On Tuesday, July 30, 2024, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass announced that the deadline for restaurant owners to apply for the city’s permanent Al Fresco program has been extended to December 31, 2024. This means that any...more
On March 11, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) revised independent contractor test took effect, under a Final Rule issued by the Wage and House Division of DOL. The rule for Employee or Independent Contractor...more
On March 15, 2024, the newly appointed Fast Food Council (the “Council”) held its first public meeting in the State Building in Oakland.
The Council was created as part of Assembly Bill 1228, the FAST Recovery Act....more
On March 25, 2024, Governor Newsom signed Assembly Bill 610 into law. AB 610 will exempt some businesses from needing to comply with the Fast Recovery Act....more
On March 18, 2024, the Supreme Court of the United States (the “Supreme Court”) denied a petition for writ of certiorari brought by McDonald’s USA, LLC (“McDonald’s”).
McDonald’s had asked the Supreme Court to review a...more
On February 22, 2024, a panel of judges for the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued an unpublished opinion upholding enforcement of a National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) order holding that a...more
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...more
3/1/2024
/ Advertising ,
Delivery Drivers ,
False Advertising ,
Fees ,
GrubHub ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Misrepresentation ,
Municipalities ,
New Legislation ,
Pricing ,
Restaurant Industry ,
State and Local Government ,
Unfair Competition Law (UCL) ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices ,
Unfair Pricing
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
2/29/2024
/ Acquisitions ,
Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Anticompetitive Behavior ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Grocery Store Workers ,
Grocery Stores ,
Kroger ,
State Attorneys General ,
UFCW ,
Unions
On January 25, 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) announced a new website listing regulations that its Foods Program plans to publish by October 2024 and longer-term regulations it is prioritizing for...more
Commencing on June 1, 2024, Senate Bill 525 will raise the minimum wage for covered health care workers at covered health care facilities in California....more
Effective January 1, 2024, California’s Assembly Bill 647 will expand recall rights for grocery workers when there is a change of control in a grocery establishment. Prior to AB 647, existing law required an incumbent grocery...more
As reported here, California recently took steps to provide employers additional tools to combat workplace violence, including requiring a written workplace violence prevention plan, by enacting Senate Bill 553. Effective...more
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, California enacted a temporary right to recall for hospitality employees, codified as Labor Code section 2810.8. This law covers laid-off employees who were employed for the...more
On October 8, 2023, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill (“SB”) 476. The law will go into effect on January 1, 2024.
Employees of retail food facilities are already required to obtain a food handler card...more
California Senate Bill (“SB”) 848, which becomes effective on January 1, 2024, entitles employees to five days of leave following a reproductive loss event. SB 848 adds section 12945.6 to the Government Code and applies to...more
After years of debate, and a looming referendum, a compromise between labor and business representatives has resulted in a final law regulating the fast-food industry. On September 28, 2023, California Governor Gavin Newsom...more
On September 1, 2023, the California legislature passed Assembly Bill (“AB”) 418, the California Food Safety Act.
If the law is passed, then any person or entity will be prohibited from manufacturing or selling a food...more
On September 11, 2023, industry, government, and union representatives announced that they had reached a deal to remove a California referendum on the Fast Food Accountability and Standards (“FAST”) Recovery Act from the 2024...more
On August 15, 2023, a panel of judges for the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit revived a class action lawsuit against Nestle regarding its “Premier White Morsels” Toll House product. In the opinion,...more
On August 9, 2023, the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) announced a direct final rule revoking certain uses of partially hydrogenated oils (“PHOs”) in food. The rule will go into effect on December 22, 2023. Any comments...more
On August 14, 2023, a panel of judges for the United State Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a published opinion affirming dismissal of two complaints alleging that food product labels advertising the amount of...more
On July 21, 2023, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court order denying Domino Pizza’s motion to compel arbitration in a putative class action brought by plaintiff Dominos truck...more
8/2/2023
/ Amazon ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Delivery Drivers ,
Dominos ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Exemptions ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Interstate Commerce ,
State Labor Laws
The Court of Appeal of the State of California recently held in Thai v. IBM, A165390, that employers are obligated to reimburse expenses incurred by employees working from home if those expenses are a consequence of the...more
On June 29, 2023, the Supreme Court of the United States unanimously held in Groff v. DeJoy, No. 22-174, that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”) requires an employer that denies a religious accommodation...more
7/20/2023
/ Civil Rights Act ,
De Minimus Doctrine ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
FEHA ,
Groff v DeJoy ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Discrimination ,
SCOTUS ,
Substantial Burden ,
Title VII ,
Undue Hardship ,
USPS
On July 6, 2023, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) released an updated list of draft and final topics that the agency anticipates publishing guidance documents for by the end of December 2023....more