Business News Roundup, Jan. 20
Uber has agreed to pay $20 million to settle a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit over driver compensation claims and its auto leasing program.
The FTC sued the San Francisco ride-hailing startup Thursday, saying Uber made false, misleading or unsubstantiated claims about how much drivers could earn on the service.
The agency alleged Uber made similar misrepresentations about its vehicle financing program.
The complaint alleged that the actual median income for drivers in New York was $29,000 less than Uber claimed and $21,000 less in San Francisco from May 2013 to May 2014.
The U.S. Supreme Court granted drug manufacturer Bristol Myers’ request Thursday to decide whether a nationwide suit claiming health hazards from the anticlotting medication Plavix can proceed in San Francisco.
The court’s order set aside a 4-3 ruling by the California Supreme Court in August allowing the suit, filed by 86 Californians and 592 residents of other states, to be heard in a single court in San Francisco.
[...] Bristol-Myers’ lawyers told the nation’s high court that the suit, which attributed internal bleeding, heart attacks and deaths to the use of Plavix, was unrelated to the company’s California contacts, and that the state ruling would encourage plaintiffs to “shop suits to friendlier forums.”
Alibaba chief Jack Ma says he hopes an accord with Olympics officials will fight counterfeiting, as the e-commerce giant seeks to repair its image after being deemed a “notorious” market for fakes by the U.S.
The Chinese billionaire and International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach announced Thursday a partnership to run through 2028 in which Alibaba will support the $500 million Olympic Channel in China, among other things.