In the recent period, the Third Circuit has published a small number of opinions. Here are summaries of some of those decisions: Mallet and Company Inc. v. Lacayo, ___ F.4th ___ (3d Cir. 2021). This was a trade secret and unfair competition case. The specific subject was “baking release agents,” which are “lubricants that allow baked goods to readily separate from the containers in which they are made,” according to Judge Jordan’s opinion for the panel. Employees of plaintiff left that company to join defendants, allegedly taking with them trade secrets related...

Baskin v. P.C. Richard & Son, LLC, ___ N.J. ___ (2021). [Disclosure: I am one of the counsel for the successful plaintiffs in this matter]. In this case, the Appellate Division affirmed the dismissal, for failure to state a claim, of a putative class action under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003, 15 U.S.C. 1681 (“FACTA”). That opinion, reported at 462 N.J. Super. 594 (App. Div. 2020), was discussed here. Plaintiffs’ claim was that defendants had violated FACTA by printing on sales receipts the credit or debit card expiration dates of plaintiffs and...

Branch v. Cream-O-Land Dairy, ___ N.J. ___ (2021). As summarized here, the Appellate Division in this overtime Wage and Hour Law (“WHL”) class action case reversed a summary judgment ruling for the defense, holding that the statute’s “good faith defense” was not available to defendant. Today, in a unanimous opinion by Justice Patterson, the Supreme Court affirmed that decision. The Court’s decision was based on the plain language of the statute. As Justice Patterson summarized, to invoke the good faith defense, an employer must “‘plead[] and...