Episode 155 -- Tom Fox and Michael Volkov Discuss the Blue Bell Creameries Enforcement Action
Episode 139 -- DOJ Resolves Two Food Safety Criminal Cases -- Blue Bell Creameries and Chipotle Mexican Grills
The role of the Board of Directors has always been a key part of any best practices compliance program. The Department of Justice (DOJ) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have consistently said that a Board’s role...more
On May 1, 2020, Blue Bell pleaded guilty to shipping contaminated ice cream linked to a 2015 listeria outbreak and agreed to pay a fine of $19.5 million ($17.4 million criminal fine and $2.1 million to settle civil false...more
What are the obligations of a Board member regarding the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)? Are the obligations of the Compliance Committee under the FCPA at odds with a director’s “prudent discharge of duties to...more
Over the past couple of blog posts, we have considered the guilty pleas by Blue Bell Creameries to charges that they distributed adulterated ice cream products and paid a criminal fine and forfeiture amount totaling $17.25...more
Caremark Developments -- Do You Know What You Don’t Know? In 1996, the Delaware courts created what has become known as a Caremark claim: an allegation that directors failed to exercise oversight of the organization....more
Following this summer’s much publicized decision by the Delaware Supreme Court in the Marchand v. Barnhill (Blue Bell Creameries) case, the Delaware Court of Chancery’s holding in In re Clovis Oncology, Inc. Derivative...more
I have long predicted that corporate board members are in for a rude awakening. Corporate boards have to improve their ability and knowledge surrounding supervision and monitoring of a company’s ethics and compliance...more
IMPACT OF EQUIFAX, FACEBOOK SETTLEMENTS - Health care industry boards should give close attention to the governance implications of recent privacy settlements entered into by Equifax and Facebook. Their unique facts...more
Summer is usually the best time of year for ice cream companies, but the season is off to a rough start for Blue Bell Creameries, USA, Inc. The Delaware Supreme Court, in Marchand v. Barnhill, held on June 18 that a suit...more
The answer to the question posed in the title to this article may seem devious to you. After all, the answer must be “no” if we want anyone to serve on a corporate board of directors. Yet this question continues to pop up as...more