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Supreme Court Limits EPA’s Power To Regulate Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Power Plants
Case Name and Number: West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency, No. 20-1530 Introduction: Today, the Supreme Court held in a 6-3 decision that EPA lacks authority under the Clean Air Act to limit greenhouse gas emissions from power plants through “generation shifting,” i.e., increasing the use of cleaner energy sources like wind and solar and […]
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Supreme Court Holds That The Federal Arbitration Act Preempts California Rule Prohibiting Employees From Waiving The Right To Arbitrate Representative Claims Under PAGA
Case Name and Number: Viking River Cruises, Inc. v. Moriana, No. 20-1573 Introduction: Under California law, an employee may bring a lawsuit under California’s Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) to enforce California labor law. The employee can bring two types of claims – claims on her own behalf and “representative claims” on behalf of other […]
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Supreme Court Holds Foreign Discovery Statute Does Not Apply To Private Arbitrations Abroad
Case Name and Number: ZF Automotive US, Inc. v. Luxshare, Ltd., No. 21-401; AlixPartners, LLP v. Fund for Protection of Investors’ Rights in Foreign States, No. 21-518 Introduction: Under 28 U.S.C. § 1782(a), a federal district court may authorize discovery to produce documents “for use in a proceeding in a foreign or international tribunal.” Today, the […]
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Supreme Court Holds Airplane Cargo Loaders Exempt From The Federal Arbitration Act
Case Name and Number: Southwest Airlines Co. v. Saxon, No. 21-309 Introduction: Today, the Supreme Court unanimously held that the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), 9 U.S.C. § 1 et seq., does not apply to employment contracts between airlines and workers who frequently load cargo on and off airplanes. Background: Respondent Saxon works for Southwest Airlines as […]
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Supreme Court Rejects Prejudice Requirement For Waivers Of Arbitration
Case Name and Number: Morgan v. Sundance, Inc., No. 21-328 Introduction: Today, the Supreme Court held in a 9-0 decision that the Federal Arbitration Act does not authorize federal courts to require the party opposing arbitration to show prejudice. Background: When a party that has agreed to arbitration instead sues in federal court, the Federal […]
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Supreme Court Holds That Federal Courts Cannot Review The Underlying Dispute To Determine If There Is Jurisdiction To Confirm Or Vacate An Arbitral Award
Case Name and Number: Badgerow v. Walters, No. 20-1143 Introduction: Today, the Supreme Court held in an 8-1 decision that federal district courts may not look to the underlying substantive dispute to determine whether there is federal jurisdiction to confirm or vacate arbitral awards under Sections 9 and 10 of the Federal Arbitration Act. Background: […]
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Supreme Court Holds That A Mistake Of Law Invalidates A Copyright Registration Only If The Copyright Holder Knew Of Its Mistake
Case Name and Number: Unicolors, Inc. v. H&M Hennes & Mauritz, L.P., No. 20-915 Introduction: Today, the Supreme Court held in a 6-3 decision that a copyright registration that is inaccurate because the registrant made a mistake of law is valid unless the registrant knew of its mistake at the time of registration. Background: Under […]
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Supreme Court Holds That ERISA Fiduciaries’ Duty to Monitor All Investment Options is Not Excused Because Some Investment Options are Adequate
Case Name and Number: Hughes v. Northwestern University, No. 19-1401 Introduction: Today, the Supreme Court held that fiduciaries to ERISA defined-contribution retirement plans have an ongoing duty to monitor the investment options in the plan, and that participants’ ability to select the options they prefer does not relieve fiduciaries of that duty. Background: Participants in […]
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Supreme Court Stays OSHA’s Vax-Or-Test COVID-19 Rule
National Federation of Independent Business v. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, No. 21A244 Introduction: Today, the Supreme Court voted 6-3 to stay OSHA’s rule requiring large US employers to have a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy, or to give employees the option of vaccinating or undergoing weekly COVID-19 testing, holding that the challengers are likely to […]
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Supreme Court Holds That Private Companies Have A Right Under Federal Law To Seize State-Held Land To Build Natural Gas Pipelines
PennEast Pipeline Co., LLC v. New Jersey, No. 19-1039 Introduction: Today, the Supreme Court held in a 5-4 decision that the Natural Gas Act delegates the federal eminent domain power to private parties, removing a barrier for the $1 billion PennEast gas pipeline project and reversing a Third Circuit ruling that project developers could not […]
