The Federal Trade Commission has issued a long-anticipated final Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees (the Rule), colloquially known as the “Junk Fees” Rule, targeting mandatory hidden fees and ensuring transparent pricing...more
12/27/2024
/ Disclosure Requirements ,
Event Tickets ,
Excessive Fees ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Fees ,
Final Rules ,
Hidden Fees ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Hotels ,
Ticket Pricing ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
Communication during a data breach is challenging in the best of circumstances, and control of information, especially early in a breach response, is critical. Below are some DOs and DON’Ts for communicating during a data...more
9/12/2024
/ Attorney-Client Privilege ,
Best Practices ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Data Breach ,
Discovery ,
Electronic Communications ,
Email ,
Incident Response Plans ,
Public Communications ,
Reputation Management ,
Work-Product Doctrine
With the recent wave of ransomware and other security incidents, it is now more important than ever for impacted organizations to have a thorough understanding of each element of a proper data breach response. That includes...more
It has now become commonplace for Plaintiffs’ attorneys to bring claims alleging that routine marketing techniques, including the deployment of behavioral advertising cookies and pixels, constitute wiretaps in violation of...more
8/19/2024
/ Behavioral Advertising ,
Business Associates ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Covered Entities ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Marketing ,
PHI ,
Third-Party ,
Tracking Systems ,
Wiretap Act ,
Wiretapping
A recent trend in litigation has emerged that is causing companies to re-think conventional wisdom. Until now, it has been a widely adopted best practice for retailers and other consumer-facing companies to include mandatory...more
A new California law that prohibits charging hidden fees for goods and services takes effect on July 1. After that date, all fees, with a few limited exceptions, must be disclosed at the outset of a consumer transaction and...more
On February 15, 2024, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) adopted the Draft Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“Report and Order”) that it released last month under the Telephone Consumer...more
In recent months, organizations have been dealing with an emerging wave of lawsuits from an unexpected source: the VPPA. The Video Privacy Protection Act (“VPPA”), originally intended to prevent “wrongful disclosures” of...more
7/26/2023
/ Class Action ,
Cookies ,
Data-Sharing ,
Defense Strategies ,
Online Videos ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Privacy Policy ,
Third-Party Service Provider ,
Video Recordings ,
VPPA ,
Web Tracking ,
Websites
In a case of first impression, the United States District Court for the Southern District of California granted the motion of Defendant Neighborhood Healthcare seeking order compelling the United States to defend a putative...more
Retailers, financial services firms, and many other companies utilize third party session replay software to maintain a record of interactions with visitors to their websites for a variety of useful purposes, including to...more
The California Court of Appeals has held that websites operated by online only businesses are not “places of public accommodation” subject to Title III of the ADA, agreeing with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and...more
8/9/2022
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Appellate Courts ,
Disability ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Disparate Impact ,
E-Commerce ,
Internet Retailers ,
Public Accommodation ,
Retailers ,
Title III ,
Unruh Civil Rights Act ,
Website Accessibility
Organizations experiencing a security incident must grapple with numerous competing issues simultaneously, usually under a very tight timeframe and the pressure of significant business disruption. Engaging qualified service...more
The security incident response process inevitably brings a myriad of challenges for a company unfortunate enough to experience one. Although implementing an appropriate communication strategy may not be at the top of the list...more
On June 25, 2021, the Supreme Court issued an important decision on Article III standing in class actions that will have a significant impact on the way class actions are certified - and will likely scuttle numerous ...more
7/27/2021
/ Apple ,
Article III ,
Class Action ,
Class Members ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Credit Reporting Agencies ,
Credit Reports ,
Data Breach ,
Data Collection ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
iPhone ,
Privacy Laws ,
Ransomware ,
SCOTUS ,
Standing ,
State Constitutions ,
Stored Communications Act ,
TransUnion ,
TransUnion LLC v Ramirez ,
Unfair Competition
A California federal district court has held that the website of Domino’s Pizza violates the ADA, following a long saga that included the Ninth Circuit’s reversal of the district court’s prior dismissal of the case. ...more
7/1/2021
/ Administrative Monetary Penalties ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Due Process ,
Mobile Apps ,
Motion for Summary Judgment ,
Primary Jurisdiction Doctrine ,
Public Accommodation ,
Unruh Civil Rights Act ,
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) ,
Website Accessibility ,
Website Owner Liability ,
Websites
Resolving a circuit split in the interpretation of the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 (CFAA) - an anti-hacking statute - the Supreme Court recently held that the CFAA does not impose liability on individuals who...more
In one of the first substantive decisions handed down since the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) came into effect, the District Court for the Northern District of California held in Gardiner v. Walmart, Case No....more
Many businesses, including retailers, rely on inbound lead generators to identify prospective customers for telephone or text-based direct marketing campaigns. Sourcing inbound leads from a variety of providers allows firms...more
Businesses should expect that lawsuits and demand letters alleging that their websites violate the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) will continue to increase in the wake of the United States Supreme Court’s October 7,...more
10/9/2019
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Appeals ,
Dismissals ,
Dominos ,
Due Process ,
Mobile Apps ,
Permanent Injunctions ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
Primary Jurisdiction Doctrine ,
Public Accommodation ,
Reversal ,
Title III ,
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) ,
Website Accessibility ,
Websites
In the first decision by a California appellate court addressing the application of Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) to websites, the court in Thurston v. Midvale Corp. (Sept. 3, 2019) 2019 WL 4166620,...more
9/10/2019
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Brick-and-Mortar Stores ,
E-Commerce ,
Popular ,
Public Accommodation ,
Split of Authority ,
Summary Judgment ,
Title III ,
Unruh Civil Rights Act ,
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) ,
Website Accessibility ,
Websites
In Brintley v. Aeroquip Credit Union et al., Case Nos. 18-2326/2328 (August 8, 2019), the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order dismissing an Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) claim alleging that the defendant...more
Members of Congress are once again asking the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) to take action addressing website accessibility under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) in light of the increasing number of lawsuits...more
Domino’s Pizza LLC has submitted a petition asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review and reverse a decision from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that allowed a website accessibility case to proceed against Domino’s. The...more
6/18/2019
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Appeals ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Dominos ,
Due Process ,
Jurisdiction ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
Public Accommodation ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Reversal ,
Title III ,
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) ,
Website Accessibility ,
Website Owner Liability ,
Websites
As businesses continue to face lawsuits and demand letters alleging that their websites are inaccessible to blind and deaf patrons in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), courts across the country...more
6/10/2019
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Doing Business ,
Kroger ,
Mootness ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Personal Jurisdiction ,
Public Accommodation ,
Remediation ,
State Law Claims ,
Subject Matter Jurisdiction ,
Website Accessibility ,
Website Owner Liability ,
Websites
In a decision that could have far-reaching implications for parts of the gig economy, the United States Supreme Court has held that the Federal Arbitration Act bars courts from compelling arbitration with respect to both...more
1/17/2019
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Commercial Truck Drivers ,
Employment Contract ,
Exceptions ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Independent Contractors ,
Motion to Compel ,
New Prime v Oliveira ,
Question of Arbitrability ,
Reaffirmation ,
SCOTUS ,
Wage and Hour