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Mealey's Class Actions

  • January 21, 2025

    U.S. Supreme Court Hears Arguments In Appeal On Jurisdiction For FCC Orders

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Orders by the Federal Communications Commission and other agencies that interpret federal statutes do not under the Hobbs Act need to be treated by trial courts as binding precedent, and instead direct review should be conducted in the courts of appeals, the attorney representing a chiropractic practice argued today before the U.S. Supreme Court in the appeal of a Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) class case while citing Carlton & Harris Chiropractic, Inc. v. PDR Network, LLC.

  • January 21, 2025

    9th Circuit Dismisses Inmate’s Appeal Of $725M Facebook Profile-Sharing Suit

    SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals issued a mandate, stating that a judgment in which it dismissed as untimely an inmate’s appeal of the $725 million settlement of the consolidated class action over Facebook Inc. (now known as Meta Platforms Inc.) sharing users’ profile data with Cambridge Analytica, was now in effect.

  • January 21, 2025

    Settlement Of Just Over $1.4M Gets Initial OK In Suit Over Insurer’s Denials

    UTICA, N.Y. — A New York federal judge on Jan. 17 granted preliminary approval to a $1,415,000 settlement in a class action over allegations that United Behavioral Health violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act by issuing blanket denials for residential treatments for mental health and chemical dependency claims when it considered even a single aspect of the facility’s treatment experimental.

  • January 21, 2025

    MOVEit Data Breach MDL Plaintiffs Oppose Review Of Dismissal Denial

    BOSTON — A December ruling that denied dismissal of three lawsuits against one of the defendants in a multidistrict litigation over a 2023 data security incident related to MOVEit software does not merit reconsideration, the consolidated plaintiffs argue in an opposition brief, telling a Massachusetts federal court that a health tech firm did not offer any new arguments or evidence to support its quest for dismissal under the home-state exception of the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA).

  • January 21, 2025

    Judge Rules On What Experts Can Testify To In Suit Over Prisoner Searches

    CHICAGO — Experts on both sides of a civil rights violation class action over searches of inmates and their cells can opine on the generally accepted correctional practices, but an Illinois federal judge limited testimony that is unsupported by a methodology found reliable under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc.

  • January 21, 2025

    Judge Dismisses Class Action Alleging Insurer Violated Insureds’ Right To Privacy

    CHICAGO — A federal judge in Illinois granted an insurer and an association of insurance companies’ motions to dismiss a putative class action alleging that they retained and disclosed the insureds’ protected health information in violation of their right to privacy pursuant to Illinois state law, finding the negligence and invasion of privacy claims barred by the immunity provision in the Illinois Insurance Code.

  • January 17, 2025

    MOVEit Data Breach MDL Plaintiffs Oppose Review Of Dismissal Denial

    BOSTON — A December ruling that denied dismissal of three lawsuits against one of the defendants in a multidistrict litigation over a 2023 data security incident related to MOVEit software does not merit reconsideration, the consolidated plaintiffs argue in an opposition brief, telling a Massachusetts federal court that a health tech firm did not offer any new arguments or evidence to support its quest for dismissal under the home-state exception of the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA).

  • January 17, 2025

    Former Detainee Agues No Circuit Split Exists On Standing, Class Service Award

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A former detainee who accuses an Illinois county and sheriff of denying him and others sufficient dental care filed an opposition to a petition in the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that no circuit split exists regarding whether a settling class representative has standing to appeal the denial of class certification and his case presents a poor vehicle to address the legality of class service awards.

  • January 17, 2025

    Argument Set For Hawaii Supreme Court Case On Wildfire Settlement Subrogation

    HONOLULU — An amicus curiae group called the “Consolidated Class Plaintiffs” will take part in Feb. 6 oral argument after the Hawaii Supreme Court expanded the time allotted in the case concerning reserved questions on how the subrogation rights of property and casualty insurance carriers bear on a proposed global settlement of claims related to the August 2023 Maui wildfires; additionally, a pending opposed motion seeks to stay a lower court’s allocation proceeding.

  • January 17, 2025

    Local Controversy Exception Sends Development Class Action Back To State Court

    ANDERSON/GREENWOOD, S.C. — A South Carolina federal judge has remanded a construction defect class action for a large residential development because the case qualified for the local controversy exception for removal under the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA).

  • January 17, 2025

    Judge Tentatively OKs $7.5M ‘Virtual Diamonds’ Refund In Gambling App Settlement

    LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge at a Jan. 16 hearing presented his tentative ruling granting a motion for preliminary approval of a settlement between a mobile casino games developer and a putative class represented by two players who accused the developer of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and state gambling laws, deeming “fair” the settlement, which is projected to require an in-game currency refund to players worth a total of $7.5 million, injunctive relief purportedly worth $163.2 million and attorney fees greater than $1.4 million.

  • January 17, 2025

    $4.95M Class Settlement Gets Preliminary OK In ERISA Tobacco Surcharge Suit

    SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A Missouri federal judge on Jan. 16 granted preliminary approval to a $4.95 million class settlement proposed in a suit that was filed months before a recent wave of similar Employee Retirement Income Security Act challenges to health plans’ tobacco surcharges.

