Mealey's Class Actions
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November 18, 2024
Class Settlement, Separate Fee Award Approved In ERISA Statements Penalty Case
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — An Alabama federal judge approved a $253,700 class settlement and a separate award of $265,000 for attorney fees and costs in what the plaintiffs said “appears to be the first ever class-wide settlement for penalties related to a defendant’s failure to provide annual pension benefit statements to participants” under a provision of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
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November 18, 2024
Service Awards, Attorney Fees At Issue In Meta Privacy Suit Certiorari Petition
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Meta Platforms Inc. (formerly Facebook Inc.) and a group of Facebook users who sued over the social network’s tracking of their online activity were both given additional time by the U.S. Supreme Court to respond to a petition for certiorari by a class member who objects to awards for attorney fees and class representative service awards that were part of a $90 million settlement of the privacy class action.
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November 18, 2024
Former Jailed Worker Waives Response To Maryland County’s Wage-And-Hour Petition
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A former detainee who brought collective and class wage-and-hour claims against a Maryland county waived his right to respond to Baltimore County’s petition for a writ of certiorari that asks the U.S. Supreme Court to decide “[w]hether inmates working in furtherance of public works projects for the government charged with their custody and care” are employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
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November 15, 2024
Gamers Bring Class Suit Against Developers For Online Racing Game’s Shutdown
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Two video game players filed a putative class action lawsuit in California federal court accusing developers of an online racing video game known as The Crew of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by shutting down servers to the game, thereby terminating players’ access to the game permanently, which they compare in their suit to a manufacturer coming “into your home” and removing a product you previously paid for.
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November 15, 2024
Majority Affirms Ruling In Last Resort Insurer’s Favor In Hurricane Coverage Suit
BATON ROUGE, La. — A majority of a First Circuit Louisiana Court of Appeal panel held that a lower court properly interpreted the state Legislature's amendment of Louisiana Revised Statutes Section 22:1892(H) by Act 290 to be a procedural change that applied retroactively and, as a result, eliminated any class action for damages, including bad faith penalties, brought against the state’s insurer of last resort.
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November 15, 2024
Correction Of $92M Attorney Fee Sought In Insurers’ ACA Dispute With Government
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Objecting class members and class counsel on Nov. 14 urged the U.S. Court of Federal Claims to correct the $92,424,335.84 judgment awarded to class counsel in a risk-corridor payment dispute under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), with class counsel arguing that the attorney fee owed to it should come from the nondispute subclasses
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November 15, 2024
$7.1M Class Settlement Of Suit Over ESOP Deals Wins Preliminary Approval
EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — An Illinois federal judge on Nov. 14 granted preliminary approval to a $7.1 million class settlement that plaintiffs who sued over 2012 and 2013 employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) deals said would amount to “20% of the most conservative estimate of losses.”
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November 14, 2024
Baby Bottle Makers Seek Dismissal Of Consumers’ Claims Over Undisclosed Microplastics
SAN FRANCISCO — Two plastic baby bottle makers moved to dismiss separate putative class action complaints brought against them in California federal court by mothers who say the companies violate California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by failing to disclose the risk that their baby bottles and sippy cups “leach harmful microplastics directly into the food and drink of vulnerable babies and young children.”
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November 14, 2024
Class, Wawa Ask 3rd Circuit To Affirm Attorney Fees Award In Data Breach Suit
PHILADELPHIA — Wawa Inc. and a group of consumers who sued it over a 2019 data breach filed briefs with the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals defending a $3 million attorney fees award that is part of a $9 million class action settlement agreement, asserting that the award was not the product of collusion and satisfies Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23 and asking the court to affirm the award and to reject objections a class member raises on his second appeal of the matter.
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November 14, 2024
Ovulation App Privacy Claims Against Analytics Firm Stayed Pending Settlement
SAN FRANCISCO — Putative class privacy claims against an analytics firm related to purported data sharing via the Flo Period & Ovulation Tracker app were stayed by a California federal judge, who granted a joint motion by the company and a group of the app’s users after they jointly announced a settlement of the claims.
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November 14, 2024
Split 9th Circuit Rules On Schools’ Standing To Challenge Loan Settlement
SAN FRANCISCO — Three for-profit universities that alleged that their inclusion on a settlement exhibit in a class case over the U.S. Department of Education’s (DOE) alleged backlog of hundreds of thousands of unprocessed applications for borrower defense relief damaged their reputation showed that they had standing under Article III of the U.S. Constitution but lacked prudential standing to challenge final settlement approval, a split Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled.
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November 14, 2024
Google Play Gift Card Scam Victim Says Discovery Should Continue Pending Amendment
SAN JOSE, Calif. — A putative class action plaintiff accusing Google LLC and affiliated companies of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by failing to protect consumers from Google Play gift card scammers, whose complaint was recently dismissed with leave to amend, filed a brief in California federal court opposing the court’s reconsideration of a stay of discovery while she prepares an amended complaint.
