New & Noteworthy - September 16, 2024

Featured Book: McGrady on Social Media Aspects of Employment Law
Paul D. McGrady, Jr.
LexisNexis 2023

This book offers a clear and practical analysis of social media's impact on employment law. It covers key topics such as social media in recruitment, employee usage rules, "concerted activity" under the NLRA, and guidance on handling social media accounts after termination. This title is available electronically on Lexis+ and as a Lexis Digital Library ebook. You can learn more about this title on our website.

9th Circuit Ruling Leaves Wireless Industry, Cities Claiming a Win (Daily Journal) "A 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel on Friday rejected some of the challenges to a 2020 Federal Communications Commission ruling that requires cities in California and across the country to approve more requests for the construction and expansion of cell towers. But attorneys for League of California Cities and other cities applauded the decision, which sided with them concerning requirements that new antenna and other facilities be concealed."

Ninth Circuit: No Immunity in Death of Inmate Denied Needed Heart Drugs (Metropolitan News-Enterprise) "Three nurses who allegedly showed 'deliberate indifference' to a jail inmate’s need for medication to control severe heart problems will continue to face a lawsuit by the estate of the man, who died 10 days after he was incarcerated on a two-week sentence on a parole violation, under a decision of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. A three-judge panel, in a memorandum opinion filed Wednesday, found no merit to an interlocutory appeal challenging the denial of a defense motion for summary judgment based on qualified immunity. Comprising the panel were Judges Sandra Ikuta, Michelle Friedland, and Kenneth K. Lee."

Ninth Circuit Questions Second Bite Against California Logging (Bloomberg) "The Ninth Circuit on Friday peppered environmental groups with questions on why their federal suit under the Endangered Species Act against a logging project should be allowed to continue despite the completion of nearly identical state litigation. Environmental groups Friends of the Gualala River and the Center for Biological Diversity are seeking reversal of a district court decision dismissing their challenges to Gualala Redwood Timber LLC’s logging project in Sonoma County, Calif."

Pension Board Seeks 9th Cir. Redo in Allianz Fund Collapse Suit (Bloomberg) "A pension fund board that previously sued Allianz Global Investors US LLC over the collapse of its Structured Alpha funds asked the Ninth Circuit to reconsider reviving litigation by plan participants who say they were harmed by the ordeal. The July decision allowing retirees to press ERISA claims against the pension board creates a lose-lose scenario in which retirement plan fiduciaries can face litigation based solely on the 'supposed risks' of any given investment, trustees for the Carpenters of Western Washington said Thursday in a petition for rehearing."

9th Circ. Ruling Guts Religious Protections, Apaches Say (Law360) "The U.S. Supreme Court should stop the federal government from handing over a sacred tribal site in Arizona's Tonto National Forest to a copper mining joint venture owned by Rio Tinto and BHP, the San Carlos Apache Tribe argued, saying that the decision could pose an 'existential threat' to Native Americans. In a petition delivered to the court at the end of a cross-country prayer journey this week, the tribe argued that a fractured Ninth Circuit majority had gutted protections outlined in the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and that Native Americans were particularly exposed."

23andMe Inks $30M Data Breach Deal with 6.4M Users in MDL (Law360) "Personal genomics company 23andMe has reached a $30 million settlement to resolve multidistrict class action litigation on behalf of more than 6 million customers whose personal data was stolen and in some cases leaked onto the dark web, according to a California federal court filing Thursday. Plaintiffs representing a putative class of about 6.4 million customers laid out the terms of the proposed deal in a motion for preliminary approval that touted the agreement as 'an outstanding result,' particularly in the face of 23andMe Inc.'s 'dire financial condition.'"

Calif. Delivery Co. to Pay $7.5M To Settle Drivers' Wage Suit (Law360) "A $7.5 million wage-and-hour settlement between a California-based transportation services company and some of its drivers secured a federal judge's final approval, resolving a five-year-old suit's minimum wage, expense reimbursement and follow-on claims. U.S. District Judge Jon S. Tigar [N.D. - CA] on Wednesday signed off on a deal that will see United Road Services Inc. pay about $1.9 million of the gross settlement to the employees' attorneys and about $90,000 to California's Labor and Workforce Development Agency because the suit asserted Private Attorney General Act claims, among other costs, according to the judge's order."

Med Techs Settle Eyelid Cleaner Patent Spat (Law360) "Two companies specializing in eyelid cleaning technology have reached a deal to settle their dispute in California federal court after the court refused to dismiss the infringement allegations.... BlephEx first filed its complaint for patent infringement back in March 2023, alleging that NuLids' eyelid cleaning device used the same 'electromechanical rotation of a soft and resilient tip' to clean the patient's eyelid. NuLids LLC filed a motion to dismiss the claim, alleging that BlephEx's patent added nothing new to the field of eyelid cleaning technology. But U.S. District Judge Robert S. Huie [S.D. - CA] disagreed, allowing the infringement complaint to go ahead."

California Federal Court Home to Highest Trade Secret Caseload in the Nation, Says New Report (National Law Journal) "A California federal court has led the nation in handling trade secrets cases for the past three years, according to a report released Friday. According to data from the 2024 Trade Secret Litigation Report by legal analytics firm Lex Machina, which covers the 2021-2023 period, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California topped the list of most active districts for trade secret litigation."

Fed. Judges Urged to Stop Clerks from Seeking Political Jobs (Law360) "Federal judges should prohibit their law clerks from applying for postclerkship jobs with political organizations, as that may connect the judges' chambers to political activity, a judiciary committee said in ethics guidance issued this week. In a pair of advisory opinions released Thursday, judiciary officials said seeking political jobs should be off limits while law clerks are working for the court. Instead, the Committee on Codes of Conduct within the Judicial Conference of the United States advises that clerks may tell political organizations to contact them after their clerkship ends."

Northern District Federal Bar, Judges Reenact Brown v Board of Education (Daily Journal) "To commemorate the 70th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, the Federal Bar Association's Northern District of California chapter presented a historical reenactment of the decision, and the cases leading up to the ruling that found racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. Thursday evening's program at the Phillip Burton U.S. Courthouse ceremonial courtroom in San Francisco included federal judges, attorneys, and high school students who won this year's 9th Circuit Court of Appeals' civics contest." 

Comparing Retirement Ages 60 and 62 for Federal Employees (FedSmith) "Two very common ages to retire as a federal employee are 60 and 62. You might think that the difference between the two ages doesn’t matter as long as you’re eligible to retire, right? But, it could actually have a big impact on your retirement. Also, the eligibility to retire at 62 vs 60 is very different as well."