Mealey's Class Actions
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November 13, 2024
Dismissal Row In ERISA Health Plan Suit Involves Standing, Claim Requirements
MINNEAPOLIS — In Minnesota federal court, parties in a putative class action over alleged mismanagement of prescription drug benefits are disputing a dismissal bid focused on standing and whether fiduciary breach and prohibited transaction claims are sufficiently stated under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
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November 13, 2024
Law Firm’s $8M Global Data Breach Settlement Granted Final Approval
SAN FRANCISCO — An $8 million global class settlement to be paid by a law firm after its network was breached and the personally identifiable information (PII) of more than 630,000 individuals was potentially accessed was granted final approval on Nov. 12 by a federal judge in California.
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November 13, 2024
Objector Appeals After New York Times Auto-Renewal Class Settlement OK’d
NEW YORK — A class member who objected to a $2,375,000 settlement to be paid by The New York Times Co. to end a class complaint accusing the newspaper publisher of engaging in an illegal “automatic renewal” scheme filed a notice of appeal four weeks after final settlement approval was granted by a federal judge in New York.
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November 13, 2024
Live Nation, Ticketmaster Seek Rehearing After 9th Circuit’s Arbitration Ruling
PASADENA, Calif. — Live Nation Entertainment Inc. and Ticketmaster LLC filed a petition for panel rehearing and/or rehearing en banc on Nov. 12 after a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals 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.
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November 12, 2024
$115.5M In Real Estate Commissions Settlements Granted Preliminary, Final OK
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — In a pair of orders issued in a consolidated class action by home sellers accusing the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and real estate franchises of conspiring to artificially inflate the cost of commissions in residential real estate transactions, a federal judge in Missouri granted preliminary approval of four settlements totaling $4,925,000 and final approval of nine settlements totaling $110.6 million.
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November 12, 2024
Mother Says Walmart’s ‘Hypoallergenic’ Baby Product Causes Contact Dermatitis
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California mother filed a putative class action lawsuit in California federal court accusing Walmart Inc. of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by misleadingly labeling its baby petroleum jelly product for treating diaper rash and other skin conditions as “hypoallergenic” when it in fact contains fragrance-related ingredients that can cause babies to experience contact dermatitis.
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November 12, 2024
Law Firm’s $8M Data Breach Settlement Tentatively Approved; Fees Reviewed
SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California issued a tentative ruling approving an $8 million class global settlement to be paid by a law firm after its network was breached and the personal identifiable information (PII) of more than 630,000 individuals was potentially accessed but questioned the specifics of the settlement terms and indicated that attorney fees were still being reviewed, according to civil minutes.
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November 11, 2024
Eye Drop Maker Agrees To Settle Claims Products Were Illegally Marketed
DENVER — A maker of a homeopathic eye drop has agreed to pay $3.57 million to settle class claims that it sold products without approval from U.S. Food and Drug Administration, according to an unopposed motion filed in a Colorado federal court.
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November 11, 2024
Final OK Given To $5.5M Amazon COVID-19 Screenings Pay Class Settlement
FRESNO, Calif. — A federal magistrate judge in California granted final approval of a $5.5 million settlement between California workers and Amazon.com Services LLC, ending two cases in which the workers allege that they were denied pay for time spent undergoing COVID-19 symptom screenings before their shifts.
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November 11, 2024
Plaintiffs, Law Firm Seek Initial Approval Of $8.5M Data Breach Suit Settlement
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A former client and a former employee of a law firm filed a motion for preliminary approval of an $8.5 million settlement of their putative class claims over a 2022 data breach experienced by the firm, telling a Florida federal court that the proposed agreement provides for such remedies as credit monitoring and identity theft protection, in addition to monetary claims.
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November 11, 2024
Immigrant Separation Class Awarded More Than $6.4M In Attorney Fees, Costs
SAN DIEGO — A federal judge in California awarded a class of immigrants separated from their children who sued the federal government and settled more than $6.4 million for attorney fees and expenses.
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November 11, 2024
Converse Website User Asks 9th Circuit To Find Wiretap Law Applies To Internet
SAN FRANCISCO — A California woman who claimed wiretap and privacy violations related to the customer chat feature on Converse Inc.’s website asks the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reinstate her putative class action, arguing that a trial court improperly disregarded her evidence that a third-party vendor intercepted and read chat communications in violation of the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA).
