Mealey's Class Actions
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June 11, 2024
On Remand, Plaintiff Dismisses UCL Suit Over ‘Wet Ones’ Germ-Killing Claims
SAN DIEGO — A consumer who won reversal on appeal of a federal court’s ruling dismissing her complaint accusing a sanitary wipe product maker of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by deceptively claiming that its product “Kills 99.99% of Germs” on remand filed a joint motion to dismiss with the defendant.
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June 11, 2024
Judge Dismisses PFAS Case Against Orange Juice Maker Affiliated With Coca-Cola
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — A federal judge in New York on June 10 dismissed without prejudice a per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) class action complaint against the Coca-Cola Co., ruling that the plaintiff’s allegations “boil down to describing general and unspecific results of testing, without meaningfully linking those results” to purchased products; as a result, the judge was unable to conclude that the plaintiff has standing.
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June 11, 2024
Judge Dismisses Washington Post Subscribers’ ‘False Reference Pricing’ Claims
SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge on June 10 dismissed two Washington Post subscribers’ putative class action claims that the newspaper’s publisher violated California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by allegedly deceptively marketing its prices for subscriptions and denied the publisher’s motion to transfer to the District of Columbia.
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June 11, 2024
Battling Class, Humana Says Medicare Plaintiffs Lack Jurisdiction In AI Suit
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A class action claiming that health insurer Humana Inc. improperly denies Medicare claims through the use of artificial intelligence improperly stitches together state law claims while ignoring administrative exhaustion and federal rules, the company tells a federal judge in Kentucky in a motion to dismiss.
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June 10, 2024
Rehearing Denied After 4th Circuit Vacates Wage Ruling For Jailed Workers
RICHMOND, Va. — The Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied a petition for rehearing filed by a Maryland county after a panel cleared the way for a former detainee’s collective and class wage-and-hour claims to proceed after determining that the incorrect legal standards were used when granting the county summary judgment.
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June 10, 2024
$25M Settlement Between Flint Residents, Engineering Firm Gets Initial Approval
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — According to a note on the docket in the litigation for the water crisis in Flint, Mich., a federal judge in the state has granted preliminary approval to a $25 million settlement for the claims of residents and businesses that sued an engineering firm that was involved in making the decision to switch the local water supply to the Flint River, which precipitated the lead-contaminated water crisis.
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June 10, 2024
Seniors Sue Wells Fargo For Fraud In $300M Ponzi Scheme Involving Insurers
MIAMI — Two seniors filed a putative class action against Wells Fargo in a Florida federal court for its role in allegedly aiding and abetting fraud in a “massive” Ponzi scheme purportedly orchestrated by owners of insurers, some of whom are now in receivership, resulting in elderly investor victims losing more than $300 million after scheme operators sold them promissory notes secured by collateral in stranger-oriented life insurance policies (STOLIs).
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June 10, 2024
High Court Grants Facebook Cert Bid To Consider Disclosure Requirements
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on June 10 granted a petition for a writ of certiorari from the social media giant formerly known as Facebook Inc., agreeing to consider whether the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals widened a circuit split when it found that publicly traded companies must disclose that risks materialized in the past even if the risks do not continue to have the potential to harm investors.
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June 10, 2024
High Court Vacates Judgment, Remands National Bank Act Case, Citing Cantero
WASHINGTON D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court in its June 10 order list granted certiorari in a case dealing with whether the National Bank Act (NBA) preempts state laws, vacated the judgment and remanded the case to the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals “for further consideration in light of Cantero v. Bank of America, N.A.
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June 07, 2024
Putative Class Sues Mortgage Servicer For ‘Release Cost’ Fee For Payoff Statements
MIAMI — The $22.50 “release cost” charge a mortgage servicer includes on its uniform payoff statements violates the Fair Debt Collection Act (FDCA) and Florida law, two borrowers allege in a putative class action filed in a federal court in that state.
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June 07, 2024
Residents Affected By Air Pollution From Mill Seek Approval Of $18M Settlement
ROCK HILL, S.C. — After three years of litigation in South Carolina federal court, a group of residents whose homes and health have allegedly been damaged by air pollution from a nearby paper mill seek preliminary approval of a class settlement agreement that would see the operator of the mill pay $18 million to settle the residents’ negligence and nuisance claims.
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June 07, 2024
Retirees Follow 9th Circuit ERISA Accuracy Ruling With Reassignment, Fees Requests
SAN FRANCISCO — After the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals partly revived a putative class action over pension benefit statements for the second time, the parties are disputing a reassignment request in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act case, and the appellants have moved for $179,925 in attorney fees.
