2014 is expected to see significant legal developments for products manufacturers across industries. Noteworthy issues to watch for the following topics/industry groups are described herein: 

Crisis Management: Have a Plan 

In a busy day's work, on June 5, 2013, the FDIC and the Federal Reserve issued two new rules under Dodd-Frank impacting both domestic and foreign financial institutions.

The Seventh Circuit recently held that a purchaser in an “asset deal” of a business in receivership was found to be a successor employer for the purposes of a $500,000 wage/hour settlement. The liability was imposed on the purchaser even though the contract formalizing the asset deal expressly excluded that liability. Teed v. Thomas & Betts Power Solutions, LLC. Found here.

On September 7, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision (United States v. Quality Stores, Inc.) holding that certain severance payments are not "wages" subject to Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) tax, and upheld a bankruptcy court’s decision ordering a full refund of more than $1 million of FICA taxes paid by an employer with respect to severance payments it made to employees whose positions were eliminated in connection with the bankruptcy.