As NFIB continues its fight to eliminate harmful regulations and overreach impacting small businesses, there have been significant developments in several recent legal cases. Learn more about the implications of these critical cases facing small businesses. 

• Custom Communications, Inc. v. Federal Trade Commission (FTC): 

NFIB filed a legal challenge against the FTC’s Negative Option Rule, a regulation that targeted small businesses using subscription services and memberships with automatic renewals. NFIB argued that the FTC’s final rule violated the Administrative Procedure Act by attempting to regulate consumer contracts across all sectors of the economy and by imposing burdensome regulatory requirements on small businesses. The Courts agreed, siding with small businesses and striking down the harmful rule.

• Fisher v. Ocean Springs: 

This ongoing case considers whether Mississippi law improperly limits a property owner’s ability to challenge urban blight designations. These designations of declining areas cripple property values, allowing government entities to seize privately owned land. NFIB filed an amicus brief, offering examples of other state procedures that better protect a property owner’s rights and push back against government overreach.

• Gill v. Shell Oil Company: 

This case highlights the need for clear and comprehensive criteria to ensure fair and consistent noneconomic damages awards. NFIB’s amicus brief emphasizes two main points: that large noneconomic damages awards are increasingly burdening the tort system and have long-lasting social and legal effects, and that the Court should establish appropriate guidelines for awarding large noneconomic damages. This case is ongoing in the Superior Court of Pennsylvania.

• Madrigal v. Ferguson: 

NFIB filed an amicus brief with the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, arguing the district court improperly expanded the transportation worker exemption, the appellate court should clarify that workers who make in-state deliveries of goods, which have already come to rest at in-state warehouses, are not exempt from the Federal Arbitration Act, and if the district court’s decision is permitted to stand, it will lead to more costly litigation for small businesses and employees. This case remains ongoing.   

The NFIB Small Business Legal Center will continue to fight for the rights of small businesses and work to eliminate harmful regulations that hinder our nation’s small business growth. NFIB is involved in more than 40 cases across Federal and State courts nationwide, including the Supreme Court. Reach out to the NFIB Small Business Legal Center at info@nfib.org with any questions.