On February 24, 2022, Keurig Green Mountain, Inc. (Keurig) agreed to pay $10 million to settle a long-running class action that alleged the coffee company deceptively advertised its K-Cups pods’ recyclability by misleadingly labeling and marketing them as “recyclable” when the pods were in fact not accepted for recycling in many areas. The settlement follows
Sheila Millar
Sheila A. Millar is a partner at Keller and Heckman LLP, where she represents businesses and trade associations on a variety of public policy and regulatory issues, including privacy, data security, cybersecurity and advertising matters, as well as product safety issues. She has been involved in a variety of audit and compliance projects, including, among other issues, privacy and data security audits, and is experienced in providing crisis management legal support to a variety of national and international companies and associations.
Ms. Millar is a frequent speaker on regulatory and public policy matters, and has authored many articles. Ms. Millar is one of the vice chairs of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Marketing and Advertising Commission, and chair of its Working Group on Sustainability, where she spearheaded the development of the ICC Framework Guides on Environmental Marketing Claims.
Ms. Millar is AV® PreeminentTM Rated by Martindale-Hubbell and for the eigth consecutive year was selected by her peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® 2018 for her work in practicing Advertising Law. She has also received the distinguished honor of Advertising Law "Lawyer of the Year" 2014 in Washington, DC by Best Lawyers®, and was awarded Advertising and Marketing Lawyer of the Year USA by Finance Monthly for their Finance Monthly Global Awards 2017.
Fashion Nova Settles with FTC for $4.2 Million Over Charges it Omitted Negative Reviews
You might think that paying more than $9 million to settle charges of violating the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Mail Order Rule would have spurred clothing retailer Fashion Nova, LLC to review its consumer protection compliance posture. But for the second time in two years, Fashion Nova has found itself in trouble with the FTC,…
Sheila Millar Authors “The Right to Repair: Implications for Consumer Product Safety and Data Security” for Inhouse Defense Quarterly
Keller and Heckman partner Sheila Millar wrote the Inhouse Defense Quarterly article, “The Right to Repair: Implications for Consumer Product Safety and Data Security. The article examines the potential effects of President Biden’s July 9, 2021, executive order that aims to expand consumers’ “right to repair.” Advocates of the right to repair, including the Federal…
Legislators Ask COPPA Safe Harbor Organizations for Information
Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) enforcement actions closed out 2021 (see our blog post) and children’s online privacy remains a hot topic in Congress in 2022. After a series of articles by The Wall Street Journal last September uncovered Instagram’s own research on possible harms to teenagers from social media engagement, members of the…
Major COPPA Settlements Close Out 2021
Two important settlements involving alleged violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) were announced in December 2021. Actions by both federal and state regulators reinforce that COPPA remains on the regulatory radar screen, particularly when it comes to ad tech. Efforts to more broadly limit programmatic advertising are also underway.
FTC and OpenX…
The State of State Privacy Laws: A Comparison
In the absence of a comprehensive U.S. federal privacy law, three states – California, Virginia, and Colorado – have enacted comprehensive privacy laws as of this year. The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) is in effect now, and the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (VCDPA), and Colorado Privacy Act (CPA) …
FTC Takes Aim at Negative Option Marketing with New Enforcement Policy Statement
“Dark patterns” – user interfaces that are designed, intentionally or unintentionally, to influence user decision making – have been increasingly on the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC or Commission) radar. As we previously reported, the FTC held a workshop earlier this year to examine, among other things, how dark patterns affect online user behavior and…
Another New Face at CPSC as Trumka Confirmed
Richard Trumka, Jr., nominated by President Biden for a seat on the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), was confirmed Tuesday evening, November 16, 2021, by a unanimous voice vote in the Senate. When he takes his oath of office, which will likely be within a week or two, Trumka will take the seat of…
California Privacy Protection Agency Seeks Comments on New CCPA Regulations
The newly established California Privacy Protection Agency (the Agency) is soliciting public comments on a number of issues, as required by the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) that was passed by ballot initiative in November 2020. CPRA expands the rights afforded to California residents and the obligations imposed on businesses under the California Consumer Privacy…
FTC Resurrects Penalty Offense Authority as Possible Civil Penalty Vehicle
Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s April 22, 2021 decision in AMG Capital Management, LLC v. Federal Trade Commission, which put the brakes on the ability of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission) to use its Section 13(b) authority to seek monetary penalties for violations of the FTC Act, the Commission has sought another…