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

Mealey's Class Actions

July 08, 2024
6th Circuit Panel Set In ERISA Fees Row Involving Effective Vindication Doctrine

CINCINNATI — The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has named the panel set to hear July 18 oral argument in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act arbitration case involving an issue central to a number of high-profile rulings in the past few years — the effective vindication doctrine.
July 08, 2024
Judge Denies Class Status But Rules Genuine Issues Remain In Water Pollution Case

INDIANAPOLIS — A federal judge in Indiana has issued a ruling covering multiple pleadings in a groundwater contamination lawsuit, ruling that the plaintiffs are not entitled to class certification but that genuine issues of material fact exist as to whether the defendants are liable for contamination and whether that constitutes a nuisance.
July 03, 2024
Objectors Say $600M Ohio Train Deal Is ‘Unconstitutional,’ Cite EPA Whistleblower

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Two plaintiffs in the class action against Norfolk Southern Railway Co. and Norfolk Southern Corp. (Norfolk Southern, collectively) related to toxic chemicals spilled during the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, have filed separate objections to a $600 million settlement, saying it is “unconstitutional” because evidence of liability and damages has been suppressed or withheld and information from a whistleblower at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency exposes “shocking efforts” by the EPA to “avoid learning the truth immediately after” the derailment.
July 03, 2024
Groundwater Contamination Case Against Northrop Grumman Gets Class Certification

LOS ANGELES — A federal judge in California granted class certification to residents seeking equitable relief and punitive damages for groundwater contamination from volatile organic compounds (VOCs) stemming from circuit board production and other chemical processes conducted by a company now owned by Northrop Grumman Corp. and Northrop Grumman Systems Corp. (Northrop Grumman, collectively), ruling that “after careful consideration” pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23, class certification is appropriate.
July 03, 2024
U.S. Supports Va. Official’s Position In Preliminary Injunction Attorney Fee Appeal

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A preliminary injunction “does not confer prevailing party status,” the United States argues in an amicus curiae brief filed in the U.S. Supreme Court supporting the position of the commissioner of the Viriginia Department of Motor Vehicles, who is challenging a ruling by a divided Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that Virginians who filed a putative class complaint over a now repealed statute regarding the suspension of driver’s licenses were the prevailing parties.
June 28, 2024
COMMENTARY: Courts Must, As Recently Reminded, Follow The Law In Rule 702 Expert Testimony Determinations

By Erin Sheley
July 02, 2024
Judge Gives First OK To $75M Settlement For Investor Suit Against Tech Firm

SAN DIEGO — A California federal judge granted preliminary approval to a proposed $75 million settlement of a suit brought by investors in Qualcomm Inc. against the company and certain of its executives alleging the company issued false claims to investors about certain company practices.
July 02, 2024
Visa, Mastercard Credit Card Fee Class Settlement Denied Approval By Federal Judge

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — A federal judge in New York denied preliminary approval of a class settlement in a nearly two-decade-long case over credit card interchange fees, opining that final approval of the agreement between the equitable relief class of merchants and Visa and Mastercard is unlikely based on concerns with the proposed relief for the class.
July 02, 2024
11th Circuit Remands For Claims To Be Stayed In Care Home Licensure Class Suit

ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals vacated and remanded a district court’s judgment with instructions to stay the claims in a putative class action filed by the representatives of former residents against the Florida skilled nursing facilities where they lived alleging that the facilities fraudulently obtained their licenses, finding that the plaintiffs waived objections to a magistrate judge’s report and recommendation that the district court adopted.
July 02, 2024
Walmart Settles Weighted Goods, Bagged Citrus Overcharges Class Suit For $45M

TAMPA, Fla. — A federal judge in Florida granted final approval of a $45 million settlement to be paid by Walmart Inc. to end a consumer’s class lawsuit accusing the retailer of artificially increasing the weight of goods at checkout and mislabeling the weight of prebagged citrus products.
July 01, 2024
Putative Class Seeks Damages For Energy Companies’ Alleged Gas Price Conspiracy

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Residents and companies have filed a putative class action in New Mexico federal court contending that energy companies violated the Sherman Act by conspiring to “coordinate, and ultimately constrain, domestic shale oil production, which has had the purpose and effect of fixing, raising, and maintaining the price of crude oil in and throughout the United States, and worldwide.”
June 28, 2024
Bench Trial Starts In ERISA Suit Over Spin-Off That Affected Retirement Benefits

PHILADELPHIA — A bench trial has begun in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act class action over corporate restructuring that affected early retirement and optional retirement benefits after a Pennsylvania federal judge denied summary judgment on all but one claim.
June 28, 2024
Split U.S. High Court: Public Camping Ordinances Don’t Violate 8th Amendment

