Compliance Stuff

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) suspended most operations at midnight on October 1, 2025, due to the government shutdown, but its Premerger Notification Office (PNO) remains open to accept filings under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 (HSR). However, the PNO will not answer questions, provide filing guidance, or grant early termination of the HSR waiting period, which remains unaffected by the shutdown and runs as usual. Furthermore, while filings will be accepted, it is unclear whether the FTC will have sufficient non-furloughed staff available to provide a substantive review of any HSR filing made during the government shutdown . According to the FTC’s most recent contingency plan, “only those lawyers, economists, and support staff necessary to continue pre-merger investigations with statutory deadlines and law enforcement litigation in order to protect the government’s interest in the legal positions it had advanced or where there would be a significant, ...

Biometric technologies—such as fingerprint scanners, facial recognition systems, and retina scans—are now commonplace in modern business operations. From employee timekeeping systems to facility security and customer-facing applications, these tools offer efficiency and convenience for many businesses. But these same conveniences have sparked backlash in the form of privacy litigation. In Illinois especially, companies are facing a surge of class-action lawsuits under the state’s  Biometric Information Privacy Act (“BIPA”) , a pioneering law that imposes strict requirements on the use of biometric data and hefty penalties for companies failing to adhere to the law. This trend is not confined to Illinois: a growing patchwork of similar laws in other states means that using biometrics without proper safeguards can expose companies nationwide to significant statutory damages and legal risks. Illinois BIPA: A Trailblazer with Teeth Illinois’ BIPA, enacted in 2008, was the first U.S. la...

  This article totally caught our eye in Compliance!  On April 9, 2024, the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") filed a motion for leave to file a  brief  to support plaintiff's motion to dismiss.   This aligns with the  guidance  EEOC provided in 2022 about the intersection of AI hiring tools and the ADA.     The plaintiff brought the lawsuit against the software vendor Workday, Inc. ("Workday"), alleging that Workday violated Title VII, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act ("ADEA"), and the ADA, because it's screening tools to employers that rejected his applications for employment.  Originally, the plaintiff stated that Workday was an “employment agency.”  This case was dismissed because the plaintiff did not allege any details about his application process, except that he applied for jobs through Workday.   In February of 2024, the plaintiff filed their first amended complaint, a revised version of the o...