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

Mealey's Class Actions

December 02, 2024
Amicus Bid To Support Dismissal In Pension Risk Transfer Case Draws Opposition

ALBANY, N.Y. — The ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC) has asked a New York federal court for permission to file an amicus curiae brief in a pension risk transfer (PRT) case it says is “pursuing a novel, speculative theory that would limit plan sponsors’ ability to manage future pension expenses,” drawing opposition from retirees who argue that the proposed brief is too late, too long, “offers no unique information or insight that can assist the Court, and would prejudice Plaintiffs.”
December 02, 2024
Walgreens Lidocaine Labeling Putative Class Suit Voluntarily Dismissed

CHICAGO — A putative class complaint by consumers who accused Walgreen Co., doing business as Walgreens, of misleading labeling on certain lidocaine products was dismissed with prejudice by a federal judge in Illinois after the lead plaintiff filed a voluntary stipulation of dismissal.
December 02, 2024
9th Circuit: Del Monte Fruit Cup Labels Didn’t Deceive Reasonable Consumers

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A trial court’s dismissal of a putative class complaint accusing a food processing company of deceiving consumers about the ingredients of its fruit cups was proper as the front labeling was not misleading and the back labeling clearly disclosed several synthetic ingredients, a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled in an unpublished memorandum.
December 02, 2024
Dog Supplement Maker Seeks High Court Consideration Of Class Certification

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The makers of Cosequin, a pet supplement, filed a petition for a writ of certiorari asking the U.S. Supreme Court to consider whether expert testimony relied on to support a motion for class certification must satisfy the requirements for admissibility.
December 02, 2024
$17.5 Million New York City Head Covering Removal Settlement Approved

NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York granted final approval of a $17.5 million settlement, including $4,147,460 for attorney fees and costs, to be paid by New York City to end a class complaint by individuals who were forced to remove religious head coverings for post-arrest photos.
November 27, 2024
Partial Judgment On Pleadings Granted In Long-Running ERISA Case

NEW YORK — A company that provided investment advice to two retirement plans saw its motion for judgment on the pleadings partly granted in a long-running Employee Retirement Income Security Act putative class action challenging fees and funds, with a New York federal judge ruling that issue preclusion applies to some of the allegations.
November 27, 2024
Effort To Revive Pension Row That Was Ruled Untimely Draws 2nd Amicus Brief

NEW YORK — Weighing in on an Employee Retirement Income Security Act appeal that already drew an amicus curiae brief from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), the American Benefits Council and two other amici support part of the appellees’ argument that the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals should affirm that all claims are time-barred in the putative class action in a joint and survivor annuity (JSA) dispute over allegedly outdated mortality tables.
November 26, 2024
Judgment Entered Dismissing Homeowners’ Defect Suit Against Anchor Maker

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted two manufacturing companies’ motion for judgment on the pleadings and dismissed with prejudice a putative class action brought against it by homeowners who accused them of selling them defective home connectors and anchors in breach of warranty and violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL).
November 26, 2024
Citing New Expert, Judge Certifies Class In Canadian Talc Case

NEW WESTMINSTER, British Columbia — A Canadian case alleging that perineal use of talc caused ovarian cancer will proceed as a class action after the judge found that newly submitted expert testimony sufficiently cured previous defects in the action.
November 26, 2024
Court Lacks Jurisdiction Over OnlyFans Subscribers’ Unfair Renewals Suit

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted an adult website operator’s motion to dismiss a putative class action brought by plaintiffs who accused it of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by allegedly charging them automatic renewal fees without warning, finding that after amendment and supplementary briefing the plaintiffs failed to establish personal jurisdiction.
November 26, 2024
Citing Loper Bright, Macy’s Again Seeks Dismissal In Tobacco Surcharge Lawsuit

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Amid a recent wave of at least 15 putative class actions challenging health plan tobacco surcharges, defendants in a similar suit the U.S. Department of Labor initiated seven years ago filed Nov. 25 motions in Ohio federal court calling Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo “a landmark change in the law” that supports dismissing the remaining claims against them.
November 25, 2024
Motion To Set Trial Date Denied Without Prejudice In Long-Running RESPA Suit

FRESNO, Calif. — In a brief Nov. 22 text-only order, a judge sitting by designation in California federal court denied without prejudice a motion to set a trial date in a long-running Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) class action involving captive reinsurance agreements.
November 22, 2024
Judge Issues Final Judgment, Approves Allocation Of Under Armour Securities Settlement

BALTIMORE — A federal judge in Maryland issued a final judgment, dismissal with prejudice, order approving plan of allocation, attorney fees and expenses and an award to plaintiffs in a class action brought by investors claiming that Under Armour Inc. and its former CEO violated federal securities laws by making false claims about demands for the company’s products, finding the settlement to be, “in all respects, fair, reasonable, and adequate to the Class.”
November 22, 2024
AI Rental Discrimination Case Receives Judge Approval For $1.75M Settlement

