Balough
October 23, 2014
A company that designed an enclosure for electronic tablets cannot sue a manufacturer with whom it shared the design pursuant to a confidentiality agreement because the disclosing company failed to take reasonable measures to protect its trade secret. nClosures Inc. developed a metal case for electronic tablets such as iPads. In 2011, the company signed […]
Balough
August 29, 2014
FedEx Ground delivery drivers are employees, not independent contractors, under California’s labor laws, the Ninth Circuit found, reversing a summary judgment for the delivery service. The drivers filed suit for employment expenses and unpaid wages under the California Labor Code on the ground that FedEx had improperly classified the drivers as independent contractors. The case […]
Balough
April 2, 2014
Two provisions in eBay’s User Agreement are not enforceable contract provisions but simply general descriptions of how eBay operates. The Ninth Circuit affirmed a trial court’s dismissal of a case involving eBay’s automatic bidding system. The Plaintiff had argued that eBay breached its User Agreement and violated California’s Unfair Competition Law and False Advertising Law. […]
Balough
March 30, 2014
How long does it take three appellate court staff members to change into and out of protective clothing for a poultry processing plant? Not long, so the appellants lost their appeal in the Seventh Circuit. The novel experiment conducted in chambers and privately videotaped was apparently conducted by Judge Richard Posner and detailed in a […]
Balough
December 23, 2013
The legal issues created by allowing employees to bring their own devices to the office and connect to the network were examined by Richard C. Balough at the Southeastern Business Law Institute 2013. Mr. Balough explained that while over 66 percent of businesses allow employees to bring their own devices to the workplace and connect […]
Balough
December 23, 2013
Being employed for less than two years is not sufficient consideration for enforcing a non-compete agreement in Illinois, a state appellate court ruled. The issue arose when an employee quit his job after three months. His employment contract included a non-compete agreement restricting his employment for two years after he terminated his employment for any […]
Balough
December 23, 2013
Placing a global positioning system (GPS) tracking device on a state employee’s personal car as part of an investigation does not require a warrant, but using the GPS to track the employee 24 hours a day for a month was unreasonable, a New York appeals court majority found. A concurring opinion would have required a […]
Balough
December 23, 2013
A 92-question and answer guide is available from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to help businesses and parents understand the new rule for the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which go into effect July 1, 2013. The rule, adopted in December 2012, expands the types of information about children under 13 that require parental […]
Balough
December 22, 2013
The marital communications privilege does not cover emails sent by a husband to his wife using his workplace computer. A federal appeals court affirmed the conviction of a former member of the Virginia House of Delegates for bribery and extortion for securing state funding for Old Dominion University in exchange for employment by the university. […]
Balough
December 22, 2013
A Colorado federal judge ordered that a person suing her former employer must provide all of her cell phone messages, social media passwords, and passwords to access any of her email accounts or blogs for the judge’s in camera review. The former employee, along with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, sued The Original Honeybaked Ham Company of […]
