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

Mealey's Class Actions

December 18, 2024
Royalty Payment Case Against Fracking Companies Is Valid, Plaintiffs Argue

WHEELING, W.Va. — The plaintiffs who sued Southwestern Energy Co. and Southwestern Production Co. LLC (collectively, Southwestern) alleging that they paid diminished royalties regarding hydraulic fracturing mineral rights filed a brief in West Virginia federal court arguing that it should deny the defendants’ motion for summary judgment on grounds the defendants “knew and anticipated the impact on Plaintiff’s well but went forward with drilling,” saying the facts of the case “fit squarely within the negligence theory of liability under Atkinson v. Virginia.”
December 18, 2024
PACER Settlement Objector Argues Court Abused Its Discretion With Approval

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A trial court exceeded its jurisdiction and abused its discretion by including in a Public Access to Court Electronic Records system (PACER) fees settlement class users whose expenditures and claims exceeded $10,000, a settlement objector argues in his corrected appellant and reply brief both filed on the same day in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
December 18, 2024
9th Circuit Denies Rehearing After Live Nation, Ticketmaster Arbitration Ruling

PASADENA, Calif. — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel unanimously denied a petition for panel rehearing, and the majority denied a petition for rehearing en banc filed by Live Nation Entertainment Inc. and Ticketmaster LLC after the panel affirmed a trial court’s denial of arbitration in a putative class complaint accusing the two companies of engaging in anticompetitive practices in online ticket sales.
December 18, 2024
Netflix Granted Extension To Respond To Wrongful Death Class High Court Petition

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court gave Netflix Inc. until Dec. 27 to file a requested response to a petition for a writ of certiorari presenting jurisdictional questions in a putative class complaint filed by the estate and family members of a minor who died by suicide who accuse the streaming service of strict liability, wrongful death and negligence in connection with its release of a show depicting a suicide.
December 18, 2024
Class, Real Estate Companies Oppose 3 Appeals Challenging Commissions Settlements

ST. LOUIS — Home sellers and three realty companies filed appellee briefs opposing three appeals by objectors to settlements between the sellers, real estate franchise and The National Association of Realtors (NAR) found by a jury to have conspired to artificially inflate the cost of commissions in residential real estate transactions.
December 17, 2024
Dismissal Motions Mostly Denied In MOVEit Data Breach MDL

BOSTON — In a pair of rulings, a Massachusetts federal judge declined to dismiss six of the consolidated lawsuits filed over the theft of medical data that occurred due to vulnerabilities in a file-transfer software program, finding that the home-state exception to the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA) did not apply and concluding that plaintiffs in all but four of the hundreds of cases in the multidistrict litigation had sufficiently established standing under Article III of the U.S. Constitution.
December 17, 2024
Final Approval Recommended For $19M Class Deal In Lawsuit Over ESOP

TAMPA, Fla. — A Florida federal magistrate judge has recommended awarding the requested attorney fees and final approval of a $19 million class settlement that the plaintiffs say would “provide[] an average recovery of more than $100,000 per class member on a gross basis, topping the chart of recent ESOP [employee stock ownership plan] settlements by a substantial margin.”
December 16, 2024
Patients, Employees Settle Data Breach Suit Against Dental Chain For $2.7 Million

DETROIT — A Michigan federal judge granted final approval to a $2.7 million agreement that settles negligence and implied contract claims brought by the employees and patients of a multistate dental chain related to a February 2023 data breach that exposed the personally identifiable information (PII) of almost 2 million people.
December 16, 2024
United Tells 5th Circuit Class Incorrectly Certified In Vaccine Mandate Suit

NEW ORLEANS — A federal judge in Texas erred in partially granting a motion for class certification filed by United Airlines Inc. employees in a case over the company’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate as Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23’s commonality, predominance or superiority requirements were not satisfied, United Airlines argues in an appellant/cross-appellee brief filed in the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
December 16, 2024
Summary Judgment Bid Fails In ERISA Suit Challenging TDFs

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — With scant explanation, a Pennsylvania federal judge on Dec. 13 denied a summary judgment motion filed by PPL Corp. and related defendants in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act class action challenging the inclusion of Northern Trust target date funds (TDFs) in four defined-contribution pension benefit plans.
December 16, 2024
9th Circuit Vacates Sending Wage Class Suit Arbitrability To Arbitrator

PASADENA, Calif. — A collective bargaining agreement’s (CBA) arbitration provision requires a court, not an arbitrator, to determine the arbitrability of wage-and-hour class claims brought under California law, a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled in a Dec. 13 unpublished memorandum, vacating an order that denied the employers’ motion to compel arbitration pending a decision by an arbitrator.
December 13, 2024
$69M Class Settlement Is Proposed In ERISA Date Funds Challenge

