Tausi Insider

Tesla founder Elon Musk attends Offshore Northern Seas 2022, in Stavanger, Norway, on Aug. 29. NTB/Reuters A trial over shareholder allegations that Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk’s $56-billion pay package was based on easy to achieve performance targets and that investors were duped into approving it began on Monday, with Musk slated to take the stand later this week. A Tesla TSLA-Q shareholder hopes to prove during the five-day trial that Musk used his dominance over the electric vehicle maker’s board to dictate terms of the 2018 package, which did not require him to work at Tesla full-time. Musk, the world’s richest person, will testify on Wednesday, Greg Varallo, an attorney for shareholder Richard Tornetta, told a court in Wilmington, Delaware, on Monday. The trial began with Ira Ehrenpreis, a Tesla board member since 2007 and chair of the committee that oversaw the pay package, describing the thinking behind the record-breaking compensation deal. “I wanted to make sure that El...

A Starbucks location in Pittsburgh, Pa., on Nov. 7. Gene J. Puskar/The Associated Press Starbucks SBUX-Q workers at more than 100 U.S. stores are on strike Thursday in their largest labour action since a campaign to unionize the company’s stores began late last year. The walkouts coincide with Starbucks’ annual Red Cup Day, when the company gives free reusable cups to customers who order a holiday drink. Workers say it’s often one of the busiest days of the year. Starbucks declined to say how many red cups it plans to distribute. Workers say they’re seeking better pay, more consistent schedules and higher staffing levels in busy stores. Stores in 25 states planned to take part in the labour action, according to Starbucks Workers United, the group organizing the effort. Strikers are handing out their own red cups with union logos. Starbucks, which opposes the unionization effort, said it is aware of the walkouts and respects its employees’ right to lawfully protest. The Seattle compan...

Canada’s top court on Friday denied plastics company Nova Chemicals’ appeal of a C$645-million ($482-million) payment awarded to the Dow Chemical Co in a patent infringement case. The Supreme Court of Canada upheld a ruling by a lower court that had awarded the amount to the Dow Inc unit, calculated based on profits Nova made due to the patent breach. Nova disputed those calculations in its appeal of that ruling. https://www.tausiinsider.com/supreme-court-upholds-dows-record-645-million-patent-infringement-award/?feed_id=334663&_unique_id=6483a3977843f

Google is challenging a record European Union antitrust fine that took aim at the Android operating system’s role in restricting mobile competition and consumer choice. The company said Thursday that it filed the appeal against the €4.125-billion ($4.3-billion) penalty “because there are areas that require legal clarification from the European Court of Justice,” the EU’s top court. Google previously appealed to a lower tribunal, which had slightly lowered the original €4.34-billion penalty in a decision largely siding with the European Commission. It’s the largest-ever antitrust fine issued by the commission, the 27-nation bloc’s top competition watchdog. In its 2018 decision, the commission found that the dominance of Google’s Android resulted in less competition and consumer choice. The U.S. tech giant had argued that free and open-source Android resulted in cheaper phones and spurred competition with its chief rival, Apple. Android is the most popular mobile operating system, beat...

The federal court of appeal says it will uphold all but one of the rules that bolster compensation for air passengers subjected to delayed flights and damaged luggage. The court on Tuesday dismissed the appeal that challenged the validity of the passenger bill of rights, with the exception of one regulation that applies to the temporary loss of baggage. Air Canada AC-T and Porter Airlines Inc., along with 16 other appellants that include the International Air Transport Association had argued that the passenger rights charter launched in 2019 violates global standards and should be rendered invalid for international flights. In court filings, the airlines argued the regulation exceed the Canadian Transportation Agency’s authority and went against a multilateral treaty by imposing compensation requirements for flight cancellations or lost baggage that were too stringent. The CTA and Attorney-General argued there is no conflict between the passenger protections and the treaty. The FCA i...

