Expert’s Damages Opinion Specific Enough for Class Certification Stage
Willis v. Big Lots, Inc. In what is becoming a common practice, the defendants in a potential securities class action filed a Daubert challenge to exclude financial expert testimony at the class certification stage. Although courts are divided whether Daubert should...
Compromised Projections Compel Chancery to ‘Defer’ to Deal Price
In re PetSmart, Inc. A statutory appraisal decision from the Delaware Court of Chancery offered a familiar valuation contest between the discounted cash flow analysis and the merger price. Shareholders opposed to the going-private merger of PetSmart claimed that their...
Chancery’s DCF Upends Appraisal Arbitrage Strategy
In re Appraisal of SWS Group, Inc. Only days after deferring to the merger price in the PetSmart case, the Delaware Court of Chancery opted for the discounted cash flow analysis in the instant appraisal proceeding. This case, which featured a bank holding company,...
Court in Brundle Case Sticks to Earlier ESOP Liability and Damages Rulings
Brundle v. Wilmington Trust N.A. (Brundle II) Three months after ruling the ESOP trustee was liable for causing the plan to overpay, the court had a chance to revisit its decision in the context of the trustee’s motion for reconsideration. While the court admitted to...
CUT Method Prevails in Amazon’s Transfer Pricing War with IRS
Amazon.com, Inc. v. Commissioner Amazon scored a win against the Internal Revenue Service in a transfer pricing case. The dispute was over the calculation of buy-in payments to compensate Amazon US for the transfer of a group of intangibles to the company’s European...
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination Allegations: Is Your Business Vulnerable?
Do you know what constitutes pay discrimination in the eyes of the courts and regulators? As equal pay for men and women has become a hot-button issue in the business world due to the #MeToo movement and recent surveys documenting widespread pay disparity, you...
The IRS Tells Employers How to Report W-2 Scams
What should you do if your company becomes the victim of a W-2 scam? The IRS recently explained how to report the scam and your next steps (and how to avoid being taken in by this scam!). What Is A W-2 Scam? Any company can be the target of a W-2 scam. These scams...
Small Employers: Should You Jump on the MEP Bandwagon?
There are approximately 38 million private sector employees in the United States who lack access to a retirement savings plan through their employers. Now, momentum is growing in Washington, D.C. to fix this situation by letting small employers take advantage of...
Dealing with Child Support Withholding Orders
75% of all child support is collected through employer-based income withholding orders (IWOs), says the federal Office Of Child support Enforcement (OCSE). That totaled $32 billion in the most recent figures. According to the Census Bureau, nearly half of the...
Proposed Regs Would Expand Health Reimbursement Arrangements
Three federal agencies—the IRS, the Department of Labor, and the Department of Health and Human Services—have issued proposed regulations that would let employers fund tax-exempted health reimbursement arrangements in order to help pay for employees’ individual health...