The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit recently put the kibosh on the proposed mega merger between health insurance giants Anthem, Inc. and Cigna Corporation, two of the nation’s four largest insurers. The court concluded that Anthem failed to show how proposed cost efficiencies would offset…
When it comes to running a business, legal compliance is essential. Federal and state regulations govern numerous aspects of business, and labor and employment. The state often follows the same regulations, and can have variances which is why it is important to keep abreast with both. Often enough, compliance for…
Minteq International, Inc. supplies materials to steel-makers. Minteq’s employees are represented by the engineers’ union of the AFL-CIO and covered by a collective bargaining agreement (CBA). In 2012, without bargaining or even notifying the union, the company began requiring new employees to sign noncompete and confidentiality agreements (NCCA) which barred…
Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Richard Posner made quick work of a recent class action suit brought by glaucoma patients who alleged that Allergan, Inc., and other drugmakers manufactured prescription eyedrops that were too large in order to increase their profits (Eike, et al., v. Allergan, Inc., et al.,…
With the economy still unsteady after the recession, more and more people are attracted to the idea of starting their own business. But one of the biggest challenges when doing that is making sure you have something unique to offer the market. For people who have spent most of their…
Getting taken to the cleaners by a dishonest employee or contractor is headache enough for any business, but having no fraud coverage insurance coverage is a world of hurt. Businesses are well advised to analyze their policies carefully to make sure they have proper coverage. In the case of an…
In Silicon Valley, the heart of the technology industry, a company’s greatest asset is its talent. Their brains and the information they have access to are priceless, which is why, for many tech companies, it is imperative for them not to allow their employees to take such invaluable information directly…
Stock options exercised by railroad employees are a form of monetary compensation taxable to the employer and employee under the Railroad Retirement Tax Act, according to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals (Wisconsin Central Ltd., et al. v. United States, No. 16‐3300 (7th Cir. 2017)). In 1996, three Midwestern railroad…
If a patent holder is allowed to control what happens to their patented products after the first sale, where would it end? Would they be able to take a cut from thrift shops? Garage sales? Lexmark International, a technology company that makes printers and ink cartridges for those printers, has…
As our economy continues to expand all over the country and the globe, it forces us to reconsider some of the ways in which we do business. For example, when companies started including non-compete agreements in their contracts with their employees, the federal and state governments allowed it – as…