Gone are the days when state attorneys general leave antitrust enforcement to their federal counterparts at the Federal Trade Commission or the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division. Originally published in Law360...more
On August 16, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a motion in limine in its challenge to Kroger’s $24.6 billion acquisition of Albertsons alleging that Albertsons executives intentionally deleted text...more
In February of this year, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) brought an administrative complaint to block Kroger Company’s $24.6 billion merger with Albertsons Companies, Inc., citing antitrust concerns. On August 19, 2024,...more
In a recent legal dispute, Mahram v. The Kroger Co., a California Court of Appeal delivered a decision that may have implications for employment arbitration agreements. Although the case at hand involved a consumer...more
As litigation to block the proposed Kroger-Albertsons merger wages on at the state and federal level, four state attorneys general (AG) have jumped into the fray in support of the merger as the cases heat up on all fronts....more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is suing to block the proposed $24.6 billion merger between supermarket giants Kroger and ACI, the parent company of Albertsons and Safeway, among other brands. The FTC has initiated two...more
On February 26, 2024, after a 16-month investigation, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sued The Kroger Company and Albertsons Companies, Inc. in the U.S. District Court of Oregon to try to block their $24.6 billion merger....more
On February 26, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), alongside Attorneys General from eight states and the District of Columbia, initiated legal action to block Kroger’s $24.6 billion acquisition of Albertsons. The...more
The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and the Colorado attorney general have filed separate lawsuits challenging the proposed acquisition by The Kroger Company (“Kroger”) of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (“Albertsons”). Two...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) continued its steady march toward broadening its enforcement over labor and employment conduct using antitrust laws in early February when Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya declared that the...more
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,...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and a coalition of nine state attorneys general (AG) filed a lawsuit on February 26, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon seeking a preliminary injunction to stall Kroger...more
Kentucky AG Russell Coleman filed a lawsuit against the Kroger Company and affiliated entities alleging that it contributed to the opioid epidemic in the state in its role as a drug distributor and operator of retail...more
On January 15, Washington Attorney General (AG) Bob Ferguson filed a complaint in King County Superior Court, seeking to block the merger of The Kroger Co. (Kroger) with its supermarket competitor, Albertsons Companies, Inc....more
In March 2023, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office issued a letter to Kroger Co., urging the company “to add clear signage to your stores to help consumers understand which eggs, exactly, came from caged chickens.”...more
The Sixth Circuit recently rejected a challenge to a Rule 12(c) judgment compelling arbitration in a dispute between a Kroger subsidiary and a union that represented its employees. Kroger Limited Partnership I (KLPI),...more
Accommodating an employee’s sincerely held religious beliefs can be tricky. In EEOC v. Kroger, a court in Arkansas gives some guidance on how to handle these claims. The case law surrounding religious failure-to-accommodate...more
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals recently concluded that a grievance by a Kroger union was included within the scope of an arbitration clause in a collective bargaining agreement....more
CYBERSECURITY - Coveware Q1 2021 Report Shows Increase in Ransomware Payments Over Q4 2020 Coveware issued its Q1 2021 - Ransomware Report on April 26, 2021, which concludes that “[D]ata exfiltration extortion continues...more
This week, Kroger and Drone Express announced a pilot program offering grocery delivery by autonomous drones....more
Conway, Ark., Grocery Store Fired Two Workers Because of Their Religious Objections to Kroger’s New Dress Code, Federal Agency Charges - LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The Kroger Company, doing business as Kroger Store No. 625 in...more
In Washington: President Trump signed an executive order Tuesday directing federal agencies to ease up on businesses that make good-faith attempts to follow agency guidance and regulations during the coronavirus pandemic....more
Over the last several weeks, a variety of major retailers, restaurant groups, pharmacies and other merchants have been hit with a deluge of putative class action lawsuits alleging violations of the Americans with Disabilities...more
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has held that a unit selected for organizing by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) – one including approximately 180 jet mechanics at Boeing's...more
In NLRB v. Babcock & Wilcox, Inc., decided in 1956, the U.S. Supreme Court provided two exceptions to the general rule that an employer cannot be compelled to open its property to union organizers. The first exception applies...more