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Mealey's California Section 17200

  • March 26, 2025

    Class Claims For School’s Nondisclosure Of Sexual Misconduct Fail, Panel Says

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California appellate panel affirmed the dismissal of a putative class action brought against a school for failing to disclose that three of its employees engaged in sexually abusive or inappropriate conduct, finding in part that the plaintiffs lacked standing to bring a claim for violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) as they were not directly harmed by the conduct.

  • March 24, 2025

    Apple Misled Consumers As To IPhone 16’s ‘AI-Driven’ Functions, Consumer Says

    SAN JOSE, Calif. — A consumer filed a putative class action lawsuit in California federal court accusing Apple Inc. of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other state consumer laws by misleading millions of consumers into buying its latest iPhone models by misrepresenting the artificial intelligence capacities that the iPhone 16’s “Apple Intelligence” and Siri software would offer.

  • March 24, 2025

    High Court Won’t Review COVID Deaths Suit Against Nursing Home Operators

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on March 24 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by a California nursing home operator and affiliated defendants that sought to challenge the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ affirmance of the remand to state court of a claim against them for the deaths of 15 elderly residents during the COVID-19 pandemic, which they contended was preempted by the federal PREP Act.

  • March 21, 2025

    9th Circuit Affirms Ruling Tossing ‘Illicit’ Ink Cartridge UCL Suit Against Amazon

    PASADENA, Calif. — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on March 20 affirmed a lower court ruling that dismissed with prejudice a lawsuit by a remanufacturer of ink cartridges accusing Amazon.com Inc. and its subsidiaries of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL), the Lanham Act and other laws by allowing third-party sellers to post allegedly deceptive listings for recycled printer ink cartridges, thereby diverting business from authentic ink cartridge recyclers, finding that “to the extent claims” against Amazon “survive” the Communications Decency Act (CDA), the remanufacturer “has failed to allege an actionable false statement by Amazon.”

  • March 18, 2025

    App’s Arbitration Agreement Was ‘Rife With Unfair Surprise,’ 9th Circuit Told

    SAN FRANCISCO — Mobile app game players who contend in a putative class suit that they were tricked into paying to play against bots instead of real people urge the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in a March 17 appellee brief to affirm a lower court’s ruling barring arbitration of their claims against the app’s developer and its co-founders, saying the agreement was unconscionable and required “batching” of claims that would have lasted “a century or more.”

  • March 18, 2025

    Costco: Baby Wipes Case Fails Because Studies Do Not Show Harmful Effects Of PFAS

    SAN FRANCISCO — Costco Wholesale Corp. has moved in California to dismiss a class action alleging that Kirkland Signature Baby Wipes contain unsafe levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), arguing that the plaintiffs do not cite “any state or federal regulations prohibiting or restricting the specific substances” at issue and do not point to a single study that purports to find harmful effects from those substances in humans.

  • March 18, 2025

    Consumers Tell High Court Federal Food Laws ‘Expressly Permit’ California Claims

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Two parents filed an opposition brief to the U.S. Supreme Court arguing that it should deny a baby food company’s petition for a writ of certiorari challenging a split Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel’s decision allowing the company to be sued for violating California consumer protection laws by allegedly violating federal labeling rules, writing that federal law does not preempt states from adopting “‘identical’” labeling rules.

  • March 17, 2025

    Labeling Suit Over Protein Powder Requiring Milk Dismissed By Judge

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California federal judge on March 14 granted a motion to dismiss a putative class action accusing a protein powder maker of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by failing to clearly label its products as requiring milk to provide consumers with the advertised amounts of protein, finding that a reasonable consumer wouldn’t be deceived based on the pleadings but granting leave to amend.

  • March 17, 2025

    Judge Grants Hunter Biden's Request To Drop Lawsuit Over Laptop Files

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted Hunter Biden’s ex parte application for an order of voluntary dismissal of his lawsuit against a conservative activist and his organization for violating computer fraud laws and California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by posting data from Biden’s private laptop online, but citing defense claims of “legal prejudice” and the timing of the filing entered dismissal with prejudice instead of without as Biden had requested.

  • March 14, 2025

    Parents Say Fortnite Provokes ‘FOMO’ In Youths To Spur In-Game Item Sales

    SAN FRANCISCO — Two parents filed a putative class action in California federal court accusing Epic Games Inc., the developer of “Fortnite,” of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by using “deceptive countdown timers” and other marketing tactics to pressure vulnerable youths into purchasing in-game items, in part due to their youthful susceptibility to the “fear of missing out” (FOMO).

  • March 14, 2025

    Judge Dismisses Suit Over Fruit Company’s Health Claims With Prejudice

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge on March 13 dismissed with prejudice a putative class action against a fruit company for labeling its fruit products as “Healthy” and providing “Good Nutrition” despite containing significant amounts of sugar, writing that the plaintiffs in their amended complaint failed to establish that the claims are not “puffery” and would deceive a reasonable consumer.

  • March 14, 2025

    Developer Accused Of Using Roblox To Start Robux Gambling Games Seeks Dismissal

    SAN FRANCISCO — A third-party developer filed a motion in California federal court to dismiss cross-claims brought against it by Roblox Corp. in a putative class action lawsuit filed by parents who say their minor children accessed gambling games through the Roblox platform, writing that the court lacks jurisdiction, the claims are untimely and the claims against it are deficient on the merits.

