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Mealey's Class Actions

  • April 18, 2025

    Citing High Court, Judge Dissolves TRO In DOGE Fair Housing Grants Case

    SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Following U.S. Supreme Court precedent in a similar case, a Massachusetts federal judge dissolved his temporary restraining order (TRO) prohibiting the federal government from terminating the Fair Housing Initiatives Program (FHIP), saying the case belongs in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.

  • April 18, 2025

    Tobacco Surcharge Suit That Is Part Of Recent Wave Survives Dismissal

    JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Saying in part that there is precedent under which the named plaintiffs “have adequately alleged that Defendant’s tobacco surcharge violated [the Employee Retirement Income Security Act] because it did not offer a retroactive reimbursement,” a Missouri federal judge declined to dismiss a putative class action that is part of a recent wave of similar suits.

  • April 18, 2025

    $20 Million Global Settlement Of Fortra Software Data Breach MDL Gets Initial OK

    MIAMI — The Florida federal judge overseeing the multidistrict litigation over a 2023 security breach, experienced by users of Fortra LLC’s file-transfer app, granted preliminary approval to a $20 million global settlement that encompasses eight of nine putative class actions filed against the software company, its clients and their customers that provides for payments of up to $5,000 for affected class members.

  • 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 18, 2025

    Pennsylvania Federal Judge Awards Reduced $982,998 In Fees In Denny’s Settlement

    PITTSBURGH — A Pennsylvania federal judge has awarded a plaintiff in a wage and hour class settlement involving Denny’s restaurants $982,998 in attorney fees, reducing the requested amount by 11% for a variety of reasons, including reasonable fees for the Pittsburgh legal market.

  • April 17, 2025

    $5M Deal Gets Final OK, With Trimmed Awards, In ERISA Fees, Funds Case

    PHILADELPHIA — A $5 million class settlement including an agreement to conduct requests for proposals (RFPs) has been granted final approval in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit challenging a multiemployer retirement plan’s fund choices, share classes and record-keeping, but a Pennsylvania federal judge awarded reduced incentive awards and attorney fees of $1,000 and $950,000, respectively, instead of the $8,000 and $1,666,500 requested.

  • April 17, 2025

    Colorado High Court: Discovery Sought In Hospital Lien Class Suit Isn’t Relevant

    DENVER — In its second time considering a trial court’s order compelling discovery responses from an accident victim, the Colorado Supreme Court determined that the items sought by a hospital operator were not relevant to the plaintiff’s class claims under Colorado’s hospital lien statute and were not proportional to the needs of the case.

  • April 17, 2025

    Final Approval Granted To $4.75M Plus Bitcoin Settlement In Crypto Mining Suit

    NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York gave final approval to a settlement in which a cryptocurrency mining company agreed to pay $4.75 million in cash and the U.S. dollar equivalent of 25 bitcoin to settle a suit brought against it, certain executives and underwriters, by shareholders who alleged that the value of the company’s stock dropped after its initial public offering because it made misstatements and omissions in its offering statements in violation of the Securities Act of 1933.

  • April 17, 2025

    Defendant Seeks Immediate Appeal After PRT Challenge Survives Dismissal

    GREENBELT, Md. — Requesting that denial of its dismissal motion be certified for immediate interlocutory appeal in a putative class Employee Retirement Income Security Act lawsuit challenging pension risk transfers (PRTs), Lockheed Martin Corp. told a Maryland federal court that a sister court’s contradictory ruling highlights the need for review by the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

  • April 17, 2025

    Judge Declines To Reconsider Opinion In Class Action Against Crypto Platform

    NEWARK, N.J. — A federal judge denied a cryptocurrency platform’s motion for reconsideration of his opinion and order mostly denying its motion to dismiss a putative class action brought by investors alleging that the company and several of its executives and directors misrepresented material aspects of the platform’s business, holding that he did not overlook any legal issue when issuing the opinion.

  • April 17, 2025

    Government Appeals Criminal Contempt Probable Cause Ruling In Removal Class Case

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The federal government filed a notice of appeal on April 16 immediately following a ruling by a federal judge in the District of Columbia that probable cause exists to determine that the government’s actions in an immigrant removal class case constitute criminal contempt.