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Ordinances barring camping in public spaces do not violate the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, a divided U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 28 in an appeal by an Oregon city; the majority further found that the city of Grants Pass’ punishments for violations, including fines and arrests, fail to qualify as “cruel and unusual punishment.”
June 28, 2024
High Court Overrules Chevron Deference, Changes Standard For Regulatory Review

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on June 28 voted 6-3 to overrule the doctrine of Chevron deference as incompatible with the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) in two cases arising out of federal fishing regulations, changing governing precedent for federal courts reviewing agencies’ regulatory actions.
June 27, 2024
Pilot, Airlines Reach Settlement In USERRA Payless Leave Class Suit

SPOKANE, Wash. — Alaska Airlines Inc. and Horizon Air Industries Inc. and a commercial airline pilot and military reservist who brought a class complaint in a federal court in Washington alleging failure to pay pilots during short-term military leaves while providing pay during other types of leaves filed a joint status report stating that they expect to file a motion for preliminary approval of a class settlement within a month.
June 27, 2024
On Remand, Judge Dismisses Ski Resort Passholders’ COVID-19 Closure Claims

DENVER — On remand from the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, a Colorado federal judge again dismissed season passholders’ lawsuit against ski resort owners for refusing to refund their purchases after abruptly ending the season due to COVID-19, finding that the resorts’ contracts with passholders prohibited refunds and the passholders failed to plead a violation of various states’ consumer protection laws, including California’s unfair competition law (UCL).
June 27, 2024
Response To Rental Store’s Petition In Arbitration, Severing Claims Dispute Waived

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Consumers who brought a class complaint against the operator of household rental stores over fees waived their right to respond to the retailer’s petition for a writ of certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court, which seeks a ruling on whether the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) allows for a court to refuse to sever and compel arbitration of individual portions of a claim where they have been pleaded with nonarbitrable claims and whether a consumer may seek injunctive relief where there is no risk of future injury.
June 27, 2024
9th Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of Uber Driver’s Race Bias Class Suit

SAN FRANCISCO — A survey of Uber Technologies Inc. drivers conducted by attorneys representing a former driver who brought a racial discrimination putative class complaint “fail[ed] to provide any plausible basis for finding a ‘disproportionately adverse effect on minorities,’” the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals opined in affirming a trial court’s dismissal of the case.
June 26, 2024
California Federal Court OKs Venue Transfer For COVID Vaccine Securities Suit

LOS ANGELES — A federal judge in California transferred to a federal court in New York a putative class complaint brought by investors in a biotechnology company who say the company misled them by suggesting that its COVID-19 vaccine was still relevant despite not having approval from the Food and Drug Administration to target the most common subvariant at the time, after the parties stipulated to transfer the venue for the convenience of all involved.
June 26, 2024
Unpaid Leave Subclass Certified In Vaccine Mandate Suit Against United Airlines

FORT WORTH, Texas — A federal judge in Texas partially granted a motion for class certification filed by United Airlines employees suing over the company’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, opining that the proposed subclass of employees who requested religious accommodations and were placed on unpaid leave satisfied Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(3)’s superiority requirement, as well as Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(a)’s commonality and typicality requirements.
June 26, 2024
$7.25 Million Settlement Of Lincare Data Breach Receives Final Approval

TAMPA, Fla. — Two years after Lincare Holdings Inc. was first hit with class claims over a data breach that it experienced in 2021, a Florida federal magistrate judge granted final approval to a settlement with a group of the company’s patients that will provide $7.25 million to cover class members’ claims, attorney fees and other costs and relief.
June 26, 2024
Bench Trial Yields Ruling Against Class In ERISA Target Risk Funds Challenge

SEATTLE — Ruling against a class of Milliman Inc. retirement plan participants after an eight-day bench trial, a Washington federal judge concluded that retaining three “target risk” funds in the plan “was both procedurally and substantively prudent” and the class didn’t “offer a plausible estimate of any loss suffered by the Plan.”
June 25, 2024
German Real Estate Company Set To Settle Commissions Conspiracy Class Claims

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Proceedings in one of a number of class complaints by home sellers over commissions were stayed by a federal judge in Missouri as they pertain to a German real estate company and its American subsidiary following a notice of pending settlement.
June 25, 2024
EEOC Approves $15M Settlement Of U.S. Marshals’ Class Race Bias Claims

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission granted final approval of a $15 million class settlement in a 30-year-long complaint accusing the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) of discriminating against African Americans when it came to recruitment, hiring and promotions related to deputy U.S. Marshal positions, the USMS announced June 24.
June 25, 2024
9th Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of Deceptive Labeling Claims Against Chocolate Maker

SAN FRANCISCO — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on June 24 affirmed for different reasons a district court’s dismissal of a consumer’s putative class action accusing a chocolate product manufacturer of deceptively labeling its products in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL), finding that the manufacturer did not as alleged misrepresent its products as not sourced from farms that contribute to deforestation or use child labor.