On February 21, 2024, Los Angeles County filed a complaint for injunctive relief and damages against Grubhub alleging that the company engaged in false and deceptive advertising and unfair business practices that harm consumers, delivery drivers, and restaurants. The lawsuit was filed by the office of County Counsel. The County’s press release announcing the lawsuit states that it was filed “in response to complaints from consumers and restaurant owners.”

The unlawful business practices alleged in the complaint include:

• Bait-and-switch delivery pricing, in which ...

On February 26, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) issued an administrative complaint and authorized a lawsuit in federal court to block Kroger Company’s proposed $24.6 billion acquisition of the Albertsons Companies, Inc. The acquisition would be the largest supermarket merger in United States history.

The complaint was made pursuant to the agency’s authority under the FTC Act, and alleges that the proposed acquisition is anticompetitive. Nine attorneys general joined the FTC in filing the complaint.

The FTC’s complaint alleges that the ...

In 2022, Congress enacted the “Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act” (the “Act”) which provides that, at the election of the person alleging conduct constituting a sexual harassment dispute or sexual assault dispute, “no predispute arbitration agreement or predispute joint-action waiver shall be valid or enforceable with respect to a case which is filed under Federal, Tribal, or State law and relates to the sexual assault dispute or the sexual harassment dispute.”  (9 U.S.C. § 402).       

The California Court of Appeals recently ...

The California Court of Appeals recently revisited the issue of the draconian deadline for paying arbitration fees established by California Code of Civil Procedure section 1281.97.  In Suarez v. Superior Court of San Diego County, the new twist that prompted appellate court review was that the 30-day grace period to pay the arbitration fees ended on January 1, 2023.  Because January 1, 2023 was a holiday, the employer argued that the arbitration payment deadline was extended by statute under Code of Civil Procedure sections 12 and 1010.6.

More specifically, and among several ...

Until recently, California courts were split on whether Private Attorneys General Act (“PAGA”) claims could be dismissed for a lack of “manageability” – referring to the practicality of effectively conducting a trial on the issues.  Like class actions, PAGA actions generally purport to represent a significant number of an employer’s current and former employees.  However, there are important distinctions between class and PAGA actions, which caused California’s appellate courts to issue conflicting opinions on how PAGA cases should be adjudicated.  The ...

As part of a focused effort by the California Legislature to protect employees from unenforceable non-compete clauses and agreements and increase fair competition among employers in 2024, Assembly Bill 1076 enacted Business and Professions Code section 16600.1.

In addition to any other Valentine’s Day plans that employers may have, all employers that provided any agreement with an unlawful non-compete clause or otherwise executed an unlawful non-compete agreement with its employees who were employed after January 1, 2022 must provide written notice to each employee or ...