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

Mealey's Class Actions

December 30, 2024
Dismissal Stipulated In Substance Use Treatment Case Where Class Bid Failed

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Dismissal with prejudice has been stipulated in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act and Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) suit alleging underpayment for out-of-network behavioral health services where a California federal judge denied class certification.
December 26, 2024
Judge Finds ‘Dream Kabobz’ Pet Food Label Not Misleading, Dismisses Class Suit

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California federal judge dismissed without leave to amend a consumer’s putative class complaint accusing a pet food maker of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by misrepresenting its product as being made primarily of meat, writing that the product’s labels would not confuse a reasonable consumer.
December 23, 2024
Settlement Of Just Over $1.4M Proposed In Suit Over Insurer’s Denials

UTICA, N.Y. — A New York federal court has been asked to preliminarily approve a $1,415,000 settlement in a class action over allegations that United Behavioral Health violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act by issuing blanket denials for residential treatments for mental health and chemical dependency claims when it considered even a single aspect of the facility’s treatment experimental.
December 23, 2024
Judge Finds For Plaintiffs On 3 Of 5 Claims In ERISA Benefits Suit Over Spinoff

PHILADELPHIA — After conducting a bench trial, a Pennsylvania federal judge found the defendants liable on three of five counts in a class action over corporate restructuring that affected retirement benefits, then appointed a special master over a variety of opposition and alternate suggestions from the parties.
December 23, 2024
5th Circuit Appeal Is Filed Over ERISA Dismissal Based On Promise Not To Sue

NEW ORLEANS — A former retirement plan participant has filed a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals challenge to a ruling that he lacks standing to bring a putative class action because he signed a promise not to sue that applies to his Employee Retirement Income Security Act claims.
December 20, 2024
After Partial Dismissal, Garda Data Breach Suit Settled, Stayed, Closed

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — On the heels of a ruling in which she partly granted a security firm’s motion to dismiss privacy and negligence claims over a data breach that exposed employees’ personally identifiable information (PII), a Florida federal judge granted the plaintiffs’ motion to stay the suit in light of a postruling announcement that the parties reached a conditional settlement of the putative class action.
December 20, 2024
Adequacy, Typicality Issues Doom Class Certification Bid In ERISA Fees, Funds Case

LOS ANGELES — Saying in part that “neither Plaintiff has established even a de minimis familiarity with the facts of the case,” a California federal judge denied a motion for class certification in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit over a 403(b) retirement plan’s fees and funds.
December 20, 2024
CPAP MDL Judge Dismisses Actions Against SoClean, Says Not Appropriately Filed

PITTSBURGH — A Pennsylvania federal judge who oversees the two related multidistrict litigations involving the recall of approximately 10.8 million continuous positive air pressure (CPAP) sleep apnea devices dismissed a third-party complaint filed in one of the MDLs by the manufacturer of recalled CPAP machines, which asked that the manufacturer of equipment that uses ozone to clean and disinfect the machines be forced to contribute to settlement agreements and ruled that a putative class action against the same party “is an entirely new lawsuit” and dismissed it from the MDL docket.
December 19, 2024
Health Company: Courts Of Appeal Have Exclusive Jurisdiction Over FCC Orders

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Hobbs Act provides courts of appeal the jurisdiction to decide whether an order by the Federal Communications Commission concerning what constitutes faxes prohibited by the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) “is correct,” a medical supply company tells the U.S. Supreme Court in its Dec. 18 respondent brief.
December 19, 2024
Judge Orders Class Notified In $18.2M Settlement Of Senior Home Understaffing Suit

SANTA ANA, Calif. — A California federal judge ordered that notification be issued to more than 4,100 class members comprising family members of former and current residents of care facilities after the court granted final approval of an $18.2 million settlement with the facilities’ operator, including $10.5 million in attorney fees, for claims that residents were harmed by understaffing in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and elder financial abuse law.
December 19, 2024
Class Counsel Get A 3rd Of $9M Global Deal In ERISA Proprietary Funds Suit

CINCINNATI — An Ohio federal magistrate judge on Dec. 18 granted final approval to a global $9 million settlement of an Employee Retirement Income Security Act class action over proprietary funds, from which she authorized paying the requested amounts of $3 million for attorney fees and $30,000 for service awards.
December 19, 2024
Worker Granted Extension To Respond To Class Tolling High Court Petition

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 18 granted a motion by Union Pacific Railroad Co. workers for an extension of time to respond to a petition by the company seeking a ruling on whether tolling under American Pipe & Construction Co. v. Utah extends “to non-class members so long as they were not ‘unambiguously excluded” from the class.
December 19, 2024
$1.25 Million Settlement Approved In Onix Group Data Breach Class Action

PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania federal judge presiding over a consolidated class action for negligence and consumer protection violations related to a 2023 data breach experienced by a Pennsylvania firm granted final approval to a $1.25 million settlement of the suit, overruling two objections and mostly granting requested attorney fees and service awards.
December 19, 2024
3rd Circuit Appeal Seeking Revival Of ERISA Imprudence Case Is Dismissed

PHILADELPHIA — Without substantive explanation, a Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals case challenging summary judgment for Evonik Corp. and related entities in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act class action has been dismissed with prejudice pursuant to a joint stipulation.
December 18, 2024
Morgan Stanley Expenses Settlement Reaffirmed, Attorney Fees Disgorgement Denied

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California reaffirmed the fairness of a more than $10 million settlement in a case accusing Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC (MSSB) of various wage violations and declined to vacate a supplemental attorney fees award, deny further distributions or disgorge past payments.
December 18, 2024
Motions To Strike Class Claims, Dismiss Denied In Real Estate Commissions Case

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A federal judge in Missouri issued a pair of orders denying motions to dismiss and motions to strike class allegations in a consolidated class action by home sellers accusing the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and real estate franchises of conspiring to artificially inflate the cost of commissions in residential real estate transactions.
December 18, 2024
$19M Class Settlement In Lawsuit Over ESOP Wins Final Approval

TAMPA, Fla. — Upon receiving a joint notice of nonobjection, a Florida federal judge on Dec. 17 granted final approval to a $19 million class settlement that the plaintiffs said will “provide[] an average recovery of more than $100,000 per class member on a gross basis, topping the chart of recent ESOP [employee stock ownership plan] settlements by a substantial margin.”
December 18, 2024
Amended Complaint Allowed In Disney Wage Suit After $233M Settlement Reached

SANTA ANA, Calif. — A California judge on Dec 18 permitted an amended complaint to be filed in a lawsuit accusing a theme park operator and the company running its restaurants of wage violations in light of a $233 million proposed settlement that would resolve all claims related to allegedly underpaid service charges under the Anaheim, Calif., Living Wage Ordinance (LWO).
December 18, 2024
Parties: Full Deal Is Back On Track In ERISA Case Over Alleged Cost-Shifting

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — A little over a week after reporting the partial breakdown of a global settlement, parties in a class action concerning an alleged cost-shifting scheme regarding health plan administrative fees on Dec. 17 informed a North Carolina federal court that continued negotiations resulted in an “agreement on material terms to resolve all claims.”
December 18, 2024
2 Objectors To Oracle Data Collection Suit Settlement Appeal To 9th Circuit

SAN FRANCISCO — One month after a California federal judge granted final approval to a $115 million settlement of a privacy and wiretap class action against Oracle America Inc., two class members who had lodged objections to the settlement filed notices that they were appealing the trial court’s approval ruling to the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
December 18, 2024
Royalty Payment Case Against Fracking Companies Is Valid, Plaintiffs Argue

WHEELING, W.Va. — The plaintiffs who sued Southwestern Energy Co. and Southwestern Production Co. LLC (collectively, Southwestern) alleging that they paid diminished royalties regarding hydraulic fracturing mineral rights filed a brief in West Virginia federal court arguing that it should deny the defendants’ motion for summary judgment on grounds the defendants “knew and anticipated the impact on Plaintiff’s well but went forward with drilling,” saying the facts of the case “fit squarely within the negligence theory of liability under Atkinson v. Virginia.”
December 18, 2024
PACER Settlement Objector Argues Court Abused Its Discretion With Approval

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A trial court exceeded its jurisdiction and abused its discretion by including in a Public Access to Court Electronic Records system (PACER) fees settlement class users whose expenditures and claims exceeded $10,000, a settlement objector argues in his corrected appellant and reply brief both filed on the same day in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
December 18, 2024
9th Circuit Denies Rehearing After Live Nation, Ticketmaster Arbitration Ruling

PASADENA, Calif. — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel unanimously denied a petition for panel rehearing, and the majority denied a petition for rehearing en banc filed by Live Nation Entertainment Inc. and Ticketmaster LLC after the panel affirmed a trial court’s denial of arbitration in a putative class complaint accusing the two companies of engaging in anticompetitive practices in online ticket sales.
December 18, 2024
Netflix Granted Extension To Respond To Wrongful Death Class High Court Petition

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court gave Netflix Inc. until Dec. 27 to file a requested response to a petition for a writ of certiorari presenting jurisdictional questions in a putative class complaint filed by the estate and family members of a minor who died by suicide who accuse the streaming service of strict liability, wrongful death and negligence in connection with its release of a show depicting a suicide.
December 18, 2024
Class, Real Estate Companies Oppose 3 Appeals Challenging Commissions Settlements

ST. LOUIS — Home sellers and three realty companies filed appellee briefs opposing three appeals by objectors to settlements between the sellers, real estate franchise and The National Association of Realtors (NAR) found by a jury to have conspired to artificially inflate the cost of commissions in residential real estate transactions.