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November 14, 2024
Employers Of Chauffeurs File Cross-Appeal After $2.5M Wage Settlement OK’d
PHOENIX — The employers of chauffeur drivers who brought a class and collective action wage-and-hour complaint in a federal court in Arizona filed a notice of cross-appeal as to judgment and nine orders issued over the course of four years; the filing followed final approval of a $2.5 million settlement between the drivers and the employers.
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November 14, 2024
Ill. County, Sheriff Ask U.S. High Court To Rule On Standing, Class Service Award
WASHINGTON, D.C. — An Illinois county and sheriff accused by a former detainee of denying him and others sufficient dental care filed a petition for a writ of certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court asking the justices to decide whether the detainee as a putative class representative has standing under Article III of the U.S. Constitution to continue the litigation and seek an incentive award after receiving relief on his individual claims.
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November 13, 2024
Final Judgment For Class Is Entered In ERISA Row Over 1989 Plan Conversion
HOUSTON — More than seven months after issuing findings of fact and conclusions of law following the conclusion of a 14-day bench trial, a Texas federal judge on Nov. 12 granted final judgment for a class in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit over the 1989 conversion of a retirement plan, briefly adopting “Defendants’ proposal regarding the appropriate form of equitable relief.”
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November 13, 2024
Dismissal Row In ERISA Health Plan Suit Involves Standing, Claim Requirements
MINNEAPOLIS — In Minnesota federal court, parties in a putative class action over alleged mismanagement of prescription drug benefits are disputing a dismissal bid focused on standing and whether fiduciary breach and prohibited transaction claims are sufficiently stated under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
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November 13, 2024
Law Firm’s $8M Global Data Breach Settlement Granted Final Approval
SAN FRANCISCO — An $8 million global class settlement to be paid by a law firm after its network was breached and the personally identifiable information (PII) of more than 630,000 individuals was potentially accessed was granted final approval on Nov. 12 by a federal judge in California.
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November 13, 2024
Objector Appeals After New York Times Auto-Renewal Class Settlement OK’d
NEW YORK — A class member who objected to a $2,375,000 settlement to be paid by The New York Times Co. to end a class complaint accusing the newspaper publisher of engaging in an illegal “automatic renewal” scheme filed a notice of appeal four weeks after final settlement approval was granted by a federal judge in New York.
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November 13, 2024
Live Nation, Ticketmaster Seek Rehearing After 9th Circuit’s Arbitration Ruling
PASADENA, Calif. — Live Nation Entertainment Inc. and Ticketmaster LLC filed a petition for panel rehearing and/or rehearing en banc on Nov. 12 after a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals 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.
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November 12, 2024
$115.5M In Real Estate Commissions Settlements Granted Preliminary, Final OK
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — In a pair of orders issued 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, a federal judge in Missouri granted preliminary approval of four settlements totaling $4,925,000 and final approval of nine settlements totaling $110.6 million.
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November 12, 2024
Mother Says Walmart’s ‘Hypoallergenic’ Baby Product Causes Contact Dermatitis
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California mother filed a putative class action lawsuit in California federal court accusing Walmart Inc. of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by misleadingly labeling its baby petroleum jelly product for treating diaper rash and other skin conditions as “hypoallergenic” when it in fact contains fragrance-related ingredients that can cause babies to experience contact dermatitis.
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November 12, 2024
Law Firm’s $8M Data Breach Settlement Tentatively Approved; Fees Reviewed
SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California issued a tentative ruling approving an $8 million class global settlement to be paid by a law firm after its network was breached and the personal identifiable information (PII) of more than 630,000 individuals was potentially accessed but questioned the specifics of the settlement terms and indicated that attorney fees were still being reviewed, according to civil minutes.
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November 11, 2024
Eye Drop Maker Agrees To Settle Claims Products Were Illegally Marketed
DENVER — A maker of a homeopathic eye drop has agreed to pay $3.57 million to settle class claims that it sold products without approval from U.S. Food and Drug Administration, according to an unopposed motion filed in a Colorado federal court.
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November 11, 2024
Final OK Given To $5.5M Amazon COVID-19 Screenings Pay Class Settlement
FRESNO, Calif. — A federal magistrate judge in California granted final approval of a $5.5 million settlement between California workers and Amazon.com Services LLC, ending two cases in which the workers allege that they were denied pay for time spent undergoing COVID-19 symptom screenings before their shifts.
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November 11, 2024
Plaintiffs, Law Firm Seek Initial Approval Of $8.5M Data Breach Suit Settlement
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A former client and a former employee of a law firm filed a motion for preliminary approval of an $8.5 million settlement of their putative class claims over a 2022 data breach experienced by the firm, telling a Florida federal court that the proposed agreement provides for such remedies as credit monitoring and identity theft protection, in addition to monetary claims.