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

Mealey's Class Actions

February 11, 2025
AI Employment Discrimination Plaintiffs Seek Conditional Certification

SAN FRANCISCO — Job seekers who claim they were discriminated against by an artificial intelligence hiring tool asked a federal judge in California to approve conditional certification of the collective action, saying the move will help protect prospective class members and ensure efficient resolution of the case.
February 11, 2025
Enforcement Of Settlement, Attorney Fees In GoDaddy TCPA Class Case Denied

MOBILE, Ala. — A federal judge in Alabama denied a motion to enforce a Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) class settlement with GoDaddy.com LLC, writing that the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in a July 2024 opinion vacated the District Court’s settlement approval as well as its ruling on attorney fees, clearing the way for the web hosting company to terminate the agreement.
February 10, 2025
Class Suit Alleges 2 Genders-Only Passport Policy Violates U.S. Constitution

BOSTON — The removal of the option to designate “X” on passports for those individuals who do not identify as female or male or who wish to keep a specified gender off their passport in response to a Jan. 20 executive order (EO) violates the U.S. Constitution, seven U.S. citizens allege in a putative class complaint filed Feb. 7 in a federal court in Massachusetts.
February 10, 2025
Woman Seeks To Represent Nationwide Class Against Toxic Embryo Solution Maker

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A woman who alleges that her developing embryos were destroyed by a toxic solution used during fertility-related treatments that was later recalled filed a putative nationwide class action in a Connecticut federal court against the manufacturer of the solution.
February 10, 2025
TRO Ruling Deferred After Government Agrees Not To ID FBI Workers On Trump Cases

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The federal government will not publicly release the identities of Federal Bureau of Investigation workers involved in investigating two events involving President Donald J. Trump at least until after ruling is issued on anticipated motions for a preliminary injunction in two cases seeking to stop such disclosures, according to a consent decree signed by a federal judge in the District of Columbia on Feb. 7.
February 10, 2025
Class Counsel Assigned In Consolidated Geisinger Health Data Theft Suit

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — A Pennsylvania federal judge concluded that the plaintiffs in a putative class action over a data theft incident experienced by Geisinger Health “would undoubtedly be well-served by either group of experienced and accomplished attorneys” proposed in competing motions to appoint class counsel; however, he selected the attorneys proposed by the plaintiff in the first-filed suit, finding them to be “best positioned to represent the interests of the class.”
February 07, 2025
HP Inc. Gets Amended ERISA Forfeiture Suit Tossed With Prejudice In Federal Court

SAN JOSE, Calif. — One of the first companies to face an Employee Retirement Income Security Act lawsuit for allegedly not putting forfeited nonvested matching retirement contributions toward administrative expenses got the amended complaint dismissed with prejudice; the California federal judge said in part that “the same categorical rule implicit in Plaintiff’s initial Complaint pervades the revised pleading” and “flies in the face of decades of ERISA practice.”
February 07, 2025
5 Motions To Dismiss Bellwether Complaint Filed In MOVEit Data Breach MDL

BOSTON — The software company that designed the MOVEit file-transfer app filed a motion in Massachusetts federal court to dismiss the bellwether complaint in the massive multidistrict litigation over a 2023 ransomware attack that targeted the app, as did four of its clients, whose customers had their personal information exposed in the incident.
February 07, 2025
Maryland High Court: Seller Not Registered As Home Builder, Must Answer Cases

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The Maryland Supreme Court ruled that because a company that sold two houses did not register under state law as a “home builder,” a contractual one-year time limit cannot apply to two homeowners who filed separate class actions alleging they were misled about 30-year deferred sewer and water costs associated with their home purchases.
August 02, 2024
Data Breach Class Suits Against Health Care Provider, IT Vendor Consolidated

SCRANTON, Pa. — A federal judge in Pennsylvania has consolidated nine putative class actions against Geisinger Health and its third-party information technology services vendor stemming from the Nov. 29 discovery that a former employee of the vendor had accessed and acquired the personally identifiable information (PII) and personal health information (PHI) of individuals who received health care from the provider.
February 06, 2025
Amici Support Appellees In 11th Circuit ERISA Pension Assumptions Row

ATLANTA — Agreeing with appellees, amici curiae have filed two briefs supporting affirmation of an Employee Retirement Income Security Act ruling that the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) as amicus in December urged the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to overturn; the appeal seeks revival of a putative class action challenging assumptions used to calculate annuities for married pension plan participants.
February 06, 2025
Workers: 1 Class Properly Certified, 3 Others Should Be Too In Vaccine Mandate Case

NEW ORLEANS — A trial court properly certified a class of customer-facing workers who sought religious accommodations from United Airlines Inc.’s COVID-19 vaccine policy and were place on unpaid leave for an indefinite amount of time, but the court erred by leaving certain workers outside of the certified class and by denying certification of three other proposed classes, United Airlines workers argue in an appellee/cross-appellant brief filed in the Fifth Circuit U.S Court of Appeals.
February 05, 2025
Privacy Suit Over Mental Health Site’s Data Sharing Mostly Survives Dismissal