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November 08, 2024
Judge Stands By Determination That ERISA Governs Deferred Compensation Plans
NEW YORK — A New York federal judge has declined to alter or withdraw an Employee Retirement Income Security Act determination that financial services firm Morgan Stanley and related defendants said caused issues in derivative arbitrations; the unchanged November 2023 holding in the putative class action is that ERISA governs the compensation incentive and equity incentive plans at issue.
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November 08, 2024
Judge Consolidates Air Travelers’ Suits Against CrowdStrike For Outages
AUSTIN, Texas — A Texas federal judge appointed interim lead counsel and consolidated two putative class complaints accusing tech company CrowdStrike Inc. of causing travelers to experience significant air travel delays by failing to properly test its cybersecurity software before issuing an update that allegedly caused 8.5 million computers and devices to go offline.
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November 08, 2024
Tentative Settlement Announced In CareFirst Data Breach Class Action
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Eight days after a group of policyholders whose personally identifiable information (PII) was exposed in a data breach experienced by their insurer was denied the opportunity to appeal a class certification ruling, the plaintiffs and the insurer informed a District of Columbia federal court that a tentative settlement of the nine-year-old suit had been reached.
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November 08, 2024
Consumers, Target Agree To End Case Over Misleading ‘Non-Drowsy’ Medicine Label
MINNEAPOLIS — A Minnesota federal judge dismissed claims by consumers who allege that Target Corp. misled its customers by labeling its cold medicine as “non-drowsy” after the parties filed a joint stipulation agreeing to settle the case.
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November 08, 2024
Dismissing ERISA Forfeiture Suit, Judge Aims To Narrow Future Briefing
OAKLAND, Calif. — In the latest of a handful of rulings on dismissal motions in similar Employee Retirement Income Security Act suits over use of forfeited nonvested retirement plan contributions, a California federal judge granted dismissal of all claims with limited leave to amend.
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November 07, 2024
Justices Question Facebook, Investors Over Disclosing Data-Sharing Incident
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In oral arguments held Nov. 6 in the U.S. Supreme Court, attorneys for Facebook Inc. (now known as Meta Platforms Inc.) and a group of its investors fielded queries about whether Facebook’s failure to disclose its past sharing of users’ data with a third-party analytics firm in risk statements constituted securities fraud because the incident amounted to a risk of future harm.
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November 07, 2024
3rd Circuit: Fracking Royalties Were Not Underpaid Based On Lease Interpretation
PHILADELPHIA — A panel of the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has affirmed a lower court ruling in a hydraulic fracturing royalty dispute, concluding that royalties were not underpaid based on the proper interpretation of the lease agreements involved.
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November 06, 2024
Meta’s Advertising Fraud Dispute Distributed For Conference In Supreme Court
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Nov. 6 distributed for conference a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by Meta Platforms Inc. seeking review of a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling affirming the certification of a damages class in a suit alleging fraudulent misrepresentation and concealment related to Meta’s online advertising services.
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November 06, 2024
9th Circuit Denies Rehearing After Partly Reviving Pension Benefits Class Action
PASADENA, Calif. — After partly reviving an Employee Retirement Income Security Act pension benefits class action after a bench trial in an unpublished memorandum disposition, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied a petition for panel or en banc rehearing that was supported by an amicus curiae brief.
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November 05, 2024
After Bench Trial Loss, Class Takes ERISA Suit Over TDFs To 9th Circuit
LOS ANGELES — After being granted only a slight amendment of the findings issued after a bench trial, retirement plan participants who filed an Employee Retirement Income Security Act class action over proprietary target date funds (TDFs) and were taxed nearly $94,000 in costs are challenging the judgment against them and the trial court’s latest order in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
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November 05, 2024
9th Circuit Sets January Argument In Appeal Of Ruling That TPA Discriminated
PASADENA, Calif. — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has set Jan. 17 oral argument in an appeal where a third-party administrator (TPA) seeks reversal of a ruling that it violated the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA)’s discrimination provision by administering exclusions of gender-affirming care.
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November 05, 2024
U.S. High Court Again Lets An ERISA Effective Vindication Ruling Stand
WASHINGTON, D.C. — As it did with several previous requests for review of decisions that applied the “effective vindication” doctrine in such cases, the U.S. Supreme Court on Nov. 4 denied a certiorari request in which trustees of an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) urged the high court to address what they argued is a circuit split on whether to “recognize the availability of individual arbitration for [Employee Retirement Income Security Act] claims.”
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November 04, 2024
Judge Approves $21M Class Settlement Over Silver Mine’s Alleged Misrepresentations
DENVER — A federal judge in Colorado approved a settlement of $21 million to end class allegations that a silver mine overstated its reserves in several Securities and Exchange Commission filings.