Alert: Children's Hospital v. Blue Cross of California Decision Could be Detrimental to Providers

We wanted to alert you to a new case that could impact your business operations. California’s Fifth District Court of Appeal recently overturned a trial court’s jury verdict of $6.6 million, and ordered a new trial to establish damages in Children’s Hospital v. Blue Cross of California. (Read More)

Who Really Owns Your Facebook “Likes?”

According to a southern Florida federal court judge, Facebook “likes” are not propriety to an individual’s page.

Stacey Mattocks, a resident of Miramar Florida, sued Black Entertainment Television (BET) after the network took control of the Facebook fan page she had created for the show, The Game.  Mattocks started the fan page in 2008, and accumulated over two million “likes” in two years. (Read More)

Facebook “Likes” are “Concerted Protected Activity” says NLRB

An August 22^nd National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruling reinforces that employees are protected when they engage in “concerted activity,” even regarding Facebook “likes.” (Read More)

SUPERVALU Experiences Criminal Intrusion in Computer Network

One of the largest grocery wholesalers and retailers in the U.S., SUPERVALU, recently experienced a criminal intrusion into its computer network. The perpetrators targeted the part of the network that processes payment card transactions. The intrusion may have resulted in the theft of account numbers, and other information associated with payment cards used at some of SUPERVALU’s owned and franchised stores. (Read More)

Employers Should Adequately Compensate Employees for Don-Doff Time

Earlier this week, a Tenth Circuit panel upheld a Kansas federal court’s award to Tyson Food, Inc.’s workers for more than $500,000 in damages, as well as $3.4 million in attorneys’ fees. (Read More)

Tips for Hoteliers to Protect Against Price-Fixing Litigation

Imran Hayat recently gave a presentation with David Samuels and David Lee on “Web Wary Travel: How to Safeguard Your Hotel from Internet-related Legal Issues,” at the California Hotel & Lodging Association’s 2014 Northern California Hotel & Lodging Conference, held Thursday, August 21, 2014, in San Francisco. Imran’s portion of the presentation focused on rate parity concerns for the hotel industry, focusing on the important distinction between vertical and horizontal pricing agreements. In this video clip, Imran discusses what hoteliers can do to protect themselves from price-fixing litigation.

How Hoteliers Will Benefit from ".hotel" Generic Top Level Domain

At the California Hotel & Lodging Association’s recent 2014 Northern California Hotel & Lodging Conference, which took place on Thursday, August 21, 2014 in San Francisco, David Lee gave a presentation with David Samuels and Imran Hayat on “Web Wary Travel: How to Safeguard Your Hotel from Internet-related Legal Issues.” (Read More)

What Hoteliers Can Do to Stave Off Cyber-attacks

On August 21, 2014, David Samuels presented “Web Wary Travel: How to Safeguard Your Hotel from Internet-related Legal Issues,” along with Imran Hayat and David Lee, at the California Hotel & Lodging Association’s 2014 Northern California Hotel & Lodging Conference in San Francisco. David’s portion of the discussion covered what hotel owners and operators can do to stave off cyber-attacks. In this segment, David reviews effective steps that hoteliers can implement to prevent and recover from computer security breaches.

Work Calls on Private Cell Phones: California Court of Appeal says Employers Must Reimburse

The California Court of Appeal recently issued a broad opinion in Cochran v. Schwan’s Home Service, Inc., that employers must reimburse employees for work-related cell phones or face liability, potentially in the form of class action lawsuits. The plaintiff in Cochran filed a class action on behalf of 1500 customer service managers, arguing that under California Labor Code Section 2802 they were entitled to reimbursement for at least a portion of their cell phone bills if they were used for work-related purposes. (Read More)

Hostmark Hospitality in Hot Water over Handbook and other Protected Activities

According to a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) judge, Hostmark, a hospitality operator that manages hotels, had incorporated overly restrictive sections into their employee handbooks, including various bans on employee access to the hotel. (Read More)