  • January 16, 2025

    ‘ZzzQuil’ Maker Accused Of Misleading ‘Natural’ Marketing In Putative Class Suit

    SAN DIEGO — A consumer filed a putative class action against The Procter & Gamble Co. (P&G) in California federal court claiming that it misleadingly markets a sleep aid as providing benefits “naturally” in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) because it is actually made with “synthesized” artificial ingredients.

  • January 16, 2025

    Microsoft Browser Extension ‘Steals’ Affiliate Links For Profit, App Operator Says

    SEATTLE — An app operator and online content creator that earns funds from online marketing filed a putative class action complaint in Washington federal court against Microsoft Corp. contending that its in-browser shopping extension “systematically steals commission payments from their rightful owners,” writing that Microsoft knowingly takes affiliate links posted by marketers and redirects their expected profits to itself in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL).

  • January 16, 2025

    Unspecified Deal Reported Just Before Bench Trial In ERISA Suit Over TDFs

    ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Saying she was notified by email “that the Parties have settled this matter,” a Pennsylvania federal judge on Jan. 15 adjourned “all trial-related proceedings” in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act class action against electricity provider PPL Corp. and related defendants challenging the inclusion of Northern Trust target date funds (TDFs) in four defined-contribution pension benefit plans.

  • January 15, 2025

    Judge Orders Distribution Of Funds In $15 Million Zillow Securities Settlement

    SEATTLE — A federal judge in Washington ordered the distribution of a $15 million class action settlement in a case brought by investors against online real estate marketplace provider Zillow Group Inc. alleging that the provider concealed the development of a co-marketing program that violated the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) and encouraged such violations in violation of federal securities laws.

  • January 15, 2025

    Attorney Fees Of Over $4.2M Awarded in $14.5 Settlement Of ESOP Deal Challenge

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware federal judge on Jan. 14 granted final approval to two class settlements that the plaintiffs said sit “at the high end of the range of settlements resolving” similar employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) claims, with a combined recovery of $14.5 million that averages “about $35,109 per Class Member before fees, costs, and expenses.”

  • January 15, 2025

    Plaintiffs Fight Bid For Disclosure Log In Suit Over Repricing Method

    OAKLAND, Calif. — Alleging ulterior motives and arguing that they have a common interest agreement (CIA) with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) that “embodies the protections of [a protective order] and ensures the confidentiality of documents is maintained,” plaintiffs in a suit over alleged underpayment for out-of-network behavioral health treatment claims urge a California federal court to deny an administrative motion.

  • January 15, 2025

    Unanimous High Court: Federal Jurisdiction Lost When Federal Claims Are Deleted

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal court’s supplemental jurisdiction over state law claims is lost when a plaintiff amends a complaint and deletes the federal claims that enabled removal from a state court, a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court ruled Jan. 15 in a putative class case accusing two pet food companies of misleading consumers on the quality and value of prescription pet food.

  • January 15, 2025

    $450,000 Class Settlement Proposed In Newspaper Subscription Calls TCPA Case

    PHILADELPHIA — A Philadelphia woman moved in a federal court in Pennsylvania for preliminary approval of a $450,000 class settlement proposed by a telecommunications company to end her complaint alleging that she and a certified class received more than one newspaper subscription phone call in the last four years despite being on the National Do-Not-Call Registry (DNC) and not having established business relationships with the defendant.

  • January 15, 2025

    3rd Circuit Denies Rehearing After Dismissal Of Cannabis Use Suit Upheld

    PHILADELPHIA — The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied a petition for rehearing filed by a job applicant after the panel majority upheld a ruling finding that a New Jersey law prohibiting the firing of workers for cannabis use does not create a private cause of action.

  • January 15, 2025

    Final Approval Given To $2 Million Insurance-Funded Settlement Of Data Breach Suit

    PORTLAND, Ore. — Five months after preliminarily approving a $2 million settlement of a class action over a marketing execution firm’s 2022 data breach, an Oregon federal judge granted final approval, deeming the approval “fair, reasonable, and adequate” and in accord with the requirements of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23.

  • January 14, 2025

    Judge Affirms Discovery Orders Involving DOL Common Interest Agreement

    DENVER — Saying that a decision by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) not to file a challenge “ends the issue” but that she addressed objections anyway “out of caution,” a Colorado federal judge on Jan. 13 upheld related discovery rulings concerning a common interest agreement (CIA) in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit challenging a deal.

  • January 14, 2025

    AI Voice Cloning Company Voice Actors Brief Motion To Dismiss

    NEW YORK — Responding to an artificial intelligence company’s contention that voice actors’ claims were time-barred and suffered from other defects, two named class action plaintiffs told a federal judge in New York that they own the rights to their voices and that the ongoing use of cloned voices sold under different names places the case within the applicable time frame.

  • January 14, 2025

    Florida Furniture Retailer Will Pay $1.48M To Settle EEOC Gender Bias Class Claims

    TAMPA, Fla. — A Florida-based furniture retail company will pay $1,482,748 and provide equitable relief to end a lawsuit by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging that the company had a policy of not hiring female applicants for driver and warehouse positions, according to a consent decree signed by a federal judge in Florida.