However, a store manager’s statement that she would leave the store if employees voted to join the union, coupled with her statement about changing the character of the store, were a lawful expression of “views, argument, or opinion” under Section 8(c). A district manager and a store manager for a Starbucks location in Wisconsin made unlawful statements during captive audience meetings, ruled a three-member panel of the NLRB. The Board found that the employer violated Section 8(a)(1) by…

The prior circuit rule held that lack of movement in the stock price following the truthful disclosure proved a false statement’s immateriality. The Third Circuit has reconsidered its approach to judging materiality in federal securities fraud cases in light of Supreme Court precedent that called into question the circuit’s continued use of a “categorical” approach. Under the prior approach, the lack of movement in a company’s stock price following a truthful disclosure conclusively proved a…

Federal agencies would be barred from using automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) or data collected by ALPRs under bicameral legislation unveiled today. The Ban Flock Act (H.R.10691 , 119th Cong. (2026)), which is named after Flock Safety, a leading ALPR vendor, was introduced in the House by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.). A Senate version will be introduced by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) and Jeff Merkley (D., Ore.). The legislation would prohibit “the head of any Federal agency and…

A federal court upheld CMS’s competitive certification framework for organ procurement organizations, finding the rule consistent with federal law and supported by reasoned agency decisionmaking. A federal district court granted summary judgment to the HHS Secretary and rejected organ procurement organizations’ challenge to a CMS final rule that ranks organizations using donation and organ transplantation rates. The court held that it could review the claims because the regulatory scheme…

The report highlights the Bureau efforts in transforming its fair lending program “by refocusing its regulatory, supervisory, and enforcement activities on its statutory authority and identified consumer harm.” The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s September 2026 Fair Lending Report for 2025 describes a shift toward matters involving proven, intentional racial discrimination with identifiable victims and away from disparate-impact liability. Consistent with an April 2025 executive order,…

A subsequent acquirer can be liable under Florida trade secret law when it has reason to know that another party obtained the information improperly. A Florida appellate court upheld findings that an auto rental company, its owner, and affiliated automotive businesses misappropriated a competitor’s confidential customer list, rejecting their argument that Florida’s Uniform Trade Secrets Act (FUTSA) limits acquisition-based liability to the person who initially obtains a trade secret…

The court rejected arguments that state claims were mooted by a federal settlement or that claims were insufficiently pled. The federal district court in Greensboro, North Carolina denied motions by RealPage, Inc., and a set of landlords to dismiss remaining claims in an antitrust lawsuit brought by the Justice Department and several states alleging algorithmic coordination, information sharing, and related anticompetitive activities in rental housing markets. The court rejected arguments that…

The court declined to preclude plaintiff’s expert testimony and granted summary judgment only on warranty claims. The federal district court for the Eastern District of New York denied Petco and a leash seller’s motion to preclude expert testimony and granted in part and denied in part their motion for summary judgment. The products liability case was by a woman whose fingers were severed when her dog’s leash wrapped around her fingers. Her second amended complaint alleged design defect,…

There was also a genuine dispute as to whether her termination was motivated by her FLSA claims related to unpaid time for changing into scrubs prior to work. A former hospital OR nurse can move forward with her claims alleging FMLA and FLSA retaliation, as well as her FMLA interference and FLSA unpaid wages claims, ruled a federal district court in Pennsylvania. Denying the hospital’s motion for summary judgment, the court found genuine issues of material facts on all of the claims, including…