Paul Peter Nicolai Aug 17, 20213 minData Revealed on Open Zoom Meeting Is Secret No MoreA business that does not take reasonable steps to protect its confidential information while using Zoom cannot receive trade secret...
Paul Peter Nicolai Aug 3, 20212 minTriple Damages Against EmployeesThe Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) recently made clear that Chapter 93A applies to employees who misappropriate their...
Paul Peter Nicolai Jul 13, 20213 minNo Concrete Harm, No StandingThe U.S. Supreme Court decided that plaintiffs seeking to pursue a Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) class litigation must establish...
Paul Peter Nicolai Jul 6, 20211 minLetter to Editor Is ProtectedThe NLRB decided an employer violated the NLRA by firing an employee for a letter she wrote to the editor of a local newspaper. A second...
Paul Peter Nicolai Jun 22, 20212 minSupreme Court Cuts Back Computer Fraud and Abuse ActBack in 1986 Congress passed the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). CFAA imposes criminal or civil liability on any person who...
Paul Peter Nicolai Jun 15, 20211 minSUING TO VOID AN ARBITRATION AWARD GETS EXPENSIVEBack about 10 years ago, the US Supreme Court limited the grounds for voiding arbitration awards under federal law. Before that, courts...
Paul Peter Nicolai Jun 8, 20213 minFTC Loses TeethThe Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has for years sued in federal court to obtain restitution of losses or disgorgement of profits from...
Paul Peter Nicolai May 25, 20213 minAre Exotic Dancers Employees or Not?An exotic dancer was an employee of an adult entertainment club under the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA"), even though a written...
Paul Peter Nicolai May 18, 20211 minGig Worker Bound To Clickwrap ArbitrationThe plaintiff applied through the website of the defendant which assigns house cleaning jobs to workers. Later, she clicked an accept...
Paul Peter Nicolai May 11, 20211 minDecision on Arbitration goes to ArbitrationA former employee sued alleging race discrimination by his former employer The employer said the arbitration clause contained in the...
Paul Peter Nicolai May 4, 20214 minJava Code Use Can Be a Fair Use Under Copyright LawThe U.S. Supreme Court has resolved a major copyright dispute fought for over a decade. It said Google’s copying of about 11,500 lines of...
Paul Peter Nicolai Apr 20, 20212 minWebsites May Not Be Places of Public Accommodation In a recent ruling, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has held that websites are not places of public accommodation within the...
Paul Peter Nicolai Mar 30, 20211 minPandemic Closing does not Breach LeaseA commercial landlord sued a tenant that stopped operating a café and paying rent following a statewide order disallowing on-premises...
Paul Peter Nicolai Mar 16, 20211 minRace Case Against Whole Foods DismissedWhole Foods Market employees claimed it discriminated and retaliated against them when it barred them from wearing Black Lives Matter...
Paul Peter Nicolai Mar 9, 20211 minPrompt Payment Act Noncompliance Waives Defenses A contractor requested seven progress payments on a construction project which were not paid. The construction manager did not follow the...
Paul Peter Nicolai Feb 16, 20212 minProtecting Trade Secrets with a Remote Workforce To keep employees and communities safe, many businesses have given remote access to systems and data without ensuring new technologies...
Paul Peter Nicolai Feb 2, 20211 minCannabis Contract EnforcementWhen a contract involves cannabis, federal courts cannot enforce performance or order remedies, one court has ruled. A cannabis company...
Paul Peter Nicolai Jan 26, 20211 minState Privacy Laws Have TeethIn 2008, Illinois passed the Biometric Information Privacy Act to grant consumers privacy protections for collected biometric...
Paul Peter Nicolai Jan 12, 20211 minUber Arbitration Agreement TossedThe Massachusetts Supreme Court has ruled that Uber's customer terms and conditions requiring them to arbitrate claims against Uber are...
Paul Peter Nicolai Nov 10, 20201 minLosing Your Right of First RefusalRejecting any part of the terms offered to fulfill a right-of-first-refusal can terminate the entire right.