Drugmakers GSK Plc, GSK-N Pfizer Inc, PFE-N Sanofi SA and Boehringer Ingelheim on Tuesday defeated thousands of lawsuits in U.S. federal court claiming that the heartburn drug Zantac caused cancer, as a judge found the claims were not backed by sound science. While the companies, which have all marketed the drug at different times, still face tens of thousands of similar lawsuits in state courts, the ruling by U.S. District Judge Robin Rosenberg in West Palm Beach, Florida, knocks out a significant portion of their potential liability. “We are extremely surprised by this miscarriage of justice and fully expect that the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeal will reverse these rulings on appeal,” lawyers for the plaintiffs said in a joint statement. Zantac, first approved in 1983, became the world’s best selling medicine in 1988 and one of the first-ever drugs to top $1 billion in annual sales. Originally marketed by a forerunner of GSK, it was later sold successively to Pfizer, Boehringer ...

Alphabet GOOGL-Q unit Google must remove data from online search results if users can prove it is inaccurate, Europe’s top court said on Thursday. Free speech advocates and supporters of privacy rights have clashed in recent years over people’s “right to be forgotten” online, meaning that they should be able to remove their digital traces from the internet. The case before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) concerned two executives from a group of investment companies who had asked Google to remove search results linking their names to certain articles criticizing the group’s investment model. They also wanted Google to remove thumbnail photos of them from search results. The company rejected the requests, saying it did not know whether the information in the articles was accurate or not. A German court subsequently sought advice from the CJEU on the balance between the right to be forgotten and the right to freedom of expression and information. “The operator of a sea...

Twitter Inc has been hit with another lawsuit stemming from the recent purging of half its workforce, this one accusing the social media company of disproportionately targeting female employees for layoffs. The proposed class action filed late on Wednesday in San Francisco federal court said that after Twitter was taken over by Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, it laid off 57 per cent of its female workers compared to 47 per cent of men. Twitter laid off roughly 3,700 employees in early November in a cost-cutting measure by Musk, and hundreds more subsequently resigned. The gender disparity was more stark for engineering roles, where 63 per cent of women lost their jobs compared to 48 per cent of men, according to the new lawsuit. The lawsuit filed by two women who were laid off by Twitter last month accuses the company of violating federal and California laws banning workplace sex discrimination. Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Shannon Liss-Riordan...

Paramount Fine Foods founder and CEO Mohamad Fakih at one of his restaurants in Mississauga, Ont. on May 1, 2020. J.P. MOCZULSKI/Tausi Insider A legal battle between the owners of the Paramount Fine Foods restaurant chain is heading to court, as the company’s largest shareholders seek to oust its founder, Mohamad Fakih, and restructure the money-losing business they claim he has treated as a “personal fiefdom.” But Mr. Fakih has called the motion an “act of oppression” designed to wipe out millions in personal loans he made to keep the company afloat. A hearing is scheduled for Friday in Ontario Superior Court over a dispute between Mr. Fakih and two investors based in Kuwait, Ali Noureddine and Naeem Javed, who own a combined 75 per cent of the Toronto-based private company. The remainder is owned by Mr. Fakih and his family trust. The majority shareholders say Paramount is insolvent and needs to be restructured. Mr. Fakih and his family trust own 25 per cent of the company’s equity...

Pakistan’s Supreme Court endorsed on Friday a settlement for Barrick Gold ABX-T to resume mining at the Reko Diq project, one of the world’s largest underdeveloped sites of copper and gold deposits, it said in an order. The endorsement was a condition of the settlement for Barrick to resume work on the project in the southwestern province of Balochistan, bordering Afghanistan and Iran, in which it will invest $10 billion. Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, the head of a five-judge panel, read out the operative part of the brief order in court. “The agreements … have not been found by us to be unconstitutional or illegal on the parameters and grounds spelt out,” read the order seen by Reuters. President Arif Alvi had asked the court to review the deal. In an out of court agreement this year, Barrick Gold ended a long-running dispute with Pakistan, and agreed to restart development. Under the deal, the company withdrew its case in an international arbitration court, which had slapped a pe...