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Supreme Court Reaffirms Spokeo’s Limitations On Article III Standing, Concludes Vast Majority Of Class Members Failed To Demonstrate Concrete Harm
Case Name and Number: TransUnion LLC v. Ramirez, No. 20-297 Introduction: Today, the Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision reversed a class-wide judgment, holding that the vast majority of class members failed to satisfy the injury-in-fact requirement for Article III standing to sue because they did not suffer a concrete harm resulting from the defendant’s […]
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Supreme Court Sides With Small Refineries On Renewable Fuel Program Waivers
HollyFrontier Cheyenne Refining, LLC v. Renewable Fuels Association, No. 20-472 Introduction: Today, the Supreme Court held in a 6-3 decision that under the Renewable Fuel Program’s fuel-blending requirements for domestic refineries, a small refinery that received an exemption that lapsed nonetheless may obtain an extension of that exemption. The decision restored the exemptions of three […]
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Supreme Court Invalidates California Regulation Requiring Agricultural Employers to Allow Union Organizers Onto Their Property
Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid, No. 20-107 Today, the Supreme Court held that a 1975 California regulation that grants labor organizations a “right to take access” to an agricultural employer’s property to solicit support for unionization constitutes a per se physical taking. Background: In 2015, Cedar Point Nursery, an Oregon corporation that raises strawberry plants for producers in California, […]
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Supreme Court Holds That Patent Trial and Appeal Board Judges Cannot Issue Final Inter Partes Review Decisions
United States v. Arthrex, Inc., No. 19-1434; Arthrex, Inc. v. Smith & Nephew, Inc., No. 19-1458; Smith & Nephew, Inc. v. Arthrex, Inc., No. 19-1452 Yesterday, the Supreme Court held that the Constitution does not permit administrative patent judges (APJs) to issue final administrative decisions in inter partes review proceedings. The Court remedied this violation […]
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Supreme Court clarifies that in securities-fraud class actions, courts should consider whether the alleged misrepresentation was “generic”
Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. v. Arkansas Teacher Retirement System, No. 20-222 Today, the Supreme Court held that in a securities-fraud class action, the district court should consider whether the alleged misrepresentation is generic in determining whether the misrepresentation affected the price of the security at issue. The Court also held that the defendant bears the […]
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Supreme Court Narrows Alien Tort Statute Liability
Case Name and Number: Nestlé USA, Inc. v. Doe I, No. 19-416; Cargill, Inc. v. Doe I, No. 19-453 Introduction: Today, the Supreme Court held in an 8-1 decision that allegations of general corporate activity within the United States (such as headquarters oversight and decisionmaking) are insufficient to establish a permissible domestic application of the […]
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Supreme Court Narrows Reach of Federal Computer-Fraud Law
Van Buren v. United States, No. 19-783 Introduction: Today, the Supreme Court held in a 6-3 decision that a police officer who accessed a law-enforcement database for an improper purpose did not violate the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), because the officer was authorized to access that database in the course of his official duties. […]
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Supreme Court Says Guam Can Proceed With $160M Landfill Suit Against The United States
Case Name and Number: Guam v. United States, No. 20-382 Introduction: The Supreme Court held that Guam can proceed with a $160 million lawsuit against the United States to recover pollution costs at a landfill. The decision provides guidance to owners and polluters of Superfund sites on the types of lawsuits that can be brought […]
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Baltimore’s Global Warming Suit May Be Able To Stay In Federal Court
BP p.l.c. v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, No. 19-1189 Introduction: Today, the Supreme Court held in a 7-1 decision that a court of appeals can review the entirety of a district court’s order remanding a case to state court when the defendant relied on the federal officer removal statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1442, […]
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Unanimous Supreme Court Holds Random or Sequential Number Generation Required for Equipment to Constitute an Autodialer Under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act
Facebook v. Duguid, No. 19-511 Introduction: Today, the Supreme Court held 9-0 that equipment must be capable of random or sequential number generation in order to qualify as an “automatic telephone dialing system” under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Background: The Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA), among other things, restricts certain communications made […]
