November 2018 WLF Month in Review

• The First Amendment protects the right of employers to ask job applicants about their past salaries. (Chamber of Comm. of Greater Phila. v. City of Phila.)
• The Class Action Fairness Act broadly protects the right of any defendant to remove a class action from state court to federal court. (Home Depot U.S.A. v. Jackson)
• A state court may not exercise personal jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant for claims arising outside the State if the plaintiff suffered no injuries within the State, even if the plaintiff lives in the State.  (First Advantage Background Serv. Corp. v. Sup. Court of Calif.)
• The FTC should adopt a more forward-looking approach when defining the “relevant markets” that form the bases for its antitrust review of proposed mergers. (In re: FTC Study of Digital Technology Market Merger Review)
• The FTC should exercise restraint when considering whether and how to regulation new Artificial Intelligence applications. (In re: FTC Investigation of Artificial Intelligence)
• The SEC is applauded for continuing to focus on serious issues raised by proxy voting services, including their conflicts of interest and lack of transparency. (In re: SEC Staff Roundtable on the Proxy Process)

Cases Decided

• U.S. Supreme Court holds that property owners may file cost-benefit challenges to the federal government’s designation of their property as “critical habitat” for an endangered species—a designation that greatly diminishes the property’s market value. (Weyerhaeuser Co. v. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Serv.)
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit vacates an SEC enforcement action, finding that the SEC Administrative Law Judge who conducted the enforcement proceedings was appointed in a constitutionally improper manner. (Timbervest LLC v. SEC)