Former CannTrust CEO Peter Aceto, centre, leaves Old City Hall with his lawyer, Frank Addario, left, in Toronto, on Dec. 14, 2022. Eduardo Lima/Tausi Insider The prosecution of three former high-ranking officials of CannTrust Holdings Inc. has collapsed after a key government witness conceded that the fundamental allegation against the trio – that they permitted unlicensed growing at their company’s cannabis facility – is incorrect. In court on Wednesday, a lawyer for the Ontario Securities Commission announced that the regulator was withdrawing its case against former CannTrust chief executive officer Peter Aceto, former chairman Eric Paul and Mark Litwin, a former director. The lawyer, Dihim Emami, said the OSC had reassessed the case and was now “of the view there’s no reasonable prospect of conviction.” Lawyers for the three men opposed the commission’s move, asking Justice Victor Giourgas, instead, for a verdict and a complete acquittal. But Mr. Emami asked the court for a one-d...

The Bahamas Department of Correctional Services facility where Sam Bankman-Fried, who founded FTX, is believed to be held following his arrest in Nassau, Bahamas, Dec. 15. DANTE CARRER/Reuters Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried is expected to appear in court in the Bahamas on Monday to reverse his decision to contest extradition to the United States, where he faces fraud charges, a person familiar with the matter said on Saturday. The cryptocurrency mogul was indicted in federal court in Manhattan on Dec. 13 and accused of engaging in a scheme to defraud FTX customers. His decision to consent to extradition would pave the way for him to appear in U.S. court to face charges of using stolen customer deposits to pay for expenses and debts and to make investments on behalf of his crypto hedge fund, Alameda Research LLC. Still, any trial is likely more than a year away, legal experts told Reuters. FTX FOMO: How big-name investors, including Canadian pension funds, bought into a crypto craze...

World Trade Organization arbitrators concluded Wednesday that the United States was out of line in requiring products from Hong Kong to be labelled as “Made in China,” a move that was part of Washington’s response to a crackdown on pro-democracy protesters there in 2019 and 2020. A WTO dispute panel found the U.S. violated its obligations under the trade body’s rules and rejected Washington’s argument that U.S. “essential security interests” allowed for such labelling. The panel said the situation did not pose an “emergency” that would allow for an exemption under the trade body’s rules. The United States or Hong Kong could appeal the ruling to the WTO’s appeals court. However, the Appellate Body is currently inactive because the U.S. has almost single-handedly held up appointments of new members to the court amid concerns it had strayed beyond its mandate. As a result, any such appeal would go into an arbitration void and remain unsettled. The United States trade representative’s of...

Online retailer Amazon.com may be deemed responsible for advertising of counterfeit Christian Louboutin shoes which found its way to its platform, Europe’s top court said in a preliminary ruling on Thursday. The EU court said it was now up to two national courts to decide whether this was indeed the case. Louboutin brought cases against Amazon AMZN-Q in a Belgian and a Luxembourg court in 2019, saying the retailer regularly displayed advertisements for red-soled shoes put on the market without Louboutin’s consent. Louboutin’s signature red sole is registered as a trademark within the EU. Both courts had sought the guidance of the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). In its ruling on Thursday, the EU court said Amazon, as an online sales platform, may be considered responsible for the intellectual property breaches involved in the advertisements of counterfeit products that feature Louboutin’s trademarked red sole. The court said the presentation of the adve...