  • March 13, 2025

    Facebook Swimsuit-Photo App Loses Appeal Of Anti-SLAPP And Attorney Fees Rulings

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California appellate panel on March 12 affirmed an order striking claims against Facebook Inc., CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other employees for violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by restricting the developer of an app that searched Facebook for photos of people wearing swimsuits from accessing user data and affirmed a roughly $683,000 attorney fee award against the developer.

  • March 12, 2025

    Plaintiffs Suing Over Fake Discounts May Seek Equitable Relief Based On Pleadings

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge denied a window coverings seller’s motion to dismiss a putative class action lawsuit alleging that it violated California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other statutes by misrepresenting its regular prices as time-limited sales, siding with other federal courts within the Ninth Circuit that reserve “stricter” scrutiny of equitable relief pleadings for the summary judgment stage.

  • March 11, 2025

    Putative Class Claims Over Sugary Protein Bars May Proceed, Judge Says

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted in part and denied in part a protein bar maker’s motion to dismiss a putative class action accusing it of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and New York consumer laws by advertising and labeling its products as healthy when they in fact contain high levels of sugar.

  • March 11, 2025

    Deceptive Labels Suit Against ‘Healthy’ Snack-Maker Can Proceed, Magistrate Says

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California federal magistrate judge recommended denial in part of a snack-maker’s motion to dismiss a consumer’s putative class suit against it for violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by using misleading claims such as “healthier” to deceive consumers into buying its products, which are allegedly high in saturated fat.

  • March 07, 2025

    Privacy, Biometric Claims Over CapCot Video-Editing App Survive Dismissal

    CHICAGO — An Illinois federal judge largely granted a motion by ByteDance Inc. to dismiss putative class claims over the purported collection of personal data from users of its CapCot video-editing app, finding that a group of the app’s users did not establish claims for unfair competition, unjust enrichment and violation of several federal and California state privacy laws.

  • March 07, 2025

    Final Judgment Entered For $27.5 Million Thomson Reuters Data-Selling Settlement

    SAN FRANCISCO — One week after a California federal judge granted final approval to a $27.5 million settlement of a class action over Thomson Reuters Corp.’s online gathering and sale of personally identifying information (PII) of Californians, he issued final judgment in the four-year-old suit, dismissing unjust enrichment and unfair competition claims against the company.

  • March 06, 2025

    Suits Consolidated Against Microsoft For ‘Stealing’ Affiliate Link Benefits

    SEATTLE — A Washington federal judge consolidated nine putative class actions against Microsoft Corp. brought by app operators and online content creator that earn money from online marketing and claim that Microsoft’s in-browser shopping extension “systematically steals commission payments from their rightful owners.”

  • March 05, 2025

    $9.5 Million Settlement Of Payroll Firm Data Breach Suit Gets Final Approval

    LOS ANGELES — Six months after a $9.5 million settlement of privacy and unfair competition claims over a payroll services provider’s 2023 data breach was preliminarily approved, a California judge gave the final stamp of approval to the agreement, also granting the plaintiffs’ motion for attorney fees, costs and class representative service awards.

  • March 04, 2025

    Furniture Delivery Company Asks 9th Circuit To Rehear UCL Coverage Dispute

    PASADENA, Calif. — A furniture delivery company insured has asked the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reconsider its ruling that an insurer has no duty to defend it against an underlying misappropriation of trade secrets and unfair competition lawsuit brought by a competitor, challenging the appeal court’s affirmation of a lower federal court’s grant of the insurer’s motion for summary judgment in its breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit.

  • March 04, 2025

    Judge Dismisses Monopoly Claims Against Apple Over iCloud Storage

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted Apple Inc.’s motion to dismiss a putative class action in which consumers accuse it of monopolizing access to its iCloud data storage service on Apple devices in violation of federal and state antitrust laws and California’s unfair competition law (UCL), finding the plaintiffs did not sufficiently allege a violation of federal law, a monopoly or unfair conduct.

  • March 03, 2025

    Choice-Of-Law Ruling Issued In Disability Insurance Suit In Federal Court

    NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Granting an insurer’s motion for partial judgment on the pleadings in a suit challenging the discontinuation of long-term disability (LTD) benefits, a Connecticut federal judge ruled that the “tort, equity, and contract claims under the common law are not governed by California law” and that three California and North Carolina statutory claims fail as a matter of law.

  • February 27, 2025

    High Court Distributes Nursing Home Operators’ Challenge To COVID Deaths Suit

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 26 distributed for conference a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by a California nursing home operator and affiliated defendants challenging the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ affirmance of the remand to state court of a case against them for the deaths of 15 elderly residents during the COVID-19 pandemic, arguing that the federal PREP Act preempts state law claims against them and requires removal.

  • February 27, 2025

    Judge Certifies Class Accusing Loan App Operator Of Concealing Fees

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge certified a class of California residents accusing a consumer loan app operator of concealing certain fees while operating as an unlicensed lender in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and California finance laws, denied the app operator’s motion to exclude a plaintiffs’ witness and granted in part the defendant’s motion for summary judgment as to claims regarding its performance fees.