May 2017

While the world eagerly awaits the D.C. Circuit’s forthcoming ruling on the proper interpretation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), a recent federal court ruling imposing tens of millions of dollars of liability is a reminder of the risks associated with outbound calling activities and of the stakes at play in the ACA International

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf announced this month that he will “ban the box” for some applicants applying for certain state government positions, and that he will do so by executive order, which would take effect as of July 1, 2017.  The executive order would affect hiring in nearly 70,000 state jobs within the executive branch

The Federal Trade Commission recently announced the creation of Operation Tech Trap, a new joint effort among national and international partners to combat tech support scams that dupe consumers into believing their computers contain harmful computer viruses and malware and then trick these consumers into paying hundreds of dollars for unnecessary repairs to “fix” their

Many predicted that newly-elected President Donald Trump would remove Richard Cordray, Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, upon taking office.  Cordray remains the head of the CFPB, but uncertainty still looms at the agency.  President Trump has characterized the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the legislation which created the CFPB, as

On May 4, Bellwether Community Credit Union filed a class action suit on behalf of a proposed class of financial institutions in Colorado federal court against Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., claiming that the chain’s recently announced data breach caused significant financial harm to the credit union.  Bellwether’s complaint alleges that Chipotle’s purportedly lax

On May 15, 2017, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the Eleventh Circuit erred when it found a debt buyer liable under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act for filing proofs of claim in bankruptcy on debts that had become time-barred. A copy of the Court’s opinion can be found here.

Background

In

A federal district court in Florida entered summary judgment against SeaWorld in a class action case, finding the theme park violated the Electronic Funds Transfer Act (EFTA)  by renewing class members’ contracts during their one-year term and collecting unauthorized payments after the contracts expired.

Lead Plaintiff Jason Herman commenced the action in December 2014, alleging

On May 15, the United States Supreme Court reversed and remanded a state court decision that invalidated an arbitration agreement.  In a visceral 7-1 decision, the Supreme Court sent a clear message to Kentucky that the state cannot circumvent the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) merely because the court does not like arbitration clauses.

In Kindred