The CPSC took proactive steps in October to address recent concerns with infant sleep products that pose suffocation hazards and could lead to Sudden Infant Death. This month the agency made a rare proposal for a mandatory consumer product safety standard to address the risks associated with crib mattresses.
Continue Reading Recall Roundup: October
On October 15, 2020, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas granted conditional certification to a class of assistant managers in 550 wireless retail stores across the country. In Martinez v. Mobilelink, assistant store managers in the wireless retailers’ stores alleged that they were regularly required to work unpaid overtime. The employees sought to certify a class consisting of all current and former AMs employed by Mobilelink from March 2017 through the present.
Continue Reading Wireless Retailer Faces Conditionally Certified Nationwide Class of Workers with Overtime Claims Despite Official Company Policy Against Off-The-Clock Work
Nestled midway between Dallas and Austin, Waco, Texas, with a population of around 144,000, is home to the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum, the Dr. Pepper Museum, Baylor University, and Chip and Joanna Gaines’ Magnolia Market; and it now has one of the busiest courts in the nation for patent infringement cases.
Continue Reading Retailers in Texas Beware – Waco is Open for Business for Patent Cases
As reported on the Hunton Employment & Labor Perspectives blog, Texas Governor Greg Abbott has issued two executive orders to begin the process of reopening businesses in the state.
Continue Reading Texas Governor Issues Executive Orders to Reopen Business for Retail and Healthcare Employers
While footwear may not appear to be fertile ground for new inventions, many shoe makers have been granted patent protection for the technologies that go into their products. Sometimes, those inventions are rolled out with little fanfare. Others are, literally, flashy.
Continue Reading Stride Rite Turns Out the Lights on Competitors’ Light-Up Footwear Patents
This past month, several key recalls were made that affect the retail industry. Check back here each month for our Recall Roundup.
Continue Reading Recall Roundup: October
Hurricanes Harvey and Irma have devastated portions of Texas, Louisiana and Florida. For retail insureds in particular, the losses due to property damage and business interruption will be staggering. In an article published September 12, 2017, in South Florida’s Daily Business Review, Hunton Insurance lawyers Walter Andrews and Andrea DeField explain why it is critical that policyholders act fast to maximize insurance recovery for their hurricane-related losses. They also provide a checklist to guide policyholders through the claim process and to ensure maximum recovery for any property damage and business interruption losses. As Andrews and DeField explain, business interruption and related coverage endorsements may cover loss resulting from (1) an inability to open for business; (2) reduction in business income when the business remains open but cannot operate at full capacity; (3) civil authority orders barring access to an insured business; and (4) service and utility outages effecting business interruptions — an important coverage in light of Florida’s ongoing power outages.
Continue Reading Retail Insureds Should Act Now to Ensure Insurance Coverage for Lost Income Due to Hurricanes Harvey and Irma
Earlier this month, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) dropped its defense of an Obama-era regulation that sought to increase the salary level for overtime-exempt employees from $23,660 per year to $47,476 per year. The regulation had been set to take effect in November 2016, but a last-minute preliminary injunction issued by a federal district court in Texas stayed the implementation of the regulation.
In the preliminary injunction ruling, the district court ruled that the new $47,476 salary threshold exceeded the scope of the DOL’s authority because such a high salary level had the effect of making an employee’s salary—and not their primary duty—the determinative factor in the exemption inquiry. Importantly, the district court’s preliminary injunction ruling went well beyond the appropriateness of the particular salary level at issue in the new regulation, and instead expressed the broader view that the DOL lacked the authority to impose any salary level requirement (regardless of the level of salary chosen) because the relevant provision of the FLSA focused on an employee’s duties, not their salary.
Continue Reading DOL Drops Appellate Defense of Overtime Rule
An insured seeking coverage for credit card fees assessed against its third-party payment processor following a data breach recently filed an appeal in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Spec’s, a liquor store chain with over 160 locations throughout Texas, suffered two major data breaches of its credit card payment system, resulting in the loss
Coastal areas in Texas have already begun evacuating as Hurricane Harvey heads for the Gulf Coast. Weather experts anticipate that the windstorm will reach Category 3 or Category 4 status by the time it makes landfall on the Texas coast late Friday night or early Saturday morning. Continue reading to see how you can prepare for possible losses.
Continue Reading Preparing for Hurricane Harvey: Insurance May Help Weather the Storm