Regulatory Framework for Airline Mergers: Recent Scrutiny by Regulators Leads to Splitting Antitrust Decisions by the DOJ and DOT

Posted on October 23, 2024Categories Antitrust, Transportation

Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines’ proposed $1.9 billion merger has survived litigation by the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and the Department of Transportation (“DOT”) following recent scrutiny of airlines by regulators. Earlier this year, a federal judge blocked the $3.8 billion acquisition of Spirit Airlines by JetBlue due to antitrust concerns. The DOJ successfully blocked the acquisition by arguing it would stifle competition and raise prices for consumers. The Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines merger managed to survive an inquiry by the DOT leading to split decisions by regulators.
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What the Indian Child Welfare Act Means for Tribal Sovereignty

Posted on October 18, 2024Categories Regulation, Uncategorized

The Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA) has been considered the “gold standard” of child welfare best practice from experts in the field. This is because it requires active efforts to keep children safe in their homes and connected to their families, communities, and culture. For the past 46 years, ICWA has stood as a powerful force in protecting Native American children and preserving Indigenous cultures. Considering that reunification is the most common goal for children in foster care, ICWA is an essential means of reaching this goal in a culturally responsible way for Native American children. Further protections at the state level as well as expanding ICWA are necessary to protect tribal sovereignty in the removal of their children.
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Tackling Concussions – How the NFL is Addressing Player Safety

Posted on October 18, 2024Categories Athletic Regulation, Sports

On Thursday, September 12th, Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa sustained his third career concussion during a game against the Buffalo Bills. Following his previous concussions, the NFL and the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) worked diligently to implement new protocols aimed at enhancing player safety and reducing the risk of traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). However, this latest incident has reignited online debate about player safety, TBIs, and the NFL’s implementation of Guardian Caps at training camps and practices.
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Danger in Every Dye: Why the FDA Should Ban Artificial Food Color Additives

Posted on October 18, 2024Categories FDA

Over the last decade, an increasing number of studies have shown that certain food color dyes have toxic and carcinogenic effects on human health, with focuses predominantly on Red No. 3 and Red No. 40. However, in recent years, studies have revealed the toxicity of many other artificial food color dyes in addition to red dyes. Last month, United States Senator Ron Johnson hosted a roundtable discussion, “American Health and Nutrition: A Second Opinion”, with prominent doctors and other health advocates to discuss the changes within agriculture, food processing, and healthcare industries and their impacts on the nation’s health. Among many topics covered during the four-hour-long discussion was the negative effects of artificial color additives in everyday foods on people’s health with toxic and carcinogenic effects. This discussion is coupled with increased calls on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ban artificial food color additives in food products. At the state level, California and Illinois have begun to act to ban these toxic color additives statewide.
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Locked Out: How the FDIC is ‘Banking’ on Transparency

Posted on October 16, 2024Categories Banking, Finance & Banking

As a result of Synapse, a banking as a service (BaaS) provider, declaring bankruptcy back in May 2024, millions of users were unable to access accounts for at least two weeks. Synapse was a startup that had contracts with 20 banks and 100 financial technology (fintech) companies. When the company filed for bankruptcy, it shut down its services to comply with banking laws to ensure that all customer deposits were accurate. Despite the word “banking” in BaaS and customers having credit or debit cards, Synapse is not like other banks. It is distinguishable, because it is not backed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), like other traditional banks are. In the aftermath of the lock out, the FDIC has proposed a new rule to force banks partnered with fintech apps to strengthen record-keeping.
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Legal Outcomes of the Attempted Ban on Non-Compete Agreements

Posted on October 14, 2024Categories Noncompetes

In April of 2024, The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued their final rule banning non-competes across the nation in an effort to promote competition. A non-compete contract is an agreement between an employee and an employer where the employee agrees not to work for competitors or start a competing business for a certain period after leaving the company. Non-competes are meant to protect the employer’s business secrets, customers, or sensitive information from being used by rivals. The FTC’s proposed rule aimed to eliminate nearly all non-compete clauses and declare them an “unfair method of competition” under the rule. The rule would affect existing agreements, except for certain senior executives, and require employers to notify affected workers of its enforcement. It also sought to prohibit employers from entering into nearly all new non-compete agreements after the effective date of September 4th. Since the original publishing of the rule and leadup to the effective date, there have been many new developments in reaction to the final rule. This included some precedent-setting legal decisions as well as actions taken by various state governments. With these developments, the current status has been altered, which could lead to a number of possible short-term outcomes.
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FTC has Health Apps and Wearable Tech Vendors in its Sight with its Amended Health Breach Notification Rule

Posted on October 11, 2024Categories FTC

The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) is intensifying its already rigorous oversight of how health apps, such as fitness apps, menstrual cycle trackers, sleep trackers, etc., utilize and disseminate sensitive personal information. However, unresolved questions regarding the extent of the agency’s authority are likely to precipitate challenges that could significantly curtail these efforts.
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Bringing FERPA Up to Grade

Posted on October 11, 2024Categories Education, Privacy & Security

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) was enacted in 1974 to protect the privacy of student education records. While FERPA provides essential privacy safeguards, it also includes provisions that allow certain student information to be shared with third parties, particularly under the guise of “directory information.” With the increasing concerns surrounding personal data in the digital age, many argue that FERPA’s exceptions undermine its original intent. In an era where other U.S. privacy laws are tightening restrictions on the sharing of personal information, FERPA’s provisions are lagging, leaving students vulnerable to privacy breaches that would be impermissible in other contexts.
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The ACC’s Anti-Competition Contracts: Why Schools Continue to Fight the Conference’s Exit Regulations

Posted on October 10, 2024Categories Contracts, Sports

In December 2023, Florida State University’s Board of Trustees filed suit against the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) challenging the ACC’s grant of rights and “draconian” exit penalties. About three months later in March 2024, Clemson University filed a complaint against the conference challenging those same exit penalties and grant of rights issues. In response, the ACC filed legal challenges against both schools, arguing they agreed to the contract terms and were not  allowed to leave the conference or challenge those agreements. Courts will have to look to the ACC’s grant of rights agreement, Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code, and State antitrust laws in determining who will succeed in this lawsuit. Several other schools have gotten around their conference’s grant of rights agreements in the Big 10, and Pac-12. However, unlike those conferences’ grants of rights agreements expiring in 2024 and 2025, the ACC’s agreement lasts until June 2036. Regardless, it is going to be difficult for these schools to succeed in challenging the agreements in court.
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Congress Needs to Pass a Nationwide NIL Law

Posted on October 10, 2024Categories Sports

Matthew Sluka, starting quarterback for the then-undefeated University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) football team, elected to use his redshirt designation and sit out for the rest of the 2024-25 football season, claiming that he was not paid the entirety of the $100,000 NIL deal he was recruited on. Sluka is now the first player to sit out in-season because of NIL disputes. However, it is very likely he will not be the last. Sluka claims that he was promised the $100,000 by the offensive coordinator. The school and team dispute the claims by Sluka, saying they had never promised him any money and the $3,000 he had received was for honoring a separate NIL engagement that summer. UNLV is claiming that Sluka and his representation’s financial demands to keep playing are against NCAA rules and Nevada state law. NCAA rules and Nevada law stipulate that a player cannot receive NIL just to play for or attend a school, there must be quid pro quo, (sign autographs, meet and greets, etc.) in order to profit from their name, image or likeness. Regardless of the underlying truth, Sluka’s situation has highlighted exactly why the NCAA cannot regulate NIL anymore.
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