A woman who formerly worked as a LongHorn Steakhouse server has asked a federal court for permission to modify her motion for a collective action under the Fair Labor Standards Act following the court’s denial of her motion in December 2012 on the ground that she lacked personal knowledge as to practices at the company’s steakhouses across the country. Velez v. GMRI, Inc., No. 12-4857 (N.D. Ill., filed January 14, 2013). The suit involves claims that the defendant failed to pay minimum wages. As part of her motion, the plaintiff seeks leave to amend her complaint “both to correct the LongHorn corporate entities brought in as defendants, and to clarify the claims brought under the collective procedure.” According to the motion, “the only claim on which Plaintiff seeks collective treatment is the claim that Defendants required tipped employees to perform non-tipped duties while paid the tip-credit wage rate, in violation of…
Category Archives Issue 467
A federal court in California has dismissed statutory and common law claims filed in a putative class action against Sioux Honey Association Cooperative, alleging that the company falsely labels its Sue Bee Clover Honey® product as “honey,” despite removing the pollen from the product. Ross v. Sioux Honey Ass’n Coop., No. 12-1645 (N.D. Cal., decided January 14, 2013). The court found the claims preempted or insufficiently pleaded in the plaintiff’s third amended complaint and, concluding that any further amendment would be futile, granted the motion to dismiss with prejudice. So ruling, the court declined to rule that the plaintiff lacked standing to bring the suit, finding that her pleadings satisfied the requirements of Kwikset Corp. v. Superior Court, 51 Cal. 4th 310 (2011), in which the California Supreme Court recognized that allegations of economic injury arising from reliance on a product manufacturer’s alleged misrepresentations satisfy the injury-in-fact requirement for standing under…
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has filed a consent decree with a federal court in Texas to resolve claims that a Burger King franchise operator discriminated against a former cashier on the basis of religion. EEOC v. Fries Rest. Mgmt., LLC, No. 12 3169 (N.D. Tex., filed January 16, 2013). Without admitting liability, the operator has agreed to settle the claims by paying $25,000 to the former employee, who was allegedly fired for wearing a skirt on the job as required by her Pentecostal Christian religion, in two checks: one for $5,000 attributable to wages, and one for $20,000 attributable to claims of mental anguish and suffering. The Burger King franchisee will also post on employee bulletin boards “its policy against religious discrimination and duty to accommodate” and “conduct an annual training session [in 2013 and 2014] for all district managers and general managers for Defendant’s Texas Burger King Restaurants,…
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued a final decision in a complaint alleging that POM Wonderful made false and misleading claims by advertising its pomegranate juice products with health-benefit assertions that the company contended were backed by medical research. In re POM Wonderful LLC, No. 9344 (FTC, decided January 10, 2013). Additional information about the matter appears in Issue 441 of this Update. Henceforth, two randomized, controlled clinical trials (RCTs) will be required before POM can make a claim that any of its products treat, prevent or reduce the risk of heart disease, prostate cancer or erectile dysfunction (ED). Any efficacy or health benefit claims falling short of disease claims will require substantiation consisting of “competent and reliable scientific evidence . . . that must be sufficient in quality and quantity when considered in the light of the entire body of relevant and reliable scientific evidence, to substantiate that the…
At the request of a polystyrene custom mold manufacturer, California EPA’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) will conduct a February 14, 2013, public workshop “concerning OEHHA’s intent to list styrene as a chemical known to cause cancer under the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (commonly known as Proposition 65 [Prop. 65]).” According to the agency’s notice, discussions “should be limited to whether the National Toxicology Program (NTP) Report on Carcinogens has identified styrene as a human carcinogen or potential human carcinogen. OEHHA cannot consider scientific arguments concerning the weight or quality of the evidence considered by NTP.” The hearing will be webcast. OEHHA has also extended the public comment period until February 28. See OEHHA News Release, January 17, 2013.
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) has published the results of an investigation “examining the authenticity of a number of beef burger, beef meal and salami products available from retail outlets in Ireland.” According to a January 15, 2013, FSAI press release, the agency’s study revealed “the presence of horse DNA in some beef burger products,” raising concerns about “the traceability of meat ingredients and products entering the food chain.” After testing for horse and pig DNA in 27 beef burger products, investigators evidently reported that 10 (37 percent) of the samples contained horse DNA and 23 (85 percent) contained pig DNA. The study also found that all 19 salami samples and 21 of 31 beef meal products contained pig DNA, though none of these items contained horse DNA. In addition, notes FSAI, “[t]races of horse DNA were also detected in batches of raw ingredients, including some imported from…
According to a notice published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), several Codex Alimentarius committees have invited member countries and observer organizations to join electronic working groups (eWGs). The Food Hygiene Committee seeks participation on a parasites eWG to further develop proposed draft guidelines on controlling the zoonotic parasites Trichinella spp. and Cysticercus bovis. The Fish and Fish Products Committee seeks participation on a food additives eWG “to prepare proposals for food additives in the standards for fish and fishery products, following the approach taken for the Standard for Smoked Fish and to focus on technological justification for those food additives.” This committee also seeks participants for fish sauce and scallop meat eWGs. The Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses Committee seeks participation on a nutrient reference values eWG and an addition of essential nutrients to foods eWG. Deadlines for and more details…
Democratic U.S. Sens. Edward Markey (Mass.), Richard Durbin (Ill.) and Richard Blumenthal (Conn.) have issued letters to 14 energy drink companies, including Red Bull, Pepsi Co. Inc. and Monster Energy, seeking answers to more than a dozen questions. Responses are requested by February 1, 2013. Noting that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is investigating the industry, the senators contend that “[t]he blurred distinction between supplements and conventional foods or beverages combined with recent published reports by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and FDA regarding consumption of energy drinks has led to significant consumer confusion and concern about the safety and use of these products.” Among other matters, the senators ask (i) whether each company’s product is a “supplement, conventional food/beverage or neither,” (ii) how each company presents nutritional information on product labels, (iii) how much caffeine is present in the company’s product and whether this…
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