PHOENIX — Two users of a mental health firm’s website adequately pleaded putative class claims for wiretapping, unfair competition and privacy over the site operator’s use of Meta Platforms Inc’s Pixel to collect and share users’ personal data, an Arizona federal judge ruled, mostly denying the operator’s dismissal motion.
February 05, 2025
CareFirst Data Breach Suit Settlement For Injunctive Relief Gets Initial OK

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal judge on Feb. 4 granted preliminary approval to a settlement of a decade-old putative class action over a health insurer’s 2014 data breach that offers only injunctive relief to class members.
February 05, 2025
CrowdStrike Says Stranded Travelers’ Claims Against It Are Preempted

AUSTIN, Texas — Tech company CrowdStrike Inc. on Feb. 4 filed a motion in Texas federal court to dismiss or strike a putative class complaint brought against it by travelers who accuse it of negligence for allegedly leaving them stranded in airports by causing 8.5 million computers to crash in one day, writing that federal law preempts such claims.
February 05, 2025
FBI Workers Involved In Trump Cases File 2 Suits To Keep Identities Private

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Two complaints, one of which is a putative class action, and two motions for temporary restraining orders (TROs) were filed Feb. 4 by current and former employees of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation Agents Association (FBIAA) in a federal court in the District of Columbia seeking to stop the publication or dissemination of a list allegedly being compiled of FBI employees who were involved in investigating two events involving President Donald J. Trump; the complaints allege that releasing the workers’ identifies will violate their privacy rights and put them at risk of retribution.
February 04, 2025
$5.9M Class Deal To Resolve Suit Against ESOP Trustee Wins Initial Approval

CHICAGO — An Employee Retirement Income Security Act class action asserting claims against the former trustee of an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) would be resolved under a $5.9 million class settlement that an Illinois federal judge has preliminarily approved.
February 04, 2025
4th Circuit Sends Most Of Servicemembers’ Credit Card Rates Claims To Arbitration

RICHMOND, Va. — The Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed a trial court’s order that the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) overrode arbitration agreements and permitted former servicemembers to proceed with a class complaint over civilian interest rate charges on credit card balances accrued while servicemembers, opining that the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) requires enforcement of the arbitration agreements.
February 04, 2025
Florida Judge Gives Final OK To $6.8 Million Settlement Of Hospital Data Breach Row

TAMPA, Fla. — A $6.8 million settlement of class claims over a hospital’s 2023 data breach achieved final approval from a Florida judge on Feb. 3, with attorney fees, costs and service awards also getting the thumbs up.
February 04, 2025
Plastic Surgeon Allegedly Failed To Protect Patient Data And Nude Photos From Hackers

LOS ANGELES — Eight patients on Feb. 3 filed suit in California federal court accusing a plastic surgeon and his medical practice of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by failing to protect their data or prevent a cyberattack by hackers who obtained data including nude photographs of patients, some of which the hackers have allegedly posted online.
February 04, 2025
Judge Orders Jurisdictional Inquiry In ‘Drip Pricing’ Suit Against Flower Company

CHICAGO — An Illinois federal judge on Feb. 3 ordered a jurisdictional inquiry in a putative class action lawsuit filed by a California resident who accuses an Illinois floral arrangement delivery company of engaging in the practice of “drip pricing,” specifically by allegedly adding a undisclosed “surprise fee” of $19.99 to customers’ orders at the last step of a complicated purchase process in violation of California consumer protection laws, including the unfair competition law (UCL).
February 04, 2025
Judge Certifies Classes, Denies Summary Judgment In ERISA Imprudence Row

GALVESTON, Texas — Briefly adopting memorandum and recommendations issued in 2023, a Texas federal judge on Feb. 3 overruled all objections, denying motions for summary judgment and partial summary judgment and granting certification of two classes in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act dispute over alleged retirement plan mismanagement.
February 04, 2025
Rehearing Motion Extension Request Opposed In Home Appraisal Fee Class Appeal

RICHMOND, Va. — Lenders accused of requiring borrowers to pay for “worthless” home appraisals as part of refinancing their mortgage loans filed an opposition Feb. 3 in the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to a motion for an extension of time to file a petition for rehearing; the motion was filed by the borrowers one week after the appellate panel considered for a second time class certification and damages for the borrowers and the majority opined that there was no showing of concrete harm.
February 04, 2025
8th Circuit Upholds Remand Of Putative Class Suit Alleging Sharing Of Health Info

ST. LOUIS — A trial court’s remand of a putative class suit accusing a health care company of violating Missouri law by sharing private health information with third parties was upheld by an Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel that opined that federal jurisdiction did not exist under the federal officer removal statute or the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA).
February 04, 2025
Federal Government Employees File Privacy Class Suit Over OPM ‘Test’ Emails

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Two federal workers referred to only as Jane Does filed a class complaint in a federal court in the District of Columbia accusing the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) of failing to conduct and publish a privacy impact assessment (PIA) before allegedly sending out “test” emails that the workers claim are being used to collect information on workers that is being sent to someone working for Elon Musk.