Berkeley Center for Consumer Law & Economic Justice
@ucbconsumerlaw.bsky.social
Working to create a society where economic security and opportunity are available to all.
Imagine your motorhome breaks down. You think California's lemon law protects you. But the fine print in the warranty you signed says you waive your right to a jury trial and must sue in Indiana, under Indiana law, where the lemon law doesn't even cover motorhomes.
Big win for California workers! The Center for Consumer Law and Economic Justice celebrates the publication of Phan v. Knight Sacramento SU Inc., an important California Court of Appeal decision protecting workers from overly broad arbitration agreements.
Regulators, courts, and consumers. This month, Berkeley Center for Consumer Law and Economic Justice Senior Fellow Seth Frotman published three incisive essays on where corporate accountability is breaking down — and how to fix it. #ConsumerProtection #CorporateAccountability
State AGs are stepping up where federal enforcement has stepped back. Capitol Forum quotes our Policy Director Shelmun Dashan on CA AG Bonta's first-of-its-kind Affordability Response Team — created to crack down on price gouging & fraud. Read article here: lnkd.in/ekS63t2b
Part 2 of #AffordableNYCNow project is out! This part focuses on ready-to-go policies @mayor.nyc.gov can use to hold corporations accountable & make NYC more affordable for families. We contributed, “Strengthening Worker and Consumer Protections Through City Procurement” rebrand.ly/NYCConsumer
Center publishes new paper, “Strengthening Worker and Consumer Protections Through City Procurement,” as part of NYC Mayor Mamdani’s Affordable NYC Now project | Center for Consumer Law & Economic Jus...
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New data: Monthly debt payments have more than doubled in working-class NYC neighborhoods since 2018. @tcfdotorg.bsky.social & @protectborrowers.bsky.social launched #AffordableNYCNow—an economic agenda the Mamdani Admin can act on right now. protectborrowers.org/resource/aff...
New data: Monthly debt payments have more than doubled in working-class NYC neighborhoods since 2018. Today, @TCFdotorg & @borrowerjustice launched #AffordableNYCNow—an economic agenda the Mamdani Admin can act on right now. protectborrowers.org/resource/aff...
Affordable NYC Now - Protect Borrowers
An agenda to lower costs, hold corporations accountable, and make government work for New Yorkers.
protectborrowers.org
'Bossware' Is Spying on Workers and Sharing Their Data New research: 9 of 9 workplace monitoring apps studied shared workers’ names, emails, and company info with outside parties #databrokers, including Facebook, Google, and Microsoft. Workers had no idea. #Bossware #Tattleware
Workplace Monitoring Platforms Are Sharing Your Data: An Investigation & Roadmap to Address Data Abuses
This report investigates the data collection practices of nine widely used workplace monitoring platforms to determine the extent to which they track and analyze employee activity, behavior, or perfor...
scholarship.law.columbia.edu
“A.I. has nothing to do with tobacco and an algorithm has nothing to do with the way a cigarette is designed, but the law is built by analogy,” Ted Mermin, executive director of @ucbconsumerlaw.bsky.social tells @nytimes.com: https://nyti.ms/48SGxuv #BerkeleyLaw
After Deaths, Lawsuits Against A.I. Companies Test a New Strategy
nytimes.com
We will explore questions of fairness, discrimination, competition, privacy, and regulation as it relates to surveillance pricing & wages. Full schedule and Livestream links: bit.ly/UCCLRSymposium
Join us via livestream! Livestream Pt. 1, beginning 9:30am PT www.youtube.com/live/7aOU9_p... Livestream Pt. 2, beginning 2:15pm PT www.youtube.com/live/QD6O8_j... Full schedule: bit.ly/UCCLRSymposium
Keeping California's Courthouse Doors Open The Center, representing ten organizations serving low-income consumers, workers, tenants, and the elderly, has filed a brief in Askins v. CRST, fighting to ensure that California state courts remain accessible. Read more here: bit.ly/Askins
A Key Step in the Fight to Keep California Courthouse Doors Open to All | Center for Consumer Law & Economic Justice
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Highlights from last week's Consumer Law Conference
Berkeley Law in the @newyorker.com: Article on C.F.P.B. recalls a @ucbconsumerlaw.bsky.social event "full of aspiring lawyers lured by free burritos" where Senior Fellows @srf1802.bsky.social & @saalevine.bsky.social discussed the "spectre of freewheeling fintech." www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
Trump’s Reckless Gutting of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
As the cost of living continues to spiral upward, the White House is dismantling the government agency built to protect Americans from financial ruin.
