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

Mealey's Class Actions

July 31, 2024
$284 Million Price-Fixing Financial Aid Settlements Granted Final Approval

CHICAGO — Settlements by 10 private universities totaling $284 million in a class case accusing more than a dozen schools of “participating in a price-fixing cartel that is designed to reduce or eliminate financial aid as a locus of competition” were granted final approval by a federal judge in Illinois.
July 31, 2024
Staffing Agency Seeks U.S. High Court Clarity On Class Certification, TCPA Scope

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A staffing agency awarded summary judgment on only its individual claim under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) for an unwanted faxed advertisement filed a petition for a writ of certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court seeking a ruling on whether “administrative feasibility” is a prerequisite or only a factor to be weighed when deciding class certification and seeking a decision on the scope of a “telephone facsimile machine” under the TCPA.
July 30, 2024
Judge Won’t Dismiss Stock Loss Claims Over ‘Sham’ Wells Fargo Interviews

OAKLAND, Calif. — A California federal judge on July 29 denied a motion by Wells Fargo & Co. and certain of its executives to dismiss a putative class complaint brought by a group of shareholders, holding that the shareholders adequately established that the company was aware of a widespread practice of using fake interviews to give the impression of complying with internal diversity hiring practices before news about the interviews led to a drop in stock value.
July 30, 2024
Judge: No Misleading Claims About Stock Conversion In Premerger Statements

NEW YORK — A New York federal judge dismissed a putative class complaint brought by former employees of a satellite manufacturer who claimed that the company and certain of its executives issued misleading statements in violation of federal securities laws about the company’s merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), with the judge holding that the employees failed to show that the company made misleading statements about the redemption rate of shares after the merger.
July 30, 2024
Judge Rejects ‘Unconscionable’ Arbitration Of Class Suit Against Gaming Company

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge denied a gaming company and its co-founders’ motion to compel arbitration of putative class claims against them for violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by falsely advertising their mobile games as offering live competition, finding that the arbitration agreement contained provisions that would likely cause “years” of delay.
July 30, 2024
Federal Magistrate: Some Investor Claims Over 2023 Derailment Should Be Tossed

NEW YORK — Investors failed to show that railroad company Norfolk Southern Corp. and certain of its executives had an obligation to disclose previous federal compliance failures in the company’s strategic plan, which meant that the investors failed to show that the plan was false or misleading, a federal magistrate judge said in a report recommending that some claims related to the strategic plan be dismissed from a putative class complaint alleging that the company misled investors leading up to a February 2023 train derailment in Ohio.
July 30, 2024
Cosmetics Company Denies Claims Its Product Has Toxins That Caused Injuries

CHICAGO — A cosmetics company has filed an answer in Illinois federal court denying all allegations of wrongful conduct and contending that the plaintiffs who say they have been injured by toxic chemicals in hair relaxer products fail to state a claim because the plaintiffs cannot identify with reasonable specificity the products they purchased or used.
July 29, 2024
Student-Athletes Seek Preliminary Approval Of $2.5B NIL Settlement

OAKLAND, Calif. — College athletes who have accused the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and five conferences of violating the Sherman Act by restricting compensation for the commercial use of their names, images and likenesses (NIL) filed a motion July 26 in a federal court in California for preliminary approval of a $2,576,000,000 settlement, which the players say will “reshape the economic landscape of college sports.”
July 29, 2024
Navy SEALs Settle COVID-19 Vaccine Case For Record Corrections, Policy Changes

FORT WORTH, Texas — A federal judge in Texas granted final approval of a class settlement in a case by Navy SEALs and members of the Navy challenging a COVID-19 vaccine mandate; the agreement will provide corrections to their personnel records, policy changes, public postings and attorney fees.
July 29, 2024
Health Care Providers Sue, Allege Health Care Industry ‘Immobilized’ By Data Breach

MINNEAPOLIS — Health care providers in 21 states filed a class complaint in a federal court in Minnesota against a health insurer subsidiary that they say touches “one-in-three U.S. patient records” after a data breach allegedly carried out by hackers known as “ALPHV/Blackcat” accessed an unprotected network using an employee’s credentials and “wreaked havoc on the healthcare industry.”
July 29, 2024
Pilots Seek Rehearing After 6th Circuit Finds Vaccine Claims Must Go To Arbitration

CINCINNATI — Kalitta Air LLC pilots filed a petition for rehearing en banc or panel rehearing after a Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a trial court ruling that their putative class claims over the airline’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate must go through arbitration first as minor disputes pursuant to the Railway Labor Act (RLA) because the dispute requires interpretation of the terms of a collective bargaining agreement (CBA).
July 26, 2024
2nd Circuit Says Plaintiffs Must Show Intent To Trigger CAFA, Affirms Remand

NEW YORK — Citing the “consistent desire” of plaintiffs asserting personal injury claims stemming from their use of Zantac “to avoid federal jurisdiction,” the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals agreed that a motion to consolidate did not trigger federal jurisdiction and affirmed a district court decision to remand nine cases to state court.
July 26, 2024
Consumer Asks Court To Approve Settlement Removing ‘Natural’ From ChapStick Label