MINNEAPOLIS — A Minnesota federal court was asked on Dec. 13 to preliminarily approve a $69 million proposal that the class representative says would be “the largest settlement in the history of investment performance cases in an [Employee Retirement Income Security Act] context.”
December 13, 2024
Hawaii Supreme Court Considers Subrogation Issues For Wildfire Settlement

HONOLULU — 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 is the focus of three reserved questions the Hawaii Supreme Court is considering, with some recent filings involving how reinsurance could be affected.
December 12, 2024
$3.5M Settlement In ERISA Suit Over TDFs, Another Fund Wins Final Approval

GREENSBORO, N.C. — A North Carolina federal judge has granted final approval to a $3.5 million class settlement that resolved retirement plan participants’ Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit challenging the use of target-date funds (TDFs) and another investment option.
December 12, 2024
DOL Files Amicus Brief In 11th Circuit ERISA Row Over Outdated Pension Assumptions

ATLANTA — The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has filed an amicus curiae brief supporting revival of a putative class action over the calculation of annuities for married pension plan participants,arguing that part of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act requires using “reasonable assumptions” and that the challenged ruling is “[c]ontrary to the meaning and purpose of the statute, governing regulation, and overwhelming weight of case law.”
December 12, 2024
Judge Finds For Plaintiffs On 1 Claim In ERISA Benefits Suit Over Spin-Off

PHILADELPHIA — After conducting a bench trial, a Pennsylvania federal judge reached a split partial verdict in a class action over corporate restructuring that affected retirement benefits, finding that the defendants are liable on a claim for optional retirement benefits but not on a claim for early retirement benefits.
December 11, 2024
Split 3rd Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of Class Suit Over Cannabis Use Firing

PHILADELPHIA — A New Jersey law prohibiting the firing of workers for cannabis use does not create a private cause of action, a split Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled, declining an alternative request to certify a question on the law and a question regarding pre-employment discrimination to the New Jersey Supreme Court.
December 11, 2024
2nd Circuit Refusal To Revive ERISA Fees Case Draws Concurring Opinion

NEW YORK — As urged by amicus curiae the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America, a Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Dec. 10 refused to revive a putative class case in which participants in a Deloitte retirement plan challenged record-keeping fees under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, with one member of the panel concurring “in part . . . and in the judgment.”
December 11, 2024
U.S. High Court Requests Response From Former Detainee To County’s Wage Petition

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court asked a former detainee to respond to a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by a Maryland county seeking a ruling on “[w]hether inmates working in furtherance of public works projects for the government charged with their custody and care” are employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
December 11, 2024
Credit Unions Ask Court To Deny Wawa Discovery, Approve Data Breach Suit Agreement

PHILADELPHIA — A group of financial institutions (FIs) suing Wawa Inc. over its 2019 data breach filed a motion asking a Pennsylvania federal court to deny the defendant’s motion to compel certain communications related to the claims filing process for class members and to grant final approval to a three-tiered settlement agreement that received preliminary approval more than a year ago.
December 10, 2024
Health Plans Seek Revival Of 12 Cases In ACA Reinsurance Dispute

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Arguing in part that “the well-established rule for suspending the running of statutes of limitation in class actions for putative class members” remains available in what are called “Tucker Act” cases, group health plans on Dec. 9 asked the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reverse a ruling that their 12 consolidated cases against the government were untimely.
December 10, 2024
Consumer Asks 9th Circuit To Rehear Fruit Cup Labeling Claims

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A consumer filed a petition for panel and en banc rehearing with the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, urging it to rehear her appeal of the dismissal of a putative class complaint accusing a food processing company of deceiving consumers about the ingredients of its fruit cups, arguing that the panel misapplied precedent and the reasonable consumer standard.
December 10, 2024
Final Approval Granted In Class Action Over ‘100% Natural’ ChapStick Claims

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge on Dec. 9 granted final approval to a no-damages settlement of a class action against GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare Holdings (US) LLC (GSK) and Pfizer Inc. for labeling certain ChapStick products as “100% Natural,” with the defendants agreeing to remove that phrase from labels, admitting no wrongdoing, and plaintiffs’ attorneys awarded more than $250,000 in fees.
December 09, 2024
Partial Settlement Breakdown Reported In ERISA Suit Over Alleged Cost-Shifting

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — In Dec. 6 filings in North Carolina federal court, parties in a class action concerning an alleged cost-shifting scheme say they had expected to seek preliminary approval of a full settlement, but the tentative deal fell apart at last minute in regard to one defendant.
December 09, 2024
Dismissal Of Claims Apple Lured Users Into ICloud Subscriptions Affirmed

SAN FRANCISCO — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed the dismissal of a putative class complaint brought by plaintiffs who claimed that Apple “addicted” them to its free iCloud data storage service and then required them to pay once the data they stored exceeded its free storage maximum of five gigabytes, writing that they failed to plead any misrepresentations.