Food & Beverage : Law360 : Legal News & Analysis (2024)

NLRB Gets 1st Backing Of Starbucks Order In Circuit Court

A split D.C. Circuit panel on Thursday enforced a National Labor Relations Board order finding Starbucks violated federal labor law by barring a worker from passing out union pins, marking the first time a federal appeals court has weighed in on a board decision against the coffee giant.

Calif. Looks To Sink Chamber's Climate Disclosure Challenge

The state of California saysa challenge by the U.S. Chamber of Commerceand other business groups to its recently enacted corporate climate disclosure laws should be tossed, arguing the groups cannot sue since enforcement of the law has not begun and the groups cannot plead an injury.

Hard Rock Cafe Workers Score Conditional Cert. In Tip Suit

A Georgia federal judge has granted conditional class certification to a group of Hard Rock Cafe servers alleging the company forfeited its right to pay servers subminimum tipped wages by compelling them to perform excessive untipped work and not telling them a tip credit would be taken against their wages.

Claims Trimmed In Trader Joe's Chocolate Heavy Metals Suit

A California judge has dismissed five out of nine claims in a consolidated complaint alleging that Trader Joe's Co. misled consumers by failing to disclose that its dark chocolate bars contain heavy metals, finding that the complaint doesn't do enough to allege that the amounts are actually dangerous.

WeightWatchers Adds 23andMe's Ex-Legal Head As Its GC

WW International Inc., formerly known as WeightWatchers, hired Jacqueline Cooke from ancestry-tracking company 23andMe this month as its new general counsel and corporate secretary.

Fruit Grower Cleared To Leave Ch. 11 With $43M Exit Loan

California stone fruit producer Prima Wawona is set to wind down its packing and distribution division, hand ownership of the reorganized company to creditors and leave bankruptcy after a Delaware bankruptcy judge agreed to approve its Chapter 11 plan Thursday.

A Colorado district judge has selected two clients of Faruqi & Faruqi LLP to lead an investor class action accusing the executives and directors of wellness company NewAge Inc. of securities fraud, saying the plaintiff with an even bigger financial interest is unfit for appointment because he hid his "troubling" background.

Fees Awarded For 'Feeble' Milk Vitamin Eligibility Argument

A Delaware federal judge has ordered ChromaDex Inc. and Dartmouth College to pay attorney fees to Elysium Health for making a "feeble" and failed argument defending their milk vitamin patents from an eligibility challenge, saying he's rarely been more confident that a suit was unreasonable.

MSG-Maker Says Chinese Exporters Skirting Duties Via Malaysia

The U.S. arm of Japanese monosodium glutamate manufacturer Ajinomoto Co. Inc. claims Chinese MSG producers are using a Malaysian competitor to evade duties on the umami flavor enhancer, saying the Malaysian company's facility isn't big enough to produce the product.

Whataburger Accused Of Keeping Shoddy Funds In 401(k)

Whataburger breached federal benefits law by stocking its employees' $215 million retirement plan with poorly performing funds and failing to replace them with better options, according to a proposed class action filed in Texas federal court.

Dole Drops $293M Sale Of Vegetable Biz Under DOJ Pressure

Dole PLC said Thursday it agreed to drop the planned $293 million sale of its fresh vegetable division to Chiquita Holdings Ltd. after the U.S. Department of Justice raised concerns about the deal's effect on packaged salad prices.

'Better Made' Chips Goes After 'Better Smoke' Pot

Detroit-based Better Made Snack Foods Inc. said a number of cannabis companies in Michigan have been selling a line of "Better Smoke"cannabis products that mimics the snack brand's century-old logo in a trademark infringement lawsuit filed Wednesday.

UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

This past week in London has seen investors target fraudsters who ran a fake film tax scheme, Barclays Bank sue privately owned Russian bank PJSC Sovcombank, easyGroup bring a trademark infringement claim against online casino TGI Entertainment for its "easybet" word sign, and a bioethanol fuel company hit high-profile individuals connected to the collapsed Elysian Fuels scheme. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

Minor League Players Charged With Insider Trading

California federal prosecutors have hit current and former minor league baseball players with claims they made profits totaling over $162,000 trading off insider information about burger chain Jack in the Box's $575 million acquisition of its fellow chain Del Taco.

Foreign Subsidy Rule Muddles 'Countervailable' Meaning

The U.S. Department of Commerce's new final rule authorizing itself to investigate subsidies that governments give to manufacturers in other nationscasts uncertainty over the definition of "countervailable" in the absence of clarity on how third-party governments will beincorporated into these duty probes.

Tribes Want Climate Change Row With Oil Cos. In State Court

Two Native American tribes urged a Washington federal court to remand their consolidated case against ExxonMobil, BP, Shell, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Phillips 66 back to state court, arguing they've only asserted state-law causes of action.

Cannabis Caucus Dems Urge Garland To Restore Pot Protections

The two Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives' Congressional Cannabis Caucus blasted Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday for not reissuing "overdue" protections for marijuana businesses acting in compliance with state and tribal law.

DoorDash, Grubhub Want Docs From NY Restaurant Lobbyists

DoorDash, Grubhub and Uber Eats have urged a Manhattan federal judge to let them subpoena the trade group executives who allegedly "worked closely" with officials on challenged New York City caps on fees that food delivery apps can charge restaurants.

Candy Co. Can Use Recipe Amid 'Chocolate Moonshine' Fight

A Pennsylvania federal judge has refused to ban the candy maker Local Yokels Fudge from making or selling fudge,ruling the owner's ex-husband hadn't shown the company is still using his family's secret "Chocolate Moonshine" fudge recipe.

Farm Data Co. Wants To Bar Carlton Fields Atty From IP Suit

Lawyers for an agricultural industry data software outfit want a Carlton Fields lawyer banned from participating in a patent dispute with a rival startup because of her in-house involvement at the rival and work on an older trade secrets suit involving the same technology.

47 House Dems Urge Changing Trade Deal To Stem Migration

A large bloc of U.S. lawmakers has called on the Biden administration to remove what the lawmakers say is a damaging investor-state dispute settlement mechanism from the Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement, warning federal government officials that it's a primary reason why migrants are leaving the region.

HR Services Co. May Be Liable In Harassment Suit, Court Says

A Texas appellate court said Wednesday that more fact-finding is needed to determine whether a professional employer organization could be on the hook for a sexual harassment claim brought by a cafeteria worker, but found that the company is, legally, an employer.

9th Circ. Rejects Rust-Oleum's Bid To Sink Class Cert.

The Ninth Circuit on Tuesday upheld the certification of a class of Rust-Oleum customers who are suing the company for allegedly greenwashing its degreaser products with the terms "non-toxic" and "Earth friendly."

CBD Retailer Used Spyware, Recorded Online Chats, Suit Says

Charlotte's Web Inc., a CBD retailer, is secretly recording conversations of those who visit its website in violation of a California privacy law that is simple to follow, according to a proposed class action removed to federal court on Monday.

Vietnamese Producer Faces Brunt Of Shrimp Subsidy Probe

A Vietnamese shrimp farm may face a nearly 200% countervailing duty rate based on preliminary findings in the U.S. Department of Commerce's probe into whether shrimp imports from four countries are hurting the U.S. market through unfair government subsidies.