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Mealey's California Section 17200

  • April 18, 2025

    OnlyFans’ California Profits Create Jurisdiction, Subscribers Tell 9th Circuit

    SAN FRANCISCO — Two subscribers of adult website OnlyFans urge the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reverse a California federal judge’s dismissal for lack of jurisdiction of their lawsuit accusing OnlyFans’ foreign owner of unlawful subscription renewals in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL), writing that the website purposefully avails itself of California and makes $400 million in annual revenue from the state.

  • April 17, 2025

    Groups Say Iron Works Has Polluted Groundwater With Stormwater Discharges

    SAN DIEGO — Environmental groups have sued an ironworking company in California federal court arguing that it is liable for contamination of local groundwater because it has discharged, and continues to discharge, polluted stormwater from its facility to downstream waters and groundwater in violation of the Clean Water Act (CWA).

  • April 17, 2025

    $195,000 Class Deal Gets Final OK In Suit Over Allegedly Fraudulent Policies

    SANTA ANA, Calif. — Noting the absence of objections and that “the average class member payment will be $467.77, and the highest payment will be $5,204.40,” a California federal judge granted final approval to a $195,000 class settlement that resolves a suit over allegedly counterfeited insurance policies sold through a captive reinsurance arrangement.

  • April 15, 2025

    Harm From Mattress Maker’s Strike-Through Pricing Unclear, Magistrate Judge Says

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California federal magistrate judge recommended granting a mattress manufacturer’s motion to dismiss a putative class action lawsuit against it for violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws, writing that the plaintiff sufficiently alleged that she was deceived by “strike-through reference pricing” but failed to plead that she suffered damages as a result.

  • April 15, 2025

    Skechers Seeks Coverage For Injury Claims Caused By Shoes’ Lack Of Slip-Resistance

    LOS ANGELES — Skechers USA Inc. sued its commercial liability insurer in a California court for breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing and unfair competition, alleging that the insurer has a duty to defend it against an underlying action contending that class members were harmed by actual physical accidents caused by the insured’s shoes’ lack of slip-resistance or by the fact that the shoes were unusable.

  • April 14, 2025

    Dismissal Bid Fought In Dispute Over Disability Policy ‘Age 65’ Language

    PHOENIX — Arguing in part that the defendants’ “desired interpretation runs counter to the well-pleaded facts, the parties’ expectations, any reasonable consumer’s expectations, and decisional law,” a plaintiff on April 11 urged an Arizona federal court to deny dismissal of his putative class complaint over whether certain individual long-term disability (LTD) benefits must be paid through eligible insureds’ 65th birthdays.

  • April 14, 2025

    9th Circuit Reverses Denial Of Damages, Fees Against Chinese Air Filter Seller

    SAN JOSE, Calif. — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on April 11 reversed and remanded a federal judge’s ruling denying an air purifier seller’s motion request for roughly $2.5 million in default judgment and attorney fees against a Chinese company that harmed its business by selling shoddy replacement filters for its products, writing that a party may still seek damages in default even if the amount of damages is not specified in the pleadings.

  • April 11, 2025

    Judge Keeps UCL Suit Against ‘Social’ Gambling Site In Federal Court

    LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge denied a motion filed by a plaintiff with a gambling addiction to remand his “representative” complaint asking the court to shut down an online “social” gambling website he says is operated in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and Consumers Legal Remedies Act (CLRA), finding that the amount in controversy for federal jurisdiction is met based on the potential costs of the plaintiff’s sought relief to the website operator.

  • April 11, 2025

    Judge Grants Summary Judgment On ‘Fraud’ Claims For Facebook Ad Removal

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted Meta Platforms Inc.’s motion for summary judgment against a content publisher that accused Meta of breach of contract and violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) for removing its content from Facebook after the publisher spent more than 53 million Canadian dollars on Facebook advertising, finding that its claims were untimely.

  • April 11, 2025

    OpenAI Launches Unfair Competition Law Counterclaim Against Musk

    SAN FRANCISCO — OpenAI Inc. hit Elon Musk with a California unfair competition law counterclaim in his suit over its corporate structure, saying the co-founder can’t stand seeing its success in the wake of his departure and launched an ongoing campaign of harassment to undermine the company.

  • April 10, 2025

    Class Suit Against OnlyFans Over ‘Chatter’ Scheme May Proceed Anonymously

    SANTA ANA, Calif. — A California federal judge on April 9 declined to dismiss putative class claims brought by California subscribers of adult website OnlyFans for an alleged “chatter scheme” in which they were allegedly deceived into paying to communicate with adult content creators, but instead were connected to “professional chatters,” and said the plaintiffs may proceed anonymously to avoid the risk of embarrassment from revealing private messages discussing their “sexual interests.”

  • April 09, 2025

    Google, Class Plaintiffs Settle 14-Year-Old AdWords Suit For $100M

    SAN JOSE, Calif. — A consumer and his company representing two certified classes of advertisers who claim that Google LLC misrepresented the benefits of its AdWords advertising service have moved in California federal court for preliminary approval of a $100 million settlement to claims against Google first filed in 2011 and say their attorneys will seek a 33% attorney fees award.