BOSTON — A settlement providing for $1.75 million plus fees and incentives has resolved a class action alleging that an artificial intelligence-based renter scoring program discriminated against those utilizing state and federal housing vouchers and therefore Blacks and Hispanics after a federal judge in Massachusetts granted final approval of the deal.
November 22, 2024
Roblox Brings Cross-Claims Against Third-Party Developers In Parents’ Gambling Suit

SAN FRANCISCO — Roblox Corp. in its amended answer to putative class claims brought in California federal court by parents who say it allowed their minor children to play gambling games has for the first time brought cross-claims against the third-party developers behind the games at issue, asserting that they flaunted its rules and are “pillaging Roblox’s intellectual property” in violation of the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA).
November 22, 2024
Rehearing Bid For 9th Circuit’s Mandamus Grant In Behavioral Health Row Fails

SAN FRANCISCO — With no substantive explanation for rejecting a petition for rehearing en banc regarding an unpublished ruling granting a mandamus petition, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals let stand its latest ruling in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act case where health insurance plan participants sought reprocessing of nearly 67,000 mental health and substance use disorder treatmentclaims.
November 22, 2024
Discovery Row Over Info DOL Gave Plaintiffs Grabs House Committee’s Attention

DENVER — Discovery developments in a putative class action challenging an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) deal are the focus of a Nov. 21 letter in which the chairwoman of U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce asks the inspector general of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) for an investigation because “DOL appears to be working in concert with plaintiffs’ attorneys to circumvent the discovery protections” of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
November 22, 2024
U.S. High Court: Data-Sharing Incident Disclosure Petition Improvidently Granted

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Nov. 22 “dismissed as improvidently granted” a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by Meta Platforms Inc. (formerly Facebook Inc.) and the company’s senior executives after the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held that the company issued misleading statements about the risk of potential misuse of user data because the company was aware that it had already occurred; the one-page per curiam opinion was filed a little over two weeks after the justices heard oral arguments.
November 22, 2024
9th Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of Putative Class Cloud Product Statement Claims

HONOLULU — An investor who alleged in an amended putative class complaint that a software company made false statements about its cloud products failed to sufficiently define cloud-related phrases and failed to show that an additional opportunity to amend his complaint would be anything other than futile, a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled, affirming dismissal.
November 21, 2024
U.S. High Court Is Again Asked To Review An ERISA Effective Vindication Decision

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Arguing in part that “statutory construction errors caused the Sixth Circuit to find that a participant has a statutory right to represent other participants’ financial interests that Congress did not provide for” in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, 401(k) plan fiduciaries asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the decision involving application of the effective vindication doctrine.
November 21, 2024
Zyn Maker Accused Of Anticompetitive Tactics To Dominate Nicotine Pouch Market

RICHMOND, Va. — A Zyn nicotine pouch consumer filed a putative class action in Virginia federal court accusing the pouch’s maker of violating state and federal antitrust laws and of unjust enrichment for allegedly conspiring with another tobacco company to create a monopoly, as well as intentionally slowing production of Zyns to artificially increase prices.
November 21, 2024
Split 6th Circuit Reverses Dismissal Of ERISA Funds, Share Classes Challenge

CINCINNATI — A split Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Nov. 20 revived a challenge to a retirement plan’s retention of the passively managed Northern Trust Focus Funds suite of target date funds (TDFs) and choice of share classes, with the majority saying in part that the dissent sets “an inappropriately exacting standard” and the dissenter opining that “my colleagues open the door to ‘speculative’” lawsuits.
September 17, 2024
23andMe Asks MDL Judge To Approve $30M Data Breach Settlement

SAN FRANCISCO — Genetic data company 23andMe Inc. filed a brief urging the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to grant preliminary approval to a $30 million settlement to resolve claims in a multidistrict litigation brought by plaintiffs whose genetic data on 23andMe’s website was hacked and offered for sale online and asking the court to enjoin separate litigation and arbitrations brought against it for the breach that it says could “jeopardize . . . the Settlement.”
November 21, 2024
Some 23andMe Users Seek Arbitration, Not Class Action, For Data Breach Claims

SAN FRANCISCO — In a brief filed in California federal court, several users of 23andMe Inc.’s website defend their right to pursue arbitration against the company for the theft of their genetic information by hackers, arguing that their decision to arbitrate defeats any typicality of claims between them and class members in a multidistrict litigation (MDL) over the theft and makes preliminary approval of a settlement of the MDL inappropriate.
November 21, 2024
Texas Judge OKs Settlement Reimbursing University Data Breach Victims’ Losses

SAN ANTONIO — An agreement in which a university agrees to reimburse ordinary and extraordinary losses that class members suffered due to a 2022 data breach was deemed “fair, reasonable, and adequate” by a Texas judge as she granted final approval to the settlement of negligence and privacy class claims over the incident.