SAN FRANCISCO — A California woman filed a motion in California federal court for approval of a settlement of class claims against GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare Holdings (US) LLC (GSK) and Pfizer Inc. for deceptively labeling certain ChapStick products, writing that the defendants have agreed to remove the phrase “100% Natural” from the product’s label and for her attorneys to receive roughly $500,000.
July 26, 2024
Class Suit Says ‘Refueling Difficulties’ Make Toyota Hydrogen Battery Cars ‘Unsafe’

LOS ANGELES — A group of consumers filed a putative class action complaint in California federal court contending that their Toyota-brand Mirai-model cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells are so difficult to refuel that the cars are “unsafe, unreliable and inoperable” and seeking damages for misleading marketing in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL).
July 25, 2024
Judge: Investors Show Falsity Of Some Equipment Testing Claims From Company

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California largely granted a technology company’s motion to dismiss a second amended putative class complaint brought by investors alleging that the company and certain of its executives issued false statements about the testing of equipment that would be used to create a new type of battery; however, the judge found that the investors had adequately substantiated their claims regarding three allegedly false statements issued by the company.
July 25, 2024
End-User Chicken Purchasers Reach Price-Fixing Settlement With Mountaire, Koch

CHICAGO — End-user consumer plaintiffs (EUCPs), one of the groups of chicken purchasers accusing broiler sellers of fixing the prices for chicken, filed in a federal court in Illinois a notice of settlement with two groups of defendants, noting that that those two groups along with the other defendants will not “be participating in the EUCP trial.”
July 25, 2024
9th Circuit Denies Rehearing In Appeal Over Class Scope Ambiguity Tolling

SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied a petition for rehearing and rehearing en banc filed by Union Pacific Railroad Co. after a panel ruled while answering a question that it stated was one of first impression that where a class definition is narrowed, any dispute or ambiguity regarding the applicability to certain plaintiffs “should be resolved in favor of tolling so that bystander members of the class need not rush to file separate actions to protect their rights.”
July 25, 2024
Citing Mator, 3rd Circuit Revives ERISA Suit Over Record-Keeping Fees

PHILADELPHIA — Noting a recent decision that “reversed the opinion on which the trial court relied and clarified the pleading standards for excessive fee claims under” the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, a Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel issued a nonprecedential July 24 opinion reviving a putative class action over record-keeping fees.
July 25, 2024
California Woman Says Retailer Used AI Company To Illegally Analyze Calls

VENTURA, Calif. — A clothing retailer uses a third-party artificial intelligence company to intercept and analyze customer calls in violation of California law, a woman alleges in a class action filed in California state court.
July 25, 2024
Objector: Court Abused Its Discretion In Approving PACER Class Settlement

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A trial court exceeded its jurisdiction and abused its discretion when it approved a $125 million settlement for a class claiming that they paid excessive fees to obtain court records via the Public Access to Court Electronic Records system (PACER), a settlement objector argues in his corrected appellant brief filed in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
July 24, 2024
Judge Gives 1st Nod To $434M Settlement In Under Armour Securities Suit

BALTIMORE — A Maryland federal judge granted preliminary approval to a proposed $434 million settlement in a class action brought by investors claiming that Under Armour Inc. and its former CEO violated federal securities laws by making false claims about demands for the company’s products, finding that the proposed settlement is fair and adequate for the purposes of preliminary approval.
July 24, 2024
Converse Granted Summary Judgment In Class Suit Over Privacy Of Chat Feature

LOS ANGELES — A Converse Inc. website user who sued the footwear and clothing company alleging that its website’s chat features recorded users’ messages without consent failed to establish any violation of California’s Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA), including allegations that Converse aided and abetted third-party vendor Salesforce Inc., a federal judge in California ruled granting the retailer’s motion for summary judgment.
July 24, 2024
Judge Dismisses Putative Class Suit Against Google For Health Care Data Collection

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge dismissed a consolidated class action complaint in which 12 anonymous plaintiffs accused Google LLC of violating of federal privacy statutes and California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by providing source code for “pixel tracking” of their private health care data, writing that the plaintiffs’ “vague” claims do not establish that Google intended to collect or did in fact receive their data.
July 24, 2024
Federal Judge: Email Recipient Who Sued Over ‘Spy Pixels’ Showed No Concrete Injury

PHILADELPHIA — An Arizona woman who filed a class complaint against Urban Outfitters Inc. (UO) over alleged embedded trackers in the company’s email that record, without consent, if and when marketing emails are opened failed to allege any concrete harm, a Pennsylvania federal judge ruled, dismissing the woman’s complaint for lack of standing.
July 24, 2024
3rd Circuit Determines Correct Analysis For Student-Athletes As Employees Dispute

PHILADELPHIA — A trial court erred by applying the Glatt v. Fox Searchlight Pictures, Inc. test rather than “an economic realities analysis ground in common-law agency principles” when determining whether Division I student-athletes were employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), a Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel majority ruled, partially vacating the trial court’s ruling in an interlocutory appeal.