Eric Haskell
Foley Hoag LLP
First circuit to determine whether sarbanes-oxley act extends whistleblower protection to employees of contractors, subcontractors, and agents of publicly-traded companies
USA - November 5 2010 The First Circuit has agreed to hear an appeal from a recent District of Massachusetts decision taking a very broad view of the whistleblower protection provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act....
Massachusetts federal district court transfers putative class action to California federal district court based in part on pendency of factually identical class action there
USA - April 14 2010 In Wiley v Gerber Products Company, 667 F. Supp. 2d 171 (D. Mass. 2009), a purchaser of fruit juice snacks for toddlers brought a putative class action against the snacks’ manufacturer in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts based on the snacks’ allegedly deceptive packaging....
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s recognition of cause of action for projected medical monitoring costs based on mere subclinical physiological changes and increased risk, rather than clinically manifest harm
USA - April 14 2010 As detailed in an October 21, 2009 Foley Hoag Product Liability Alert, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) in Donovan v. Philip Morris USA, Inc., 455 Mass. 215 (2009), recognized a cause of action for projected medical monitoring costs based on a plaintiff’s mere subclinical physiological changes and increased risk, and despite the absence of clinically manifest harm....
Massachusetts Superior Court denies summary judgment for asset purchaser regarding successor liability where purchaser retained two key seller employees, honored seller’s warranties and used seller’s logo, and seller ceased operations
USA - April 14 2010 In Dominguez v Ruland Manufacturing Co, Inc, 2009 WL 3083865 (Mass. Super. Ct. 2009), a worker who was injured while cleaning a centrifuge machine sued the machine’s manufacturer and seller, as well as the corporation that bought all of the manufacturer’s assets prior to plaintiff’s injury, in the Massachusetts Superior Court....
First Circuit articulates criteria for accepting discretionary appeal under Class Action Fairness Act of order remanding putative class action to state court, holds class certifiability is irrelevant to existence of federal jurisdiction
USA, Puerto Rico - April 14 2010 In College of Dental Surgeons of Puerto Rico v. Connecticut General Life Insurance Company, 585 F.3d 33 (1st Cir. 2009), a statutorily-created, compulsory-membership association of Puerto Rico dentists sued multiple insurance companies in a Puerto Rico trial court alleging that defendants’ practices violated Puerto Rico law and harmed association members....