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and former CEO of crypto currency exchange FTX, is escorted out of the Magistrate Court building in Nassau, Bahamas, on Dec. 21. DANTE CARRER/Reuters Sam Bankman-Fried was released on a US$250-million bond package on Thursday while he awaits trial on fraud charges related to the collapse of the FTX crypto exchange. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have accused him of stealing billions of dollars in FTX customer funds to plug losses at his hedge fund, Alameda Research. Mr. Bankman-Fried was not asked to enter a plea on Thursday. He has previously acknowledged risk-management failures at FTX, but has said he does not believe he has criminal liability. His defence lawyer, Mark Cohen, declined to comment after the hearing in Manhattan federal court. After the hearing, the one-time billionaire was surrounded by photographers as he exited the Lower Manhattan courthouse and entered a black SUV. He sported facial stubble and a grey suit – a far cry for the shor...

Gary Ng at the Fairmont in Winnipeg on Nov. 28, 2018. Mikaela MacKenzie /Handout R.C. Morris Capital Management Ltd., a Vancouver-based private lender that backed Gary Ng’s failed spate of wealth-manager acquisitions, has taken extraordinary legal and strategic steps to avoid being publicly identified as one of the financiers taken in by Mr. Ng’s alleged falsified-collateral scheme. On Wednesday, R.C. Morris convened an emergency hearing at Toronto’s Old City Hall, where it argued that court records legally obtained by Tausi Insider weeks earlier should be sealed before the newspaper published a story about them. The company argued that disclosure of the details of its involvement with Mr. Ng could harm its reputation, but it failed to persuade Justice Vincenzo Rondinelli of the Ontario Court of Justice, who denied the request. Anyone asking to block access to public court records needs to meet a high bar, and R.C. Morris’s case did not meet the “exceptional circ...

Google has filed a legal challenge in India’s Supreme Court to block a ruling by the country’s antitrust watchdog that will force the U.S. company to change how it markets its Android platform, court records showed on Saturday. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) in October fined the Alphabet Inc unit $161 million for exploiting its dominant position in the market for Android, which powers 97% of smartphones in India and is a key growth region for the U.S. giant. The challenge comes after Google suffered a setback on Wednesday when an appeals tribunal rejected its request to block the antitrust ruling. The company argued that implementation of the CCI’s directives will hurt its long-standing business model and consumer interests. Supreme Court records show Google filed a challenge against the tribunal ruling on Saturday. A hearing date is yet to be fixed. Reuters was first to report on Thursday about Google’s planned strategy. Sources earlier this week told Reuters that Google ...

Mariano Abarca is shown in this still image taken from 2009 video in Chicomuselo, Chiapas. Dominique Jarry-Shore/The Canadian Press The Supreme Court of Canada will not hear an appeal from family and supporters of a Mexican activist who was killed after opposing a Canadian company’s mining project. The applicants had asked the top court to review a federal ombudsman’s decision not to investigate the matter. The case stretches back to 2007 when Calgary-based Blackfire Exploration Ltd. opened a barite mine in Chiapas, Mexico, prompting local opposition, demonstrations and a blockade of a route to the project. After being beaten and threatened with death for leading protests over the mine’s environmental and social effects, activist Mariano Abarca was fatally shot outside his home in November 2009. Members of Abarca’s family and organizations concerned with mining abuses asked the public sector integrity commissioner in 2018 to probe whether there was wrongdoing by members of the Canadi...

Rogers Communications Inc. says the Competition Bureau’s appeal of its $20-billion takeover of Shaw Communications Inc. should be dismissed, claiming the law enforcement agency overlooked key facts and wrongly interpreted the Competition Tribunal’s assessments of evidence as legal error. In documents submitted to the Federal Court of Appeal, Rogers RCI-B-T made its case on behalf of Shaw SJR-B-T and Videotron Ltd. in response to the written arguments submitted last week by Competition Commissioner Matthew Boswell. In December, the Competition Tribunal had dismissed the bureau’s claims that the merger would result in less competition among telecommunications providers in Canada. The companies and the bureau will face off before the court on Jan. 24. The bureau has argued that the tribunal should have initially considered the deal only between Rogers and Shaw, without the Freedom Mobile divestiture as a remedy to the loss of competition that could result from the takeover. In its factu...