Mealey's Class Actions : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Class Actions

October 01, 2024
Consumer Accusing V8 Splash Of Misleading Labels Defends Against Dismissal

CAMDEN, N.J. — A consumer filed a brief in New Jersey federal court opposing Campbell Soup Co.’s motion to dismiss her putative class action accusing it of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by deceptively marketing its V8 Splash product as healthy, arguing that the product’s deceptive front label renders disclosures on its back label irrelevant.
October 01, 2024
11th Circuit Denies En Banc Hearing In ERISA Row Over Exhaustion Precedent

ATLANTA — Rejecting a request that drew amicus curiae support from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied initial hearing en banc in the suit where appellants seek the overturn of longstanding circuit precedent concerning exhaustion of administrative remedies in Employee Retirement Income Security Act lawsuits.
October 01, 2024
FBI Agrees To Pay $22.6M To Settle Some Basic Training Gender Bias Class Claims

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Current and former female employees of the FBI moved Sept. 30 in a federal court in the District of Columbia for attorney fees and to certify for the purposes of a $22.6 million settlement a class of workers who allege that they were subjected to gender bias during basic training.
October 01, 2024
Fact Issues Exist On Whether Coverage Is Owed For Water, Mold Damages, Judge Says

LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge denied a motion for summary judgment filed by insurers that denied coverage for mold and water damages sustained in numerous buildings of an insured’s construction project because questions of fact exist as to whether the policies’ fungus extension and delay in opening extension afford coverage and whether the policies’ exclusion for cost of making good (COMG) excluded coverage for any damage caused by faulty workmanship.
October 01, 2024
More Than $17.3M In Attorney Fees Awarded After Royalty Class Settlement

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — A federal judge in Oklahoma granted a renewed motion for $17,333,333 in attorney fees in an oil and gas royalty payments class lawsuit that has gone on for more than a dozen years and that was settled for $52 million, finding that the requested fees were “reasonable” and opining that distribution of the “fees among class counsel is a matter within their sole discretion.”
October 01, 2024
DMCA AI Ruling Heads To 9th Circuit After Grant Of Immediate Appeal

OAKLAND, Calif. — Plaintiffs with copyright claims against GitHub Inc. and others stemming from the training of artificial intelligences may file an interlocutory appeal of a ruling requiring identicality under the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) and dismissing the claims, a federal judge in California said.
October 01, 2024
9th Circuit Won’t Reconsider Dismissal Of Investors’ Claims Against EV Maker

SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ Aug. 9 ruling affirming the dismissal of a putative class complaint brought by investors alleging that an electric car company and the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) that acquired it misled investors has taken effect after the panel denied rehearing and rehearing en banc.
October 01, 2024
Class Suit Accuses 6 Publishers Of Coercing Scholars To Provide Free Labor

NEW YORK — A university professor who describes herself as a “[s]cholar and scientist” filed a putative class complaint in a federal court in New York accusing six for-profit publishers of peer-reviewed scholarly journals of conspiring in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act to “force” her and other scholars “to provide their valuable labor for free.”
September 30, 2024
Judge Says ‘No Choice’ But To Grant Judgment To Meta In Adult Entertainers Suit

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted summary judgment to Meta Platforms Inc. in a putative class action filed by adult entertainment (AE) performers alleging tortious interference and unfair competition in blacklisting social media posts by most AE providers in favor of the OnlyFans AE platform, finding that despite Meta’s “questionable recordkeeping,” the plaintiffs failed to show that questions remain regarding issues of material fact.
September 30, 2024
Target’s Motions To Strike And Dismiss Denied In Greenwashing Class Suit

MINNEAPOLIS — A federal judge in Minnesota denied two motions filed by Target Corp. seeking to strike and dismiss putative class allegations that the retailer misleads consumers with its “Target Clean” labeling on beauty products even though the manufacturers of the products and other retailers don’t identify the products as “clean” or “free from unwanted” ingredients, noting that while “some of Target’s arguments present a close call, that Court concludes that, at this stage and in light of the detailed allegations in the Complaint, dismissal is not appropriate.”
September 30, 2024
Judge Reprimands Counsel, Says Only Use Of AI Explains Briefing Errors

DALLAS — While plaintiff’s attorneys in a proposed employment class action acknowledged and apologized for miscited case law, quotes and other errors, their claim of poor procedures and lack of proper oversight explain only a portion of the mistakes, a federal judge in Texas said in reprimanding counsel after concluding that despite protests to the contrary, artificial intelligence must have been used to craft the response brief.
September 30, 2024
Judge Approves $3M Securities Settlement For Misleading COVID-19 Treatment Claims

NEWARK, N.J. — A New Jersey federal judge granted final approval of a $3 million settlement including $750,000 in attorney fees to resolve a securities class action against a pharmaceutical company for deceiving shareholders by making misleading statements about the prospects of its product for the successful treatment of COVID-19.
September 30, 2024
9th Circuit Won’t Stay Mandate In Dog Supplement Class Case Pending Petition

PASADENA, Calif. — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied a motion filed by the makers of Cosequin, a pet supplement, to stay the mandate following a class certification ruling and pending the filing of a petition for a writ of certiorari.
September 27, 2024
Airlines’ $4.75M USERRA Payless Leave Class Pact For Pilots Preliminarily OK’d