  • April 09, 2025

    Vape Maker Says Plaintiffs’ PFAS Class Action Fails For Lack Of Jurisdiction

    SAN FRANCISCO — A maker of vapes has moved in California federal court to dismiss a putative class action alleging that its products contain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), arguing that subject matter jurisdiction is lacking and that the plaintiffs have failed to plead fraud-based claims with particularity.

  • April 08, 2025

    Class Claims Over ‘Habit Forming’ Chemical In Sleep Aid May Proceed, Judge Says

    OAKLAND, Calif. — A California federal judge denied a consumer health product company’s motion to dismiss a putative class action filed against it by a consumer who accuses it of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by misrepresenting its product as not habit forming, finding that the plaintiffs provided scientific evidence that the product can cause dependency and withdrawal symptoms.

  • April 07, 2025

    Class Claims Against Apple For Slowing Iphones With Update May Proceed, Judge Says

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted in part and denied in part Apple Inc.’s motion to dismiss a putative class action brought against it by users of an older iPhone model who accuse it of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by deceiving them into downloading an iPhone software update that was optimized for newer-model iPhones and allegedly caused a slowdown in their devices.

  • April 07, 2025

    More Than $12M In Attorney Fees, Expenses Awarded After Apple Gift Card Settlement

    SAN JOSE, Calif. — A federal judge in California, over objections by Apple Inc. and Apple Value Services LLC (together, Apple), granted approval of $11.65 million in attorney fees and more than $500,000 in expenses sought by the plaintiffs and class counsel as part of a $35 million settlement in a case over an alleged iTunes gift card scam.

  • April 04, 2025

    Judge Won’t Dismiss False Discount Class Claims Against Helix Mattress Seller

    LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge denied a motion filed by the company that sells Helix-brand mattresses to dismiss or strike putative class claims against it for violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by allegedly marketing mattresses for sale online with fake discounts and countdowns to deceive customers into believing that they could benefit from time-limited sales.

  • April 04, 2025

    Judge Approves $15 Million Settlement Of Cash App Data Breach Class Action

    SAN FRANCISCO — Almost 10 months after a California federal judge preliminarily approved a $15 million settlement of a consolidated class action against the owners of Cash App over a pair of data breaches that exposed users’ personally identifiable information (PII) and account data, the judge granted the named plaintiffs’ motion for final approval, settling 16 claims, including negligence, fraud, invasion of privacy and unfair competition.

  • April 03, 2025

    Class Representative Seeks $73M Judgment Against Company For Fake Reviews

    SAN JOSE, Calif. — A plaintiff representing a certified class of consumers who claim that they were deceived by a Chinese manufacturer-owned company’s practice of faking reviews on Amazon.com to sell shoddy electronics in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws filed a motion in California federal court for default judgment following the withdrawal from proceedings by the defendant.

  • April 02, 2025

    Judge Allows Insureds’ ERISA, UCL Claims Against Cigna In AI Claims Denial Case

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California federal judge granted in part and denied in part Cigna Corp. and its affiliate’s motion to dismiss insureds’ claims that they violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by allegedly denying coverage using an artificial intelligence algorithm.

  • April 02, 2025

    Sugarcane Companies Accused Of Deceiving Consumers With ‘Greenwashing’ Claims

    SAN FRANCISCO — A consumer filed a putative class action in California federal court against a sugarcane grower and its parent company alleging that they have deceptively marketed their sugar as environmentally friendly in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) while in fact continuing to use sugarcane harvesting practices the consumer says “poison people and the planet.”

  • April 01, 2025

    Consumer Claims Over Watery ‘Buttery Spread’ Dismissed By Judge

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California federal judge dismissed a putative class action lawsuit accusing a butter alternative maker of deceiving consumers by manufacturing the product with higher-than-normal quantities of water and flaxseed oil, which apparently led to thousands of consumer complaints and some sales of “rancid” products, finding that the plaintiff failed to sufficiently allege a violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws.

  • March 31, 2025

    $7.5M Beyond Meat Protein Content Class Settlement Approved

    CHICAGO — A federal judge in Illinois granted final approval of a $7.5 million class settlement between Beyond Meat Inc. and consumers who alleged that the plant-based meat substitute company inflated protein content and overstated the quality of the protein in its products.

  • March 31, 2025

    Judge Stays Deceptive Marketing Class Claims Against Zyn Maker Due To Earlier Suit

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California federal judge on March 28 stayed a putative class action against Swedish Match North America LLC (SM) for allegedly deceptively marketing Zyn nicotine pouches as nicotine cessation products in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws after finding a similar suit is already pending and applying the “first-to-file rule.”

  • March 31, 2025

    Judge Allows Class Suit Over ‘Truffles From France’ Claims To Proceed

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California federal judge on March 28 denied a chocolate maker’s motion for judgment on the pleadings in a putative class action filed by two women who say the company deceptively marketed its chocolate truffles as made in France in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws .