Episode 155 -- Tom Fox and Michael Volkov Discuss the Blue Bell Creameries Enforcement Action
This regular publication by DLA Piper lawyers focuses on helping clients navigate the ever-changing business, legal, and regulatory landscape. USDA guideline encourages third-party certification of animal-raising and...more
Fifth Circuit Ruling Against Blue Bell’s Corporate Directors and Officers May Limit Availability of Insurance Coverage in Shareholder Derivative Actions - In a recent ruling, the United States Court of Appeals for the...more
Mental state, in some form, is the common theme running through our first three cases this month. The Fifth Circuit decides whether directors and officers of an ice cream company, accused of breaching their fiduciary...more
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 18 December 2020 the Interagency Food Safety Analytics Collaboration (IFSAC) announced the release of its 2018 annual report on the sources of foodborne illness involving the pathogens Salmonella, Escherichia coli (E....more
The latest on the potential Oracle/TikTok deal includes news that the Treasury Department has added requirements addressing “how TikTok’s data and source code would be handled and secured” to any potential deal that the...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
The often-used phrase of “tone at the top” is inartful in my view – an organization’s leadership culture is defined much more broadly than the word “tone” implies. A company’s culture extends well beyond senior leadership...more
Last week, in Conte’s Pasta Co. v. Republic Franklin Insurance Co., a New Jersey federal court ruled that Republic Franklin Insurance Co. was obligated to indemnify Conte’s Pasta for the costs incurred defending against a...more
On May 1, 2020, Blue Bell Creameries L.P. (Blue Bell) agreed to plead guilty to charges that it distributed contaminated ice cream products that were linked to a 2015 listeriosis outbreak. The Blue Bell outbreak made...more
On May 1, 2020, Blue Bell Creameries L.P. (Blue Bell) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) entered into two separate agreements related to the 2015 listeriosis outbreak linked to Blue Bell ice cream. This memorandum...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
Monday, we considered the guilty pleas by Blue Bell Creameries to charges that they distributed adulterated ice cream products and pay a criminal fine and forfeiture amount totaling $17.25 million. According to the Department...more
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it had reached an agreement with Blue Bell Creameries of Brenham, Texas, to permit the company to plead guild to two misdemeanor counts of distributing adulterated...more
May 4th is universally recognized (at least in the universe I inhabit) as Star Wars Day. According to Wikipedia, “May 4 is called Star Wars Day because of the popularity of a common pun spoken on this day. Since the phrase...more
J.Crew filed for bankruptcy protection; the company’s lenders have agreed to “convert $1.65 billion . . . into equity.” Neiman Marcus Group Inc. and J.C. Penney are also on the bankruptcy path, already entering talks with...more
Boards of directors have a duty to exercise oversight and to monitor the company’s operational viability, legal compliance and financial performance during this COVID-19 pandemic. In Marchand v. Barnhill, the Delaware Supreme...more
Board oversight of significant company risk areas and legal compliance deserves renewed attention, as the Delaware Supreme Court recently ruled that monitoring practices that have previously been considered acceptable may...more
In Marchand v. Barnhill, a unanimous Delaware Supreme Court imposed substantial new procedural expectations on corporate directors to satisfy their fiduciary duty of oversight related to material risk areas and legal...more
The Situation: Directors of Blue Bell Creameries USA, Inc. ("Blue Bell") were sued for breach of fiduciary duty following a lethal listeria outbreak in its ice cream facilities. Applying the duty of oversight first...more
On July 22, 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) suspended the food facility registration of Topway Enterprises Inc.'s (Topway) Houston, Texas seafood processing facility. As a result, Topway cannot sell or...more
In Marchand v. Barnhill, No. 533, 2018, 2019 Del. LEXIS 310 (Del. June 18, 2019), the Delaware Supreme Court (Strine, C.J.) reversed a Delaware Court of Chancery (Slights, V.C.) order dismissing a derivative claim alleging...more
A director’s duty to make a good faith effort to oversee the operations and management of a Delaware company is well-established. In a recent case, Marchand v. Barnhill, the Delaware Supreme Court provided guidance to boards...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 Delaware Supreme Court recently took the opportunity to revisit Caremark with its en banc decision in Marchand v. Barnhill, No. 533, 2018 (Del. June 19, 2019). In Marchand, the Court reversed the dismissal of a...more