newyorker.com
Are you paying more than your neighbor for the same product? Corporations are using AI & data harvesting to charge different customers different prices — and most people have no idea it's happening. It's called personalized algorithmic pricing. Read our full comment: rebrand.ly/FTCAIcomment
Consumer Protection Win in Oregon! Oregon consumer advocates defeated an industry bill, HB 4141, that aimed to gut Oregon's strong consumer protections against predatory debt settlement products. Read testimony here: rebrand.ly/ORHB4141 #ConsumerProtection
The Center filed an amicus brief for NTEU vs Vought, a case challenging efforts by Acting Director Vought and the Trump Administration to shutter the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Read brief here: bit.ly/46DoEys
The CFPB was created after predatory lending wiped out $11 TRILLION in household wealth. Now the Trump Administration is trying to shut it down—letting banks off the hook while consumers lose protections. Read amicus brief by advocates to the full D.C. Circuit pushing back: bit.ly/46DoEys
“Debt Cancellation for Big Banks?” Advocates Say Shuttering the Consumer Watchdog Lets Wall Street Off the Hook While Families Pay the Price | Center for Consumer Law & Economic Justice
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Big win for consumers in California. Courts just ruled that breaking the law is enough to sue — even without proving damages. That keeps courthouse doors open and stops corporations from dodging accountability. A major step forward for economic justice. bit.ly/4rwh0Ot
Another Door Stays Open: California Courts Say Statutory Violations Are Enough to Sue | Center for Consumer Law & Economic Justice
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Big step from the FTC 👏 Reopening the #ClickToCancel rule + launching action on rental junk fees = real relief for consumers tired of hidden fees and subscription traps. We continue to work on behalf of organizations urging the #FTC & #CFPB to #ProtectConsumers: bit.ly/4k86vyg
Center Files Two Comments to the CFPB and FTC Advocating for Consumer and Civil Rights | Center for Consumer Law & Economic Justice
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Win for #Consumers & #FederalWorkers. A court ordered CFPB Dir Vought to keep the CFPB funded & he complied. Last year, the Center, @tzedekdc.bsky.social, and @borrowerjustice.bsky.social filed amicus briefs on behalf of 40+ orgs warning that dismantling the agency is unlawful and unconstitutional.
We’re celebrating Sam Levine’s appointment to lead @hellodcwp.bsky.social Dept. of Consumer & Worker Protection! As Senior Fellow, Sam battled junk fees & predatory traps and pushed for economic justice for families. NYC just got a powerhouse consumer champion.
Air Travelers Beware! @saalevine urges DOT to withdraw proposed rule that would add hurdles to policing unfair/deceptive practices—including hidden fees, refund abuses, & surveillance pricing. Comment supported by Julian Sanghvi & David S. Nahmias. bit.ly/DOT753
Senior Fellow Sam Levine Submits Comment Opposing Department of Transportation Proposal That Would Weaken Passenger Protections | Center for Consumer Law & Economic Justice
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Check out @srf1802.bsky.social's guest essay in the @nytopinion.nytimes.com about protecting working people and their families from economic abuse: t.co/O7rfi7TUu3
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/01/opinion/americans-wont-have-faith-in-the-rule-of-law-until-the-law-works-for-them.html
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Former general counsel of the CFPB, Seth Frotman (@srf1802.bsky.social), examines how federal government lawyers can help ensure that laws are faithfully administered to address contemporary challenges. Read MLR Online's latest publication here: michiganlawreview.org/the-federal-...
The Federal General Counsel, Law, and Our Democracy at a Crossroads - Michigan Law Review
This speech, given by the general counsel of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on January 7, 2025, examines how federal government lawyers can help ensure that laws are faithfully admini...
michiganlawreview.org
Giving Trump unbridled power to fire economic regulators puts everyday Americans at risk. The FTC exists to serve the public—not corporate profit, but a ruling in Trump’s favor will turn it into a weapon against political opponents. More: bit.ly/3Xyo9Ri #SCOTUS #ConsumerProtection
Center Files Amicus Brief in US Supreme Court on Behalf of 40 Consumer Protection and Privacy Groups Defending The Independence of the FTC | Center for Consumer Law & Economic Justice
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Last week, Center Senior Fellow @saalevine.bsky.social and Stephanie Nguyen, Senior Fellow at the Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator, joined the Organized Money Podcast to discuss their new paper, The Loyalty Trap: How Loyalty Programs Hook Us with Deals, Hack Our Brains, and Hike Our Prices.
Stronger Consumer Protections for D.C. Today, @saalevine.bsky.social & David Nahmias urged the D.C. Council to reform the CPPA to protect residents from deceptive & exploitative practices. #ConsumerProtection #CPPA
“You’ve Been Served” — fairly. Gov. Newsom has signed AB 747 (SPARE Act), authored by Assemblymember Ash Kalra (D–San José) & developed by UC Berkeley’s Center for Consumer Law & Economic Justice. It’s the first statewide modernization of service of process in the nation — a win for fairness.
