Gig Economy & Retail Stores

India's Supreme Court is poised to decide whether a British company has the right to mine in a sacred tribal forest, a case that underlines the complexity of undertaking large-scale industrial projects here. The case's hearing by the court reflects the growing clout of activist groups in India. Read More

A California consumer group said Wednesday it has filed a legal action against Toys R Us and Babies R Us for selling vinyl baby bibs said to contain high levels of lead. Read More

Mattel, the maker of Barbie dolls and Hot Wheels cars, is recalling nearly one million toys in the United States today because the products' surfaces are covered in lead paint. According to Mattel, all the toys were made by a contract manufacturer in China. Read More

In the wake of the multiple scandals over tainted Chinese food and drug exports in recent months, Chinese goods now have an indelible image of being not just cheap, but life-threatening as well. But the fact that wrongly labelled foods, liquor and pharmaceuticals have routinely sickened and even killed people en masse in China has been largely overlooked. Read More

Toxics in the United States that are dumped in other countries may come back to haunt U.S. consumers. This blog item provides links to studies and new films on this impact, as well as some alternatives. Read More

A battle over Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s effort to get into financial services might derail the growth of company-owned banks, as well as Utah's ambitions to become to such lenders what Delaware is to corporations. Read More

A consumer group is suing the operator of the KFC to try to stop it from frying foods in an artery-clogging trans fat. Read More

Three former top officers of Buca Inc., an operator of Italian restaurants, have agreed to plead guilty to federal fraud charges in connection with a scheme to create false profits for Buca and allow executives to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay for a wide range of expenses including the use of an Italian villa and visits to strip clubs. Read More

Every October, some 50 former Home Depot managers, calling themselves the Former Orange-Blooded Executives, after the home-improvement chain's trademark bright orange color, gather in Atlanta to reminisce, chat about new jobs and pass around pictures of their children. Read More

Shopping in a Target store, you know you're not in Wal-Mart. But, critics say that in terms of working conditions, sweatshop-style foreign suppliers, and effects on local retail communities, big box Target stores are very much like Wal-Mart, just in a prettier package. Read More