A restaurant might already have enough competition from other eateries next door, across the street, or even in the same building, so they probably don’t want yet a competing restaurant on wheels parking on their block. But when restaurants and food trucks share a similar menu, can a city require that they not share the same general space? [More]
lawsuits
Supreme Court Will Hear Arguments On Validity Of “Scandalous, Disparaging” Trademarks
By 9.29.16
Federal law prohibits the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office from registering trademarks deemed “immoral, deceptive, or scandalous,” or that “disparage… persons, living or dead, institutions, beliefs, or national symbols.” This has resulted in disputes like the cancellation of the Washington Redskins trademark. This morning, the nation’s highest court agreed to hear arguments in a case seeking to throw that rule out. [More]
Ban On Selfies In The Voting Booth Is Unconstitutional
By 9.29.16
With a little more than a month to go before Election Day, we finally have some clarity on that age-old legal question: Am I allowed to take a selfie in the voting booth? [More]
Strippers Say Law Barring Under-21 Dancers Violates First, Fourteenth Amendments
By 9.28.16
A group of exotic dancers in Louisiana say a new state law barring women under the age of 21 from stripping is a violation of their constitutional rights. [More]
Recording Industry Sues Site That Lets You Rip YouTube Clips Into MP3s
By 9.28.16
There are a number of sites and services that will let you easily convert a streaming YouTube video into a more usable file. YouTube itself has gone after some of these sites, but now the recording industry is challenging the legality of a popular site that allows users to rip audio-only MP3 files from YouTube clips. [More]
Traveler Sues Emirates Because He Was Seated Next To Obese Man For 9-Hour Flight
By 9.27.16 — Updated: 5.5.17
We all like to have as much space to ourselves as possible while flying, but sometimes that’s just not the reality. Close quarters on a nine-hour Emirates flight led to a lawsuit from one passenger who claims his trip was ruined because of the “spillover” from the obese man seated next to him. [More]
Court: American Express Can Stop Stores From Steering Customers To Less-Expensive Cards
By 9.26.16
When you pay with a credit card, you’d probably like to know if you could save money by using one type of card over another. However, stores that accept American Express are barred from steering customers toward less-expensive cards. Last year, a federal court ruled that AmEx’s policy violates antitrust laws, but today a federal appeals court overruled that decision. [More]
Senators To Wells Fargo CEO: Don’t Strip Wronged Customers Of Their Day In Court
By 9.23.16 — Updated: 9.30.16
Now that Wells Fargo is in the hot seat for allegedly pushing its employees to meet sales goals and quotas by opening millions of bogus accounts in customers’ names, will the bank use the anti-consumer terms of its customer contracts to get out of the inevitable class action lawsuits? A coalition of U.S. senators have written the bank’s CEO asking him to please not strip customers’ of their day in court. [More]
AT&T Taking Nashville To Court To Try To Slow Down Google Fiber
By 9.23.16
They said they’d do it, and so, by gum, they’re doing it: Surprising basically nobody, AT&T has filed a lawsuit against the city of Nashville and its officials, seeking to block a recently-passed law that would make it possible for Google Fiber to come to town. [More]
Minnesota Vikings Let Wells Fargo Keep “Photobombing” Rooftop Signs After All
By 9.21.16
Maybe the Minnesota Vikings are feeling generous after a 2-0 start, but the NFL team is reportedly going to allow Wells Fargo to keep the two rooftop signs the bank allegedly erected to “photobomb” the Vikes’ new stadium — even though a court already ordered Wells to remove the signs. [More]
News Organizations Sue FBI To Find Out Who & How Much It Paid To Unlock Terrorist’s iPhone
By 9.16.16
In the months following the tragic Dec. 2, 2015 terrorist attack in San Bernardino, the FBI and Apple engaged in a heated legal (and publicity) battle over whether or not the tech giant could be compelled to unlock an iPhone belonging to one of the attackers. Then in March 2016, the FBI paid an unidentified third party to provide a solution this particular problem. The identity and actual cost of this unlocking is still unknown, but two of the country’s biggest media companies have sued the FBI to learn more. [More]
Consumers Suing Welspun Over Egyptian Cotton Bedding Made With Inferior Materials
By 9.15.16
There’s more bad news for textile manufacturer Welpsun: after Target cut ties with the company, and Walmart pulled its sheets from shelves, U.S. consumers have filed two lawsuits claiming the textile manufacturer fraudulently labeled its bedding as premium Egyptian cotton when it was in fact made from lower quality fibers. [More]
Tesla Claims Man With Pals In Big Oil Tried To Impersonate Elon Musk
By 9.15.16
It sounds like an obvious plot in a movie: a man working for Big Oil tries to steal secrets from an electric car company by impersonating its CEO to steal financial secrets! Except it really happened, according to a new lawsuit from Tesla Motors that claims someone pretended to be Elon Musk in a bid to get juicy inside information. [More]
Beverage Industry Takes Philadelphia To Court Over Soda Tax
By 9.14.16
A few months back, the city of Philadelphia became just the second city in the U.S. to successfully pass a tax specifically on soft drinks, adding $.015/ounce to the price a distributor pays for sodas — including diet drinks — and other sweetened beverages. As expected, the beverage industry has fired back with a lawsuit challenging this tax, alleging that it illegally duplicates a state tax and diminishes the purchasing power of low-income Philadelphia residents. [More]
Lawsuit: Chipotle Worker Fired After Complaining That Coworkers Got Preferential Treatment
By 9.14.16
A new lawsuit filed in California claims that a former Chipotle worker was fired after she complained to her bosses that her coworkers were receiving preferential treatment, giving them coveted daytime shifts while she was stuck working at nighttime. [More]
No, Yelp’s Star Ratings Don’t Make It Liable For Bad Reviews
By 9.13.16
Federal law generally protects websites from liability for content posted by third parties, otherwise online review platforms like Yelp would need to vet every single review before it gets published. But a small-business owner in Washington believes Yelp is liable because of its star ratings and because Yelp reviews can end up on Google search results. [More]
House Passes Bill Outlawing “Gag Clauses” That Try To Punish Customers For Writing Negative Reviews
By 9.12.16
We’re nearing the finish line for a piece of legislation that will make it illegal for companies to put so-called “gag orders” in their customer contracts to prevent consumers from sharing their honest opinions with the rest of the world. [More]
Woman Stuck By Needle In Target Parking Lot Awarded $4.6M
By 9.12.16
More than two years after a woman was pricked by a hypodermic needle her daughter picked up in a Target parking lot, a jury has awarded her more than $4.6 million. [More]