SPOKANE, Wash. — A federal judge in Washington granted preliminary approval of a $4.75 million settlement between Alaska Airlines Inc., Horizon Air Industries Inc. and a class of commercial airline pilots who allege that they were denied pay during short-term military leaves while pay was provided to pilots taking other types of leaves.
September 27, 2024
Plaintiff Consents To Hacked Facebook Accounts Suit Being Heard By Magistrate

SAN FRANCISCO — A plaintiff bringing a putative class action against Meta Platforms Inc. in California federal court for breach of contract and violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) due to it allegedly allowing “hackers to abscond with hundreds of thousands of Facebook accounts” while barring hacked users from regaining access to their accounts consented to magistrate jurisdiction over the suit on Sept. 26.
September 27, 2024
Settlement In Principle Reached In Walgreens Lidocaine Labeling Class Suit

CHICAGO — A status hearing in a putative class complaint by consumers who accuse Walgreen Co., doing business as Walgreens, of misleading labeling on certain lidocaine products was delayed via a docket entry by a clerk in a federal court in Illinois on Sept. 26 after the parties stated that they reached a settlement in principle.
September 26, 2024
Tobacco Companies Urge Dismissal Of Nicotine Pouch Youth Marketing Claims

HARTFORD, Conn. — Philip Morris International Inc. (PM) and Swedish Match North America LLC filed motions in Connecticut federal court urging dismissal of a Zyn nicotine pouch consumer’s putative class action suit accusing them violating Florida consumer protection statutes by targeting youth and deceptively advertising the pouch products as a “safer and healthier alternative to smoking.”
September 26, 2024
In Camera Review Showed Amazon Used Privilege Designation Too Broadly

SEATTLE — Saying that almost 80% of the documents produced for in camera review “were improperly designated or over-designated as” subject to attorney-client privilege, a Washington federal judge ordered Amazon.com Inc. to make a variety of productions to plaintiffs who sued it over the unauthorized recording and retention of private conversations.
September 26, 2024
3rd Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of ERISA Suit Over $65M In Drug Rebates

NEWARK, N.J. — A Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Sept. 25 upheld dismissal of an Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit concerning approximately $65 million in drug rebates for lack of standing but said it doesn’t read two key precedents as “broadly” as the trial court did.
September 25, 2024
Plaintiffs, Google Update Status Of Suit Over $5.5M Cookie Privacy Suit Settlement

WILMINGTON, Del. — Following the lifting of a stay in a lawsuit where the plaintiffs sued Google LLC for purported privacy violations, the parties filed a joint status report in a Delaware federal court saying the 12-year-old case is “essentially at the same procedural posture as in 2015” after the court denied final approval of a $5.5 million settlement. The plaintiffs noted that they have prepared discovery to address class issues and proceed to class certification, asserting that if they are able to demonstrate that the putative class is ascertainable, then the settlement should be granted final approval.
September 25, 2024
Norfolk Southern: Investors Attempt To ‘Concoct’ Securities Case From Train Crash

ATLANTA — Norfolk Southern Corp. and its principals filed a reply brief in Georgia federal court arguing that it should dismiss a securities fraud class action filed against them related to the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, on grounds that the plaintiffs “attempt to concoct securities fraud claims” out of the crash and the stock price declines that followed it.
September 25, 2024
Class Settlements Totaling $14.5M Get Preliminary OK In Suit Over ESOP Deal

WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware federal judge on Sept. 24 granted preliminary approval to two class settlements the plaintiffs said would sit “at the high end of the range of settlements resolving” similar employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) claims, with a combined recovery of $14.5 million that would average “about $41,076 per Class Member before fees, costs, and expenses.”
September 25, 2024
Investors, Facebook Agree On Risk Question, Disagree On What High Court Should Do

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Meta Platforms Inc., formerly Facebook Inc., investors tell the U.S. Supreme Court in a Sept. 24 respondent brief that they agree with Facebook as to the answer to the limited question before the justices regarding disclosure of immaterial past risks but argue that the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ ruling should be upheld as it was correct when it opined that Facebook issued misleading statements about the risk of potential misuse of user data because the company was aware that it had already occurred.
September 25, 2024
Most Claims Survive Dismissal In Forta Data Breach MDL Case

MIAMI — Ruling that the plaintiffs in a consolidated putative class action arising from a 2023 data security breach adequately allege standing, a Florida federal judge granted dismissal for failure to state a claim only as to all or part of 11 of the 27 claims; he said he would allow repleading on four of the claims, but the plaintiffs opted to forgo repleading.
September 24, 2024
Google Partially Granted Summary Judgment In Ovulation Tracking App Suit

SAN FRANCISCO — Female consumers who used the Flo Period & Ovulation Tracker app and are now suing the app creator and third parties for privacy and contract violations as well as unfair competition law (UCL) claims under California law abandoned their defense of their UCL claims against Google LLC and failed to show that Google has actual knowledge of the alleged practices, a federal judge in California ruled Sept. 23, partially granting Google’s motion for summary judgment.