On May 1, 2023, a ban on single-use plastics went into effect for restaurants with permanent locations in unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County. The ban was originally passed in April of 2022 by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, with enforcement rolled out based on the type of establishment. 

The ban will be enforced first in restaurants with permanent locations, then be effective on November 1, 2023 at food trucks, and May 1, 2024 at temporary/pop-up food facilities, catering companies, and farmers market. 

Restaurants that demonstrate financial hardship can apply ...

On April 28, 2023, a panel of judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld a lower court’s dismissal of a lawsuit against Kroger alleging that the company misleadingly labeled spreadable fruit products as “Just Fruit.”

Plaintiff Sarah Vitort alleged that Kroger violated the Oregon Unlawful Trade Practices Act because the “Just Fruit” product included fruit syrup, pectin, calcium citrate, apple juice concentrate, and citric acid. Plaintiff argued that even though those ingredients could be extracted from fruit, they were not actually fruit ...

In a matter of first impression, a panel for the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed a judgment of the District Court of New Jersey in Singh v. Uber Techs., Inc. (April 26, 2023), compelling arbitration in a putative class action against Uber Technology, Inc. (Uber). The class action was brought against Uber by its drivers who alleged that the rideshare company misclassified them as independent contractors, thereby depriving them of overtime pay and other benefits under wage and hour laws. The panel held that the drivers must bring work-related disputes as ...

A number of articles previously published in Receivership News have pointed out that while it is clear that receivers appointed by federal courts have quasi-judicial immunity ( See, New Alaska Dev. Corp. v. Guetschow, 869 F.2d 1298 (9th Cir. 1989); Trinh v. Fineman, 9 F. 4th 235 (3rd. Cir. 2021) [collecting cases]) up to  now it has been unclear whether that is true for receivers appointed by state courts in California, although there have been a number of unreported decisions that have held receivers do have such immunity (See, Haider v. Speiser, 2012 WL 41019411 (2012); Gruntz v. Wiley,

In law school, aspiring attorneys are taught fundamental concepts related to contracts, including “agency”, “third party beneficiary”, and “equitable estoppel”, terms which relate to determining who should be subject to the terms of a contract.  In Hernandez v. Meridian Management Services, LLC, the California Court of Appeals referred back to these law school basics in denying a motion to compel arbitration brought by a number of companies who were alleged to be “joint employers” of an employee, but who were not signatories to an arbitration agreement between ...

On April 13, 2013, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced that it had sent a Notice of Penalty Offenses Concerning Substantiation of Product Claims and a Notice of Penalty Offenses Concerning Deceptive or Unfair Conduct around Endorsements and Testimonials letter to almost 700 marketing companies.

The purpose of a Notice of Penalty Offense (“NPO”) is to put firms on notice about deceptive or unfair acts or practices the FTC has previously fully litigated.  After the FTC issues an NPO, any recipient of the NPO is considered to be on notice of the prohibitions against ...

On April 7, 2023, the City of Los Angeles (the “City”) released a revised “LA Al Fresco Ordinance,” to govern outdoor dining.  The City had previously released a February 2023 proposed ordinance that was met with intense opposition from restaurant owners and community members.

“LA Al Fresco” is a popular outdoor dining program that began in May 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic in an effort to help restaurant owners use more space for outdoor dining without having to go through a prolonged approval process.  Through the program, restaurants and bars could apply to expand ...

The so-called “mansion tax” approved by Los Angeles voters in 2022 and effective April 1, 2023 (Measure ULA) is a misnomer. It establishes a new 4% documentary transfer tax on the sale of any real property priced or valued from $5 million up to $10 million and a 5.5% tax on real property sales priced or valued at $10 million or greater. This is in addition to the current base transfer tax. Measure ULA applies to more than just large homes. It applies to apartment buildings, raw land and commercial and industrial real estate. Anytime a sale price for real property exceeds $5 million in Los ...

Where companies are victimized by ransomware or email scams, their losses arise from payments made by an officer or employee of the company.

In the case of ransomware, a company’s files are held hostage pending payment by the company to release them. In the case of email scams, typically a company’s employee is tricked into sending funds to a third party account which the employee believes is legitimate.

In both cases, the loss is occasioned through some action by the company either in the form of payment to the cyber thief or to the fraudster’s account.

Insurers resisting payment ...