  • April 17, 2025

    Plaintiffs Lack DUFTA Standing, Insurance Holding Company Says In Delaware Court

    WILMINGTON, Del. — Arguing that the plaintiffs in a putative class suit lack standing to bring a Delaware Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act (DUFTA) claim, an insurance holding company and its affiliates seek summary judgment in the Delaware Chancery Court over an alleged scheme to strip capital from an insurance subsidiary on which many policyholders depend for long-term care (LTC) disability benefits.

  • 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 16, 2025

    Driver’s License Swiping Row Remanded To Oregon Court Without Attorney Fees Award

    PORTLAND, Ore. — A putative class action over a gas station chain’s practice of swiping customers’ driver’s licenses for age-restricted purchases was remanded to state court, with an Oregon federal judge fully adopting a magistrate’s recommendation to grant the plaintiff’s motion to remand for lack of standing.

  • April 16, 2025

    Federal Judge Dismisses Securities Suit Against Cybersecurity Company

    SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California dismissed investors’ putative class action complaint against a cybersecurity company and its executives for allegedly violating federal securities laws by making materially false or misleading statements about the company’s financials, finding that the investors failed to state a claim.

  • April 16, 2025

    Apple Says Smartwatch PFAS Plaintiffs Fail To State Injury In Fact, Seeks Dismissal

    SAN FRANCISCO — Apple Inc. has filed a motion to dismiss a putative class action in California federal court for lack of standing, arguing that the plaintiffs who sued the company claiming that Apple’s smartwatch bands contain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) do not allege an injury in fact.

  • 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

    7th Circuit Denies Petition Over Refusal To Transfer ERISA Mortality Table Row

    CHICAGO — Citing a 1989 U.S. Supreme Court decision, the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied a mandamus petition concerning denial of a motion to transfer a putative class Employee Retirement Income Security Act case challenging pension calculations that used a mortality table from 1984.

  • April 15, 2025

    Effective Vindication Rule Is Focus Of ERISA Imprudence Appeal In 9th Circuit

    SAN FRANCISCO — In separate briefs, a former 401(k) participant and amicus curiae organization Public Justice urge the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to affirm that a nonseverable arbitration provision is void because it contains a class, collective and representative action waiver that they say prevents effective vindication of plan participants’ substantive right under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

  • 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

    Federal Judge Rules GoDaddy TCPA Class Settlement Ruling Is Appealable

    MOBILE, Ala. — A February order declining enforcement of a Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) class settlement must be appealable as the decision involved a controlling question of law, “‘substantial’” differences of opinion exist and “‘immediate appeal may materially advance the ultimate termination of the litigation,’” a federal judge in Alabama ruled, quoting from 28 U.S. Code Section 1292(b).

  • April 14, 2025

    University Of Oregon Title IX Class Suit By Female Athletes Survives Nearly Intact

    EUGENE, Ore. — An Oregon federal judge has left largely intact a class action alleging that the University of Oregon violated Title IX by depriving members of the school’s women’s beach volleyball and rowing teams of scholarships, support and facilities compared to the men’s football team.

  • April 11, 2025

    Appeals Court Revives 2 BIPA Suits Over Nursing Homes’ Biometric Timeclocks

    MT. VERNON, Ill. — In a pair of almost identical unpublished opinions, a Fifth District Appellate Court of Illinois panel reversed a trial court’s dismissal of two putative class actions by former employees alleging violations of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) via nursing facilities’ use of biometric timeclocks.

  • April 11, 2025

    Consolidated Suit Over Medical Device Firm’s Data Breach Partly Dismissed

    BOSTON — A Massachusetts federal judge partly granted a medical device manufacturer’s motion to dismiss putative class claims against it stemming from a data breach, disposing of a fiduciary duty claim and several state law consumer protection claims, while largely allowing negligence, unjust enrichment and implied contract claims to proceed.

  • April 11, 2025

    Illinois Genetic Privacy Act Does Not Apply To Life Insurance, Judge Rules

    EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — The Illinois Genetic Privacy Act (GIPA) “does not apply to the underwriting practices concerning life insurance policies,” an Illinois federal judge found, granting an insurer’s motion to dismiss a putative class claim under GIPA brought against it by a woman who claimed that she was denied a life insurance policy based on information she provided about her family’s medical history.