Gibbons Law Alert Blog

Supreme Court Shuts Door on Moldy Washer Litigations

After much anticipation, on February 24, 2014, the Supreme Court rejected, without comment, Whirlpool Corp.’s and Sears Roebuck & Co.’s bids to challenge class certification in litigations involving allegedly defective washer machines. For a discussion of the history of the “moldy washer” cases, click here and here. In denying the writs of certiorari, the Supreme Court declined to disturb the Sixth and Seventh Circuits’ post-remand orders, concluding that Comcast Corp. v. Behrend had “limited application” to decisions where determinations on liability and damages were bifurcated.

New York Court Rules Email Evidence Stored Abroad is Subject to Criminal Warrant Issued Under Stored Communications Act

Southern District of New York Magistrate Judge Francis has determined that Microsoft must comply with a U.S. Government’s warrant seeking a user’s email content even though the emails are stored in Microsoft’s datacenter in Dublin, Ireland. The decision is likely to get widespread attention and be the subject of future court review, as it expands the reach of a government criminal warrant beyond the borders of the United States to allow for the collection of evidence abroad.

AIA Post-Issuance Procedures – Estoppel Provisions Raised by Patent Owner In Attempt to Defeat “Synchronized” Decisions

The America Invents Act (AIA) of 2011 introduced a number of new inter partes procedures for post-issuance challenges of patents, including inter partes review (IPR) and a transitional program for covered business method patents (CBM). According to U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) statistics, nearly 1,200 petitions for IPR and CBM been have filed since September 16, 2012.

Fifth Circuit Denies NLRB Petition to Rehear D.R. Horton

On April 16, 2014, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals denied the National Labor Relations Board’s (the “Board” or “NLRB”) petition for rehearing en banc in D.R. Horton, Inc. v. NLRB, thus upholding its December 3, 2013 decision that arbitration agreements prohibiting class or collective actions claims do not violate the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”).

Think Before You Send: Communications to an Attorney Using Work Email May Not Be Protected Under the Attorney-Client Privilege

Generally, a confidential email sent to one’s personal attorney is protected under the attorney-client privilege. But what if the communication is sent using a business email account? Will a corporate policy entitling the company to access “all communications” sent on work computers undermine the privilege? Followers of this blog will recall, among other posts, our detailed recap of the extensive discussion of this issue at our Annual E-Discovery Conference in the wake of the New Jersey Supreme Court’s decision in Stengart v. Loving Care Agency, Inc., upholding the privilege where the employee used a company computer to communicate with her attorney via a personal password-protected internet based e-mail account, and sanctioning the employer’s attorneys for failing to turn over the protected communications. Readers may also recall our discussion of US v. Hamilton, where the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held that a husband waived the marital communications privilege when he sent messages from his work email account to his wife, but took no steps to protect their sanctity. Since those decisions, courts nationwide have continued to wrestle with these issues. Most recently, a Delaware Court held an employee waived the attorney client privilege where he used his work email account to email his lawyer with knowledge of the company’s policy establishing its right to access all communications on work computers.

New York State Brownfield Cleanup Act Reform: The Saga Continues

New York State Brownfield Act reform did not survive the crush of last-minute negotiations over the State’s 2014-15 budget. The Governor’s office, the Senate, and Assembly each introduced their own proposals for accomplishing needed reforms but were not able to reach consensus on a path forward. The attached article reviews the differences among the Governor’s, the Senate’s and the Assembly’s proposals on such key issues as: extending the expiration date for brownfield tax credits; revising the definition of “brownfield site”; restricting tangible property tax credits; redefining costs eligible for tax credit treatment; and establishing a new, streamlined program for sites not seeking tax credits.

New EEOC/FTC Joint Informal Guidance on Employers’ Use of Background Checks into Workers’ Criminal Records

On March 10, 2014, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued their first joint guidance on employer use of background checks in hiring or firing decisions. The use of background checks by employers in personnel decisions is becoming a more tricky road to navigate. The EEOC enforces the Federal anti-discrimination laws and the FTC enforces the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), all of which can be implicated in the background check process, particularly when a third party credit reporting agency becomes involved. The EEOC/FTC joint guidance is reduced to two brief, non-technical documents — one for employers and another for job applicants respectively–called “Background Checks: What Employers Need to Know,” and “Background Checks: What Job Applicants and Employees Should Know.” The guidance for employers describes the information and documentation in a background check report that may be used lawfully to make personnel decisions about a job applicant or employee. The document for applicants identifies the employer’s obligations particularly when relying upon a background check to disqualify an applicant or employee.

Appellate Division Rules Arbitrator Exceeds Powers by Modifying Award to Add Unaddressed Claims

In a recent unpublished opinion, the Appellate Division ruled that, although an arbitrator may modify an award to fix technical errors, he cannot include relief for claims not addressed in the original award, even if the failure to address those claims was due to an oversight by the arbitrator. In Merion Construction Management, LLC v. Kemron Environmental Services, Inc., subcontractor Kemron commenced arbitration alleging that although Kemron had substantially performed its obligations, contractor Merion had not paid its invoices. The arbitrator agreed with Kemron and awarded $873,758.56.

Takeda Part Two: Destroy Evidence, Pay the Price — Eli Lilly and Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Get Hit For $9 Billion Punitive Damages Verdict

Recently, in In re Actos (Pioglitazone) Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 11-2299, a Louisiana federal jury awarded $9 billion in punitive damages against Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. (“Takeda”) and Eli Lilly & Co. (“Lilly”). The verdict was delivered on the heels of Judge Rebecca Doherty’s January opinion, which lambasted Takeda for failing to (1) enforce its own litigation hold and (2) follow its document retention procedures, which led to the destruction of relevant evidence that Judge Doherty found would have likely been beneficial for the plaintiffs’ case.

Market Growth of Fuel Cell Products Follow Patent Growth of Fuel Cell Technologies

Recently, Wal-Mart placed an order for 1,738 fuel cell powered forklifts that move products in Wal-Mart’s warehouses. This highly publicized order spotlights the emerging commercial markets, the technologies and patents that have made the production of energy through fuel cells more cost effective. The commercial use of fuel cells is certainly not new, however. Advancements in the technology have decreased costs associated with the production of energy from fuel cells and consequently there has been a rise in the commercial use of fuel cells. The Clean Energy Patent Growth Index shows that for the last decade fuel cell related patents outpaced all other clean energy technology patents until 2013 when solar patents for the first time surpassed fuel cell patents.