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June 06, 2024
Reconsideration Of Latest Postjudgment Ruling Disputed In ERISA Conversion Case
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Continuing their long history of postjudgment wrangling, Cigna Corp. and its pension plan (together, Cigna) and the class that succeeded in some parts in a challenge to the plan’s 1998 conversion are disputing whether a Connecticut federal court should reconsider denying the class’s motions for an accounting or postjudgment discovery and to strike parts of a sur-reply and declaration.
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June 06, 2024
Company Accused Of Falsely Marketing Diabetes Products Must Face Suit, Judge Says
SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge on June 5 largely denied a company’s motion to dismiss a putative class action accusing it of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by allegedly representing its nutritional products as treating diabetic health conditions when they in fact contain ingredients that may worsen diabetic conditions.
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June 06, 2024
Couple Defends ‘Child Exploitation’ Claims Against Roblox In Class Suit
SAN FRANCISCO — Parents who bought their minor children in-game currency for use in Roblox Corp.’s online gaming platform filed briefs in California federal court opposing Roblox’s motions to dismiss or compel arbitration of their suit accusing it of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws, arguing that their claims that it designed its game to addict kids are not arbitrable.
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June 06, 2024
Federal Judge Gives 1st OK To $490M Settlement Between Apple, Investors
OAKLAND, Calif. — A federal judge in California granted preliminary approval to a proposed $490 million settlement in a putative class complaint brought by investors in Apple Inc. who say the company’s CEO issued misleading statements about Apple’s sales of iPhones in China, saying the settlement appears to be fair and reasonable.
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June 06, 2024
Defendants In MOVEit Data Breach MDL File Dismissal Arbitration Motions
BOSTON — Two groups of defendants in the ever-growing multidistrict litigation over the theft of personally identifiable information (PII) from users of MOVEit software filed motions asking a Massachusetts federal court to, respectively, compel arbitration from consumers that purportedly agreed to such provisions and dismiss individual suits that they say should never have been consolidated under the home-state exception to the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA).
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June 06, 2024
Judge: Amazon Immune From Workers’ Temperature Scan Class Suit Under PREP Act
CHICAGO — A warehouse worker’s putative class complaint accusing her employer of violating Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) by scanning workers’ temperatures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 was terminated by a federal magistrate judge in Illinois who found that the employer was entitled to statutory immunity based on the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREP Act).
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June 06, 2024
In Amicus Brief, DOL Urges 11th Circuit To Ditch ERISA Exhaustion Precedent
ATLANTA — Urging initial hearing en banc in the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has filed an amicus curiae brief supporting appellants who seek the overturn of longstanding circuit precedent concerning exhaustion of administrative remedies in Employee Retirement Income Security lawsuits.
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June 06, 2024
University Of Chicago Settles Pandemic Closure Class Suit For $4.95 Million
CHICAGO — A federal judge in Illinois granted final approval of a $4.95 million settlement between the University of Chicago and a class of students who sought partial refunds for tuition and fees for the spring 2020 semester when learning was transitioned to online-only due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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June 06, 2024
University Of The Arts Employees File WARN Act Class Suit Following Closure
PHILADELPHIA — Nine employees of a Philadelphia university that announced May 31 that it would be closing its doors one week later filed a class complaint in a federal court in Pennsylvania seeking 60 days of pay and Employee Retirement Income Security Act benefits, alleging that the school violated the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN Act).
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June 05, 2024
6th Circuit Vacates Health Care Provider’s $130,000 Vaccine Mandate Settlement
CINCINNATI — The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, in considering the second appeal in a settled case by employees over a health care provider’s mandatory COVID-19 vaccine policy, vacated the settlement approval, finding that no named plaintiff in the case had standing as to the health care provider’s affiliates added in the settlement, resulting in the trial court lacking jurisdiction.
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June 05, 2024
Judge Won’t Certify Interlocutory Appeal Over ERISA Record-Keeping Ruling
MINNEAPOLIS — A motion focused on allegations of commoditized, fungible record-keeping fees in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act case was denied June 4, with a Minnesota federal judge refusing to certify a partial dismissal motion for interlocutory appeal.
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June 05, 2024
Columbia Trustees, Student Move To Dismiss Class Suit Over Safety Amidst Protests
NEW YORK — A Columbia University student who filed a class complaint in a federal court in New York accusing the trustees of failing to ensure students’ safety and uninterrupted education during campus protests over the war in Gaza filed a joint motion with the trustees on June 4 stating that the parties have agreed on a stipulation that will dismiss the action.
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June 05, 2024
Attorneys Get 27% Of $20M ERISA Settlement With 2 Groups Of Class Members
ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A Pennsylvania federal judge on June 4 granted final approval of a $20 million settlement in a change in control (CIC) dispute over early retirement pension benefits and pension supplements; the settlement treats the 340 class members differently depending on whether they were terminated.