Jeff Margulies (US)

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CA court shuts down website accessibility claims for online-only businesses

By Jeff Margulies (US) and Eva Yang (US) on October 13, 2022 Posted in General

The California Court of Appeal has issued a precedent-setting decision holding that the ADA does not apply to online-only businesses. The decision brings some much needed clarity for online-only businesses in California, although the federal courts are still split on whether websites that have no “nexus” to a physical location can be considered places of … Continue reading

California enacts PFAS prohibition for textiles

By Will Troutman (US), Jeff Margulies (US) and Ray Muro (US) on September 30, 2022 Posted in General

California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed AB 1817 into law, adding to the growing list of state legislation restricting the use of PFAS substances in a variety of consumer products. As of January 1, 2025, AB 1817 prohibits the manufacture, distribution, sale, or offer for sale in the state of “any new, not previously used, … Continue reading

Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act enforcement strategy released

By Will Troutman (US), Jeff Margulies (US) and Phil Di Tullio (US) on June 17, 2022 Posted in Recent legislation and regulations

While we will have more to say shortly on the strategy itself, we wanted to make sure you all saw that the U.S. Government has released its enforcement strategy for the UFLPA, as well as its initial “entity” list. Check back soon for some insights from us on the guidance. Strategy: UFLPA Strategy | Homeland … Continue reading

Prop 65 proposed short form warning regulation lapses

By Jeff Margulies (US), Will Troutman (US), Lauren Shoor (US) and Eva Yang (US) on May 25, 2022 Posted in California Proposition 65

There has been yet another update in the series of the latest Proposition 65 proposed rulemaking regarding short-form warnings. On January 8, 2021, the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment’s (OEHHA) announced that it would amend the regulation relating to short-form Proposition 65 warning. After two sets of revisions to the proposed regulation, OEHHA … Continue reading

California issues second set of revisions to Prop 65 short form warning regulation

By Jeff Margulies (US), Will Troutman (US) and Eva Yang (US) on May 3, 2022 Posted in California Proposition 65, General

In the latest twist in California’s never-ending saga to amend the Proposition 65 “short-form” warning regulation, there’s now been a second proposed change. The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has been for some time attempting to limit the use of short form warnings, although encountering significant push back and concerns from the … Continue reading

Ninth Circuit upholds preliminary injunction barring Prop 65 acrylamide lawsuits

By Jeff Margulies (US) on April 12, 2022 Posted in California Proposition 65, Recent consumer products case law

A year ago, we wrote about a preliminary injunction that barred new lawsuits seeking to enforce California Proposition 65 cancer warning requirements for acrylamide in food. That injunction was appealed, and on March 17, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals–which is not known as “business friendly”–decided the injunction was proper. This is a major win for … Continue reading

California moves forward with revisions to Prop 65 short-form warning regulation

By Jeff Margulies (US), Will Troutman (US) and Lauren Shoor (US) on January 3, 2022 Posted in California Proposition 65, Recent legislation and regulations

Eleven months after issuing its original proposal to significantly restrict the use of so-called “short-form” Prop 65 safe harbor warnings, the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) published a revised proposed regulation on December 13, 2021. The original proposal, which we summarized here, would have required businesses to make significant revisions to their … Continue reading

Plaintiffs must actually intend to use services for website accessibility claims

By Jeff Margulies (US) and Eva Yang (US) on October 25, 2021 Posted in General, Recent consumer products case law

Businesses scored a win in a recent California Court of Appeal decision affirming a defense jury verdict in a website accessibility lawsuit. In Cheryl Thurston v. Omni Hotels Management Corp., the court held that for a plaintiff to prevail in such a claim, she must show a “bona fide intent” to actually use the defendant’s … Continue reading

California moves to restrict the use of short-form Prop 65 warnings

By Jeff Margulies (US), Will Troutman (US) and Lauren Shoor (US) on January 11, 2021 Posted in California Proposition 65, Recent legislation and regulations

On January 8, 2021, the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking significantly limiting the use of the short-form warning as a safe harbor. The proposed regulation makes the following changes: Limiting the use of the short-form warning to products with 5 square inches or less of label … Continue reading

Coffee roasters and retailers defeat Proposition 65 lawsuit

By Jeff Margulies (US) and Lauren Shoor (US) on August 26, 2020 Posted in California Proposition 65

We previously wrote about a regulation issued last year by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) exempting chemicals in coffee from Proposition 65’s warning requirement. The question then was what effect the new regulation would have on the long-pending industry-wide enforcement action brought by the Council for Education and Research on Toxics … Continue reading

Federal court says Prop 65 warnings for glyphosate violate the First Amendment

By Jeff Margulies (US) on June 29, 2020 Posted in California Proposition 65, Recent consumer products case law

On June 22, 2020, Judge William Shubb of the US District Court for the Eastern District of California entered an order prohibiting the State of California from requiring Prop 65 warnings for glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicide Roundup®. The decision was not based on whether glyphosate had been improperly listed under Prop 65, … Continue reading

Judge issues first ruling dismissing lawsuit for Braille on gift cards

By Jeff Margulies (US) and Eva Yang (US) on June 16, 2020 Posted in General

Earlier this year, we posted about the new wave of ADA claims that flooded the district courts in New York concerning Braille on gift cards (see Braille on gift cards: ADA accessibility issue or novel shakedown?) . Four months later, a judge in the Southern District of New York issued the first ruling to shut … Continue reading

