up. There’s a name for that sort of lawsuit, and — at least in some states — there are ways for defendants to fight back. However, even the best available remedies are far from perfect. [More]
Californians Will Vote On Legalizing Recreational Pot In November
By 6.29.16
California residents may no longer have to complain to their doctors about raging headaches in order to get their hands on legal marijuana soon, as an initiative to legalize the use of recreational pot in the state will be on the ballot this November. [More]
Police Paperwork Mistake Screws Over Victim Of Car Theft & Man Who Unwittingly Bought Stolen Vehicle
By 5.26.16
Here’s a case where no one really wins. Not the woman whose truck was stolen and had to go out-of-pocket to replace it, and certainly not the guy who bought the truck but had to surrender it after learning it had been stolen five years earlier… and all because someone at the police department filled in the wrong box on some paperwork. [More]
Judge: Uber Drivers Aren’t Employees, But Passengers Can Still Sue In Sexual Assault Case
By 5.6.16
Two passengers in different states who were sexually assaulted by Uber drivers are suing the company, and the judge in this case just made an important ruling: drivers’ status as independent contractors rather than employees doesn’t mean that the company can’t be sued for sexual assaults that drivers commit against their passengers. [More]
