On March 10, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a request by F.W. Webb (“Webb”), a nationwide wholesale plumbing and HVAC supply company, to review a First Circuit decision upholding a ruling that Webb’s Inside Sales Representatives (“ISRs”) were not exempt “administrative” employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), and thus were entitled to overtime compensation.
In a recently issued split decision in Chabolla v. ClassPass Inc., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that website users were not bound by the terms of a “sign-in wrap” agreement.
The Children’s Advertising Review Unit of BBB National Programs (CARU) announced a decision involving Buddy AI, a program that touts itself as an “Early learning AI teacher.” According to CARU, which encountered Buddy AI as part of its routine monitoring efforts, the app and website did not comply with the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) or CARU’s children’s privacy guidelines.
The landscape of immigration enforcement is undergoing a dramatic transformation in 2025. With President Trump's recent executive orders signaling a renewed focus on worksite enforcement, employers across industries must prepare for what many experts anticipate will be the most aggressive immigration enforcement environment in recent history.
Read our full coverage published on Hunton’s Business Immigration blog: Immigration Worksite Enforcement in 2025: What Employers Need to Know Now.
On February 4, 2024, California legislators introduced a bill, the Fashion Environmental Accountability Act (AB 405), which would require fashion brands to disclose their environmental impact, carbon emissions, water use, and waste. The proposed regulation would apply to brands with total annual revenue over $1 billion and that do business in California.
The use of Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) in the workplace has spread rapidly since President Trump left the White House in early 2021. In recent years, retail employers have started using AI technology in a variety of ways from automating tasks, to implementing data-driven decision making, to enhancing customer experience. Though the Biden administration started to grapple with the use of AI in the workplace, the second Trump administration could mark a dramatic shift in the federal government’s response to these issues.
In a recent decision, the National Advertising Division (NAD) of BBB National Programs recommended that Revolve Group, Inc., a clothing company with an extensive influencer network, modify influencer posts to more clearly disclose the material connections between Revolve and influencers in its product gifting program.
Recent business disruptions have highlighted the vulnerabilities retailers face when unexpected events force closures. Whether it’s a utility outage disrupting operations or a fire at a supplier’s facility or neighboring property cutting into sales, insurance may help cover business interruption losses.
In February 2024, we posted about the USPTO’s Inventorship Guidance for AI-assisted Inventions and how that guidance might affect a retailer in New USPTO AI-Assisted Invention Guidance Will Affect Retailers and Consumer Goods Companies. With a year now having passed, it is likely you have questions about the guidance.
Following a September 2024 report outlining findings from public income disclosure statements of multi-level marketers (MLM), the FTC announced on January 13, 2025 two Notices of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) and one Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) focused on multi-level marketing programs and money-making opportunities. The Commission voted 3-2 along partisan lines to issue these three notices. The proposals would enable the FTC to seek enhanced penalties from covered companies making deceptive earnings claims.