On August 10, 2005, President George W. Bush signed into law the “Safe, Accountable, Flexible and Efficient Transportation Equity Act of 2005,” which amended Sub-Chapter 1 of Chapter 301 of Title 49, United States Code, colloquially referred to as the “Graves Amendment.” The Graves Amendment abolishes the imposition of any form of vicarious liability on car and truck rental and leasing companies in the United States on actions based solely on their renter’s negligence. As Congressman Graves, the sponsor of the measure, explained: “What we are doing is eliminating vicarious liability simply because the [car rental agencies] own the vehicle.” 151 Cong. Rec. H1199, H1200-01, 134 (daily ed. March 9, 2005)(statement of Rep. Graves). Thus, the Graves Amendment specifically prohibits vicarious liability-based causes of action against entities that are in the trade or business of renting or leasing vehicles.  

In a surprising turn of events, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida recently dismissed a False Claims Act (FCA) lawsuit brought by relator Clarissa Zafirov against Florida Medical Associates, LLC, and other defendants. U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle ruled that the FCA’s qui tam provisions, which allow private individuals to bring lawsuits on behalf of the government, violate the Constitution’s Appointments Clause.

As we enter the fall season, we can expect to see more snow, more holiday traffic, and more pumpkin spice items on the shelves. We also see school buses back on the roads as students are settling into their new school year. Each day, 26 million children take 480,000 school buses to school across the United States. School buses, although considered by some to be a boring, routine part of everyday life in America, have a fun history.

The threat of nuclear verdicts in personal injury cases in Colorado became a reality in Denver District Court in May 2024 after a jury verdict of $18,809,431 was awarded to a plaintiff in a lawsuit stemming from a collision in which a driver employed by a logistics company was driving an F-150 and rear-ended a van transporting a disabled adult plaintiff. The plaintiff, a 47-year-old developmentally disabled man, was a passenger in a van driven by an employee of an adult day program service provider. The driver of the van slowed to avoid an object in the road and was rear-ended by the defendant driver in the F-150, who was in the scope and course of his employment.

In major accidents involving severe injuries or even death, claimant attorneys join freight brokers to the claim in an attempt to maximize the amount of insurance and assets that will be available to pay a judgment or settlement. By contrast, claimant attorneys with claims involving soft tissue injury or other minor damages often avoid the added challenges and costs of trying to establish liability against the freight broker, because the motor carrier has ample insurance to pay the likely judgment or settlement. This trend is understandable considering that motor carriers’ minimum insurance requirements under FMCSA regulations are as low as $750,000 for general freight or $1 million for low hazardous materials, and certain motor carriers’ requirements are even lower. In addition, freight brokers often require a motor carrier to have $1 million in liability insurance and to include the freight broker as an additional insured.

On September 29, 2024, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law AB 98: Planning and zoning: logistics use; truck routes. AB 98 (Juan Carrillo and Reyes) responds to the recent expansion of warehouse uses throughout California by imposing state-wide building design and location regulations on new or expanded “logistics use” developments, including standards for parking, truck loading bays, landscaping buffers, entry gates, and signage, and requiring local agencies to update the circulation elements of their general plans.
 

On September 23, 2024, in a speech to the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri emphasized that a corporation’s compliance program must consider risks associated with the use of artificial intelligence (AI), both in commercial operations and the compliance program itself.

On September 4, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued an Alert warning foreign jurisdictions and financial institutions of “Russia’s attempts to evade sanctions by opening new overseas branches and subsidiaries of Russian financial institutions.” OFAC has found that Russia continues to use third countries to evade sanctions that limit procurement to supply its military-industrial base. The Alert is a warning to both U.S. and foreign financial institutions to increase their vigilance over these Russian tactics.

On September 4, 2024, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law the Retail Worker Safety Act. The Act amends the New York Labor Law to require businesses with at least 10 employees working at a retail store to implement workplace violence prevention requirements for their retail employees.

The law becomes effective on March 3, 2025, at which time covered employers must adopt and provide to all employees a written workplace violence prevention policy, and additionally they must conduct workplace violence prevention training upon hire and annually thereafter. The Act defines a retail employee as “an employee working at a retail store…that sells consumer commodities at retail and which is not primarily engaged in the sale of food for consumption on the premises.” Based on this definition, restaurants are exempt.

On August 23, 2024, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) announced new, stringent measures aimed at tightening controls over the export, reexport, and transfer of U.S.-origin and U.S.-branded items to Russia and Belarus. This action is part of continuing efforts to constrain Russia’s military capabilities amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. Below is a summary of the key changes and guidance issued by BIS.