A federal judge earlier this month dismissed a misrepresentation lawsuit against Subway Restaurants, Inc. and multiple affiliates concerning the sandwich maker’s claims regarding its tuna. Plaintiffs Karen Dhanowa and Nilima Amin filed a putative class action complaint in the Northern District of California alleging that Subway committed fraud and violated several California consumer statutes by claiming, among other things, that its tuna fish products were “100% tuna” and contained “100% skipjack and yellowtail tuna.” Notably, the first amended complaint ...

On September 30, 2021, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Office of Civil Rights issued guidance to help the public and employers understand what privacy rules apply to disclosures and requests for information about whether a person has received a COVID-19 vaccine.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) has a Privacy Rule that regulates covered entities, including health plans, health care clearinghouses and health care providers. According to HHS, “The HIPAA Privacy Rule establishes national standards to ...

On October 5, 2021, Governor Newsom approved AB-286, which adds further regulations for food delivery platforms. The law will take effect on January 1, 2022. Last year, California passed the Fair Food Delivery Act of 2020 (AB-2149), which prohibits food delivery platforms from arranging for the delivery of food delivery orders without the express authorization of the food facilities, and which went into effect on January 1, 2021.

This bill makes it unlawful for a food delivery platform to charge a customer any purchase price for food or beverage that is higher than the price posted on ...

On October 13, 2021, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) circulated a Notice of Penalty Offenses (“Notice”) to over 700 companies. These companies included as recipients of the Notice are large companies, advertising agencies and consumer product companies. 

The Notice places the companies on notice that they could incur civil penalties of up to $43,792 per violation if they use endorsements in ways that are precluded by the FTC’s prior administrative cases.

The FTC’s vote to authorize the Notice and its wide distribution was unanimous.

The Notice states that ...

On October 13, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) released new voluntary guidance aimed at reducing average daily sodium intake by 12 percent over the next 2.5 years. The guidance sets voluntary target mean sodium concentrations and upper bound sodium concentrations for 163 food categories, including prepared foods, cheeses, sauces, frozen meals and baby food.

The FDA stated that the guidance “is intended to provide measurable voluntary short-term (2.5-year) goals for sodium content in commercially processed, packaged and prepared foods to reduce ...

On October 8, 2021, Governor Newsom approved three restaurant relief measures. These measures will affect outdoor dining and the ABC license process.  All three measures received bipartisan support and were supported by restaurant advocacy groups.

AB 61: Business Pandemic Relief

AB 61 authorizes the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (“ABC”) to permit restaurants to serve alcohol in an expanded license area. The bill would also authorize the ABC to extend the period of time during which the COVID-19 permit is valid beyond 365 days if the licensee has applied ...

Construction defect cases often involve damage claims beyond simply the cost to repair the allegedly defective unit or component. These consequential damages may include damages for loss of use, expenses for mitigation and even attorney fees. For this reason, builders, suppliers, contractors and subcontractors who are faced with such claims should carefully review their insurance coverages, especially their CGL policies.

At the threshold, a defendant seeking coverage under its CGL policy in connection with a construction defect claim must satisfy the policy’s ...

Today, October 7, 2021, Los Angeles County Public Health Officer Order’s vaccine requirements go into effect. These requirements were first announced as an executive order of the Public Health Officer and were ratified by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on September 15, 2021.

Under these requirements, proof of vaccination or a negative test result will be required to enter outdoor mega-events, and proof of at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine will be required to enter or work in indoor portions of bars, lounges, nightclubs, breweries, wineries and distilleries in ...

On Wednesday, October 6, 2021, the Los Angeles City Council voted 11-2 to approve a new ordinance that requires proof of a COVID-19 vaccination to enter indoor restaurants, shopping centers, movie theaters, hair and nail salons, and a wide variety of other indoor venues. Grocery stores and pharmacies are not included in the ordinance. If religious or medical exemptions are given to an individual, proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours is needed for the individual to enter an indoor space. The ordinance will go into effect on November 4, 2021.

Because the ordinance ...

On September 20, 2021, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed Grubhub, Inc.’s lower court victory in a class action case involving the alleged misclassification of a former driver. The driver claimed he was misclassified as an independent contractor and asserted claims for minimum wage, overtime and expense reimbursement. The lower court denied class certification and entered a judgment in favor of Grubhub in February 2018. In so doing, the court applied the multi-factor Borello test to assess whether the driver qualified as an independent contractor. The judge ...