CCPA enforcement trends–what we are seeing

By Jeff Margulies (US) and Katie Fragoso (US) on May 4, 2020 Posted in Consumer class actions

Despite limitations on private rights of action within the California Consumer Privacy Act, many were concerned that the plaintiffs’ bar would find creative ways to skirt CCPA’s boundaries. Four months into CCPA enforcement, those concerns have been borne out. We are seeing three worrisome enforcement trends: Expanding the CCPA’s private right of action; Cloaking a … Continue reading

Court tosses consumer class action based on alleged Prop 65 violation

By Jeff Margulies (US) on April 29, 2020 Posted in California Proposition 65, Consumer class actions

As a California appellate court once stated, and many businesses find out to their dismay, Proposition 65’s enforcement procedures make “the instigation of Proposition 65 litigation easy—and almost absurdly easy at the pleading stage and pretrial stages.” Consumer Defense Group v. Rental Housing Industry Members, 137 Cal. App. 4th 1185, 1215 (2006). A recent ruling … Continue reading

While more states issue reopening plans, other states extend closure

By Will Troutman (US), Jeff Margulies (US) and Eva Yang (US) on April 27, 2020 Posted in Coronavirus

In a sign of the dramatically uncertain nature of next steps, more states have issued orders to partially reopen their economies, while others have extended closure orders that were set to expire at the end of the month. Reopening Alaska, Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Vermont all have taken the … Continue reading

Plans for reopening begin at state, federal level

By Jeff Margulies (US), Will Troutman (US) and Katie Fragoso (US) on April 17, 2020 Posted in Coronavirus, General

State coalitions forming In an effort to plan for reopening their economies, several states have announced regional collaboration efforts. This includes New York and six other Northeastern states, and California, Oregon, and Washington in the west. Earlier this week, California Governor Gavin Newsom outlined a framework to reopen the western economies, predicated on six key indicators:… Continue reading

Los Angeles orders workers and customers to wear face coverings

By Will Troutman (US), Jeff Margulies (US) and Katie Fragoso (US) on April 8, 2020 Posted in Coronavirus, General

We are continuing to track state and local restrictions, updated daily, here. In a sign of things that may be coming nationally, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has issued an “emergency order” requiring employees of “Essential Businesses” to wear face coverings. The order also requires customers visiting such businesses to wear face coverings, at the … Continue reading

State “stay at home” orders now in 30 states

By Will Troutman (US) and Jeff Margulies (US) on March 30, 2020 Posted in Coronavirus, General

What seemed like a novel and crazy idea a little over a week ago has now become the majority approach to “flattening the curve” in the United States. And those states that have not yet adopted “stay at home” or “shelter in place” orders generally have comparable restrictions at the county, city, or municipal levels. … Continue reading

New coronavirus business restrictions and limitations

By Will Troutman (US) and Jeff Margulies (US) on March 26, 2020 Posted in Coronavirus, General

Stay at Home and Shelter in Place orders continue to proliferate, and we are also seeing an uptick in curfews being set. Notable updates in: Idaho Mississippi Missouri Nebraska Tennessee Texas Our updated tracking site is now here.… Continue reading

Coronavirus business restrictions update and links to orders

By Will Troutman (US) and Jeff Margulies (US) on March 24, 2020 Posted in Coronavirus, General

For those of you have been following our running list of state and local business restrictions here on the blog, we are happy to report that we have been upgraded to a dedicated website. And with our upgrade comes an added feature–links to the state and local orders we are discussing. Please continue to follow us … Continue reading

“Stay at Home” and “Shelter in Place” restrictions grow; updated business restrictions table

By Will Troutman (US) and Jeff Margulies (US) on March 21, 2020 Posted in Coronavirus, General

We continue to update our list of state and local business restrictions and limitations as quickly as we can given the rapidly changing landscape. As of Friday night, “Stay at Home” and “Shelter in Place” orders continue to proliferate, as Connecticut and Illinois have joined California and New York. In general, under these orders, the … Continue reading

What to expect from CPSC (at least for a little while)

By Will Troutman (US) and Jeff Margulies (US) on February 20, 2020 Posted in Consumer Product Safety Commission

Today at the International Consumer Product Health & Safety Organization annual meeting, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Acting Chairman Bob Adler delivered the keynote address. Adler provided some insight into his priorities for the Commission for the foreseeable future, recognizing that he is currently the Acting Chairman and a Democrat—with the presidential election coming in … Continue reading

Class actions against CBD companies proliferate under federal and state law

By Mark Faccenda (US), Jeff Margulies (US), Will Troutman (US) and Katie Fragoso (US) on February 12, 2020 Posted in Food & Drug Administration, Recent consumer products case law, Recent legislation and regulations

On the heels of FDA sending out a tranche of warning letters to sellers of cannabidiol (CBD) products, enterprising plaintiffs lawyers have filed a spate of consumer class actions over these types of products. The complaints put forth a number of different theories tied to the current illegality of these products due to FDA regulation. … Continue reading

California modifies Prop 65 warning regulations

By Jeff Margulies (US), Will Troutman (US) and Lauren Shoor (US) on January 26, 2020 Posted in California Proposition 65

The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has adopted amendments to its 2016 Proposition 65 warning regulations. These amendments address issues that arose regarding how manufacturers and distributors communicate with retailers and other downstream businesses about the need to provide warnings. The amendments also revise the definition of the “actual knowledge” that creates a duty … Continue reading