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Mealey's California Section 17200

  • April 03, 2025

    Class Representative Seeks $73M Judgment Against Company For Fake Reviews

    SAN JOSE, Calif. — A plaintiff representing a certified class of consumers who claim that they were deceived by a Chinese manufacturer-owned company’s practice of faking reviews on Amazon.com to sell shoddy electronics in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws filed a motion in California federal court for default judgment following the withdrawal from proceedings by the defendant.

  • April 02, 2025

    Judge Allows Insureds’ ERISA, UCL Claims Against Cigna In AI Claims Denial Case

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California federal judge granted in part and denied in part Cigna Corp. and its affiliate’s motion to dismiss insureds’ claims that they violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by allegedly denying coverage using an artificial intelligence algorithm.

  • April 02, 2025

    Sugarcane Companies Accused Of Deceiving Consumers With ‘Greenwashing’ Claims

    SAN FRANCISCO — A consumer filed a putative class action in California federal court against a sugarcane grower and its parent company alleging that they have deceptively marketed their sugar as environmentally friendly in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) while in fact continuing to use sugarcane harvesting practices the consumer says “poison people and the planet.”

  • April 01, 2025

    Consumer Claims Over Watery ‘Buttery Spread’ Dismissed By Judge

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California federal judge dismissed a putative class action lawsuit accusing a butter alternative maker of deceiving consumers by manufacturing the product with higher-than-normal quantities of water and flaxseed oil, which apparently led to thousands of consumer complaints and some sales of “rancid” products, finding that the plaintiff failed to sufficiently allege a violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws.

  • March 31, 2025

    $7.5M Beyond Meat Protein Content Class Settlement Approved

    CHICAGO — A federal judge in Illinois granted final approval of a $7.5 million class settlement between Beyond Meat Inc. and consumers who alleged that the plant-based meat substitute company inflated protein content and overstated the quality of the protein in its products.

  • March 31, 2025

    Judge Stays Deceptive Marketing Class Claims Against Zyn Maker Due To Earlier Suit

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California federal judge on March 28 stayed a putative class action against Swedish Match North America LLC (SM) for allegedly deceptively marketing Zyn nicotine pouches as nicotine cessation products in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws after finding a similar suit is already pending and applying the “first-to-file rule.”

  • March 31, 2025

    Judge Allows Class Suit Over ‘Truffles From France’ Claims To Proceed

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California federal judge on March 28 denied a chocolate maker’s motion for judgment on the pleadings in a putative class action filed by two women who say the company deceptively marketed its chocolate truffles as made in France in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws .

  • March 31, 2025

    23andMe Agrees To Proceed With Data Breach Settlement, Files Bankruptcy Notices

    SAN FRANCISCO — Two days after 23andMe Inc. informed a California federal court that it would be proceeding with a settlement of negligence, privacy and unfair competition claims over a 2023 data breach, which had been preliminarily approved in December, the troubled DNA testing company filed three notices of bankruptcy, staying the multidistrict litigation.

  • March 28, 2025

    Judge Dismisses Class Suit Alleging Infant Formula Contained Heavy Metals

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge on March 24 granted an infant formula company’s motion to dismiss a putative class action lawsuit against it for violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by allegedly concealing the presence of heavy metals in its formula products, finding that the plaintiff failed to allege that the amounts of heavy metals in the products pose a safety.

  • March 28, 2025

    9th Circuit Reverses, Says Claims Valid In Roundup Mislabeling Lawsuit

    PASADENA, Calif. — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on March 27 issued an unpublished nonprecedential memorandum in which it reversed a lower court decision that dismissed claims against Monsanto Co. and its parents related to allegations that its herbicide Roundup was mislabeled, ruling that the plaintiffs alleged sufficient facts to plausibly state a claim for relief against Monsanto, but the panel affirmed the part of the lower court ruling that concluded that the claims against Scotts Co. LLC were properly dismissed.

  • March 28, 2025

    Judge Dismisses Deception Claims Over V8 Splash, Allows Malic Acid Claim

    CAMDEN, N.J. — A New Jersey federal judge on March 27 largely granted Campbell Soup Co.’s motion to dismiss a putative class action brought against it by two consumers who say it violated California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by deceptively marketing V8 Splash as healthy but ordered expedited discovery regarding whether malic acid is used to flavor the product.

  • March 26, 2025

    Class Claims For School’s Nondisclosure Of Sexual Misconduct Fail, Panel Says

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California appellate panel affirmed the dismissal of a putative class action brought against a school for failing to disclose that three of its employees engaged in sexually abusive or inappropriate conduct, finding in part that the plaintiffs lacked standing to bring a claim for violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) as they were not directly harmed by the conduct.

  • March 24, 2025

    Apple Misled Consumers As To IPhone 16’s ‘AI-Driven’ Functions, Consumer Says

    SAN JOSE, Calif. — A consumer filed a putative class action lawsuit in California federal court accusing Apple Inc. of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other state consumer laws by misleading millions of consumers into buying its latest iPhone models by misrepresenting the artificial intelligence capacities that the iPhone 16’s “Apple Intelligence” and Siri software would offer.

