In some circumstances an insurer’s duty to settle may arise even in the absence of a demand by the claimant within policy. The recent case of Planet Bingo, LLC v. The Burlington Insurance Company, 2021 DJDAR 2510 (March 18, 2021) is the latest decision to address this point.

In Planet Bingo, the insured manufactured handheld gaming devices. Those devices were distributed in the U.K. by Leisure Electronic Limited. Leisure leased some of the Planet Bingo’s devices to Beacon Bingo, which operated a bingo hall in London.

In September 2008 there was a fire at Beacon’s bingo hall ...

Both Los Angeles and Orange County are now eligible to move from the Red Tier into the Orange Tier of COVID-19 reopening guidelines under the state’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy. 

On March 30, 2021, the Los Angeles County Public Health Department announced that while it satisfied the numbers requirement to move into the Orange Tier, it would wait until April 5 to permit businesses to operate at increased capacity.

On April 5, Los Angeles County will officially adopt Orange Tier reopening rules to the Public Health Officer Order. Under these new rules, the following changes will take ...

Parties in an added-sugar class action pending in the Northern District of California are taking another shot at obtaining preliminary approval of a settlement reached between the parties. The case, Stephen Hadley et al. v. Kellogg Sales Co., Case No. 5:16-cv-04955, originally filed in 2016, alleges that Kellogg violated several California and New York laws by marketing many of their cereals with deceptive health and wellness claims that mask the cereals’ high added sugar content.  Plaintiffs specifically target roughly a dozen of Kellogg’s cereals. The challenged ...

As reported here, on March 19, 2021, Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Senate Bill 95. This new law requires all California employers (including those with collective bargaining agreements) with 25 or more employees to provide paid supplemental sick leave to employees who are unable to work or telework due to certain COVID-19 related reasons. In-home supportive service providers are also required to provide paid supplemental sick leave to their providers.

The new COVID-19 supplemental sick leave must be provided on the oral or written request of the covered employee ...

On March 19, 2021, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 95 providing a new form of COVID-19 related paid sick leave for many California workers. The law will become effective on March 29, 2021, and applies retroactively to sick leave taken beginning on or after January 1, 2021. All California employers with more than 25 employees and in-home supportive services providers are required to provide the supplemental sick leave benefits to employees. The law will remain in effect through September 30, 2021.

SB 95 provides for COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave for ...

On March 16, 2021, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors (the “Board”) revised its protocol for issuing fines to businesses violating the County’s COVID-19 protocols, reversing course. These protocols were implemented in August 2020 at the Board’s direction, and have led to fines and temporary closures for a number of restaurants.

In July 2020, the Board passed a motion directing the Department of Public Health (the “Department”) to take stricter enforcement measures to ensure greater levels of compliance with COVID-19 safety protocols.  In August 2020, the ...

On March 16, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) released the results of its 2019 Food Safety and Nutrition Survey (“FSANS”). FSANS is designed to assess consumers’ awareness, knowledge, understanding and reported behaviors relating to a variety of food safety and nutrition-related topics.

Among the key findings of FSANS, the FDA reported: 

• Most consumers are familiar with the Nutrition Facts label – 87% of respondents have looked at the Nutrition Facts label on food packages. The top four items that consumers look for on the label are: Calories, Total ...

On March 15, 2021, Los Angeles County officially entered into the state’s Red Tier, permitting restaurants to offer limited capacity indoor dining, and permitting gyms, museums and galleries to open some indoor operations. The County issued several reopening protocols laying out the rules for businesses with the current reopening.

Dining

The County’s Department of Public Health issued a revised Public Health Order for Dining Protocols (the “Order”) with new protocols for indoor dining, outdoor dining and worker safety in light of the reopening.

Indoor Dining

With ...

On February 24, 2021, a judge in the United States Court for the Northern District of California preliminarily approved a $15 million class-action settlement for Post Foods, based on the case Debbie Krommenhock et al. v. Post Foods, LLC, Case No. 3:16-cv-04958-WHO, which concerns representations made by Post Foods LLC in the labeling and advertising of several popular cereal brands, including Honey Bunches of Oats and Raisin Bran.

Plaintiffs Debbie Krommenhock and Stephen Hadley filed a class action complaint against Post in August 2016 alleging that Post violated California ...

On March 11, 2021, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (the “Department”) announced an anticipated reopening of certain activities between March 15 and March 17, as L.A. County moves to the lower risk Red Tier of the state’s reopening plan. The exact date of the reopening will depend on when the County hits the threshold of 2 million vaccine doses being administered to people in the most under-resourced communities across the County.

The following activities will be permitted next week after L.A. County moves to the Red Tier:

• Museum, zoos and aquariums can open ...