Does your company have website terms of use, or e-commerce terms?

If so, it’s important to know whether those terms are enforceable.

In Domer v. Menard, Inc., Domer wanted to recover a $1.40 pickup service fee for a can of paint she bought on the Menards’ website. In her suit, Domer alleged that Menards had not disclosed the pickup service fee and used the fee to manipulate its prices, and had it been disclosed, she would not have purchased the product. Menards argued that the case should be dismissed because Domer entered into an enforceable arbitration agreement when she accepted the Menards Terms of Order at checkout. For Menards, the question was a critical one—if its Terms of Order applied, then the class action would leave the court and head to arbitration. Continue Reading E-Tailer Beware: The Seventh Circuit Clarifies the Framework for Enforceability of Digital E-Commerce Agreements

In a recent decision in a defamation case filed against a Gannett-owned publication and the Associated Press, the Seventh Circuit rejected what it dubbed a “novel interpretation” of an established legal principle, instead upholding the doctrine known as the “single publication rule.”

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in an opinion published August 31 affirmed the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana’s dismissal of the libel suit that the plaintiff, the National Police Association (“NPA”), brought against the media outlets. The Court ultimately noted that there was “no basis for the NPA’s theory of liability.”

The case originated in 2019 when the Indianapolis Star and the Associated Press published articles about police departments across the country warning via social media constituents about fundraising “scams” claiming to raise money for the departments. The posts referred to NPA solicitations, and the articles featured statements from officials characterizing the NPA’s efforts as misleading to the public.Continue Reading 7th Circuit Rejects “Novel Interpretation” of Restatement, Upholds Single Publication Rule