  • March 24, 2025

    High Court Won’t Review COVID Deaths Suit Against Nursing Home Operators

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on March 24 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by a California nursing home operator and affiliated defendants that sought to challenge the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ affirmance of the remand to state court of a claim against them for the deaths of 15 elderly residents during the COVID-19 pandemic, which they contended was preempted by the federal PREP Act.

  • March 21, 2025

    9th Circuit Affirms Ruling Tossing ‘Illicit’ Ink Cartridge UCL Suit Against Amazon

    PASADENA, Calif. — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on March 20 affirmed a lower court ruling that dismissed with prejudice a lawsuit by a remanufacturer of ink cartridges accusing Amazon.com Inc. and its subsidiaries of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL), the Lanham Act and other laws by allowing third-party sellers to post allegedly deceptive listings for recycled printer ink cartridges, thereby diverting business from authentic ink cartridge recyclers, finding that “to the extent claims” against Amazon “survive” the Communications Decency Act (CDA), the remanufacturer “has failed to allege an actionable false statement by Amazon.”

  • March 18, 2025

    App’s Arbitration Agreement Was ‘Rife With Unfair Surprise,’ 9th Circuit Told

    SAN FRANCISCO — Mobile app game players who contend in a putative class suit that they were tricked into paying to play against bots instead of real people urge the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in a March 17 appellee brief to affirm a lower court’s ruling barring arbitration of their claims against the app’s developer and its co-founders, saying the agreement was unconscionable and required “batching” of claims that would have lasted “a century or more.”

  • March 18, 2025

    Costco: Baby Wipes Case Fails Because Studies Do Not Show Harmful Effects Of PFAS

    SAN FRANCISCO — Costco Wholesale Corp. has moved in California to dismiss a class action alleging that Kirkland Signature Baby Wipes contain unsafe levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), arguing that the plaintiffs do not cite “any state or federal regulations prohibiting or restricting the specific substances” at issue and do not point to a single study that purports to find harmful effects from those substances in humans.

  • March 18, 2025

    Consumers Tell High Court Federal Food Laws ‘Expressly Permit’ California Claims

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Two parents filed an opposition brief to the U.S. Supreme Court arguing that it should deny a baby food company’s petition for a writ of certiorari challenging a split Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel’s decision allowing the company to be sued for violating California consumer protection laws by allegedly violating federal labeling rules, writing that federal law does not preempt states from adopting “‘identical’” labeling rules.

  • March 17, 2025

    Labeling Suit Over Protein Powder Requiring Milk Dismissed By Judge

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California federal judge on March 14 granted a motion to dismiss a putative class action accusing a protein powder maker of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by failing to clearly label its products as requiring milk to provide consumers with the advertised amounts of protein, finding that a reasonable consumer wouldn’t be deceived based on the pleadings but granting leave to amend.

  • March 17, 2025

    Judge Grants Hunter Biden's Request To Drop Lawsuit Over Laptop Files

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted Hunter Biden’s ex parte application for an order of voluntary dismissal of his lawsuit against a conservative activist and his organization for violating computer fraud laws and California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by posting data from Biden’s private laptop online, but citing defense claims of “legal prejudice” and the timing of the filing entered dismissal with prejudice instead of without as Biden had requested.

  • March 14, 2025

    Parents Say Fortnite Provokes ‘FOMO’ In Youths To Spur In-Game Item Sales

    SAN FRANCISCO — Two parents filed a putative class action in California federal court accusing Epic Games Inc., the developer of “Fortnite,” of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by using “deceptive countdown timers” and other marketing tactics to pressure vulnerable youths into purchasing in-game items, in part due to their youthful susceptibility to the “fear of missing out” (FOMO).

  • March 14, 2025

    Judge Dismisses Suit Over Fruit Company’s Health Claims With Prejudice

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge on March 13 dismissed with prejudice a putative class action against a fruit company for labeling its fruit products as “Healthy” and providing “Good Nutrition” despite containing significant amounts of sugar, writing that the plaintiffs in their amended complaint failed to establish that the claims are not “puffery” and would deceive a reasonable consumer.

  • March 14, 2025

    Developer Accused Of Using Roblox To Start Robux Gambling Games Seeks Dismissal

    SAN FRANCISCO — A third-party developer filed a motion in California federal court to dismiss cross-claims brought against it by Roblox Corp. in a putative class action lawsuit filed by parents who say their minor children accessed gambling games through the Roblox platform, writing that the court lacks jurisdiction, the claims are untimely and the claims against it are deficient on the merits.

  • March 13, 2025

    Facebook Swimsuit-Photo App Loses Appeal Of Anti-SLAPP And Attorney Fees Rulings

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California appellate panel on March 12 affirmed an order striking claims against Facebook Inc., CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other employees for violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by restricting the developer of an app that searched Facebook for photos of people wearing swimsuits from accessing user data and affirmed a roughly $683,000 attorney fee award against the developer.

  • March 12, 2025

    Plaintiffs Suing Over Fake Discounts May Seek Equitable Relief Based On Pleadings

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge denied a window coverings seller’s motion to dismiss a putative class action lawsuit alleging that it violated California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other statutes by misrepresenting its regular prices as time-limited sales, siding with other federal courts within the Ninth Circuit that reserve “stricter” scrutiny of equitable relief pleadings for the summary judgment stage.