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

Mealey's Class Actions

October 02, 2024
Federal Judge Allows Nondrowsy Label Dispute To Move Forward But Limits Claims

CHICAGO — An Illinois federal judge ruled that a woman “overslept on her rights” to pursue breach of warranty claims against the maker of a nondrowsy cold medicine but also found that her claims are not preempted by federal law and that she can, for the time being, represent a nationwide class of purchasers.
October 02, 2024
Judge: No Jurisdiction For Artist’s Class Copyright Claims Against Online Store

NEW YORK — A New York federal judge on Oct. 1 issued an opinion confirming an August “bottom-line” order dismissing a putative class action complaint brought by an artist alleging that an e-commerce company infringed on his copyrighted work and that of many other artists, holding that the New York federal court does not have personal jurisdiction based in part on customers’ locations.
October 02, 2024
2nd Circuit Upholds Dismissal Of Securities Suit For Failure To Prove Scienter

NEW YORK — A federal district court in New York correctly dismissed an investor’s putative class complaint asserting securities law violations against a biotechnology company and its principals for failing to adequately plead scienter against any of the defendants, a Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found in affirming the ruling.
October 02, 2024
Judge Won’t Certify Class Allegedly Deceived By ‘Veterinary’ Pet Food

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge denied motions by self-described “pet parents” for certification of classes accusing three veterinary pet food-makers of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by deceptively enforcing a prescription requirement for their products, which the consumers say deceived them into believing that the products are subject to federal regulation and safety inspections.
October 02, 2024
Brokerages, MLSs Opt Into NAR Commission Settlement, Agree To Pay More Than $30M

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A federal judge in Missouri in an Oct. 1 docket entry granted a preliminary approval of more than $30 million in settlements by brokerages and non-Realtor multiple listing services (MLSs) that are opting into the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) settlement in a real estate commission class lawsuit accusing NAR and other real estate franchises of conspiring to artificially inflate the cost of commissions in residential real estate transactions.
October 02, 2024
Notice Of Settlement Filed In Class Suit Over Payoff Statements’ ‘Release Cost’

MIAMI — A mortgage servicer and two borrowers on Oct. 1 filed a joint notice in a federal court in Florida stating that they have reached a settlement in a putative class lawsuit in which the servicer is accused of violating the Fair Debt Collection Act (FDCA) and Florida law by including a $22.50 “release cost” on its uniform payoff statements.
October 02, 2024
LensCrafters’ $39M Settlement Of Consumers’ Overpayment Claims Granted Final OK

NEW YORK — A $39 million settlement between Luxottica Retail North America, doing business as LensCrafters, and consumers who allege that they were given false information about the company’s AccuFit system that caused them to overpay for prescription eyeglasses in violation of California, Florida and New York laws was granted final approval by a federal judge in New York.
October 02, 2024
Investors’ Securities Action Against Tupperware Stayed After Bankruptcy Filing

ORLANDO, Fla. — A federal judge in Florida has stayed a putative class action brought against Tupperware Brands Corp. and certain of its executives and directed the clerk to administratively close the file after the company notified the court that it filed for bankruptcy on Sept. 17.
October 02, 2024
2nd Circuit Partly Revives Securities Suit Over After-Acquisition Statements

NEW YORK — Partly reviving a dismissed securities suit in a nonprecedential summary order, a Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel disagreed with the trial court on about half of the alleged misstatements that investors challenged on appeal.
October 01, 2024
Summary Judgment Bid Fails In ERISA Class Action Over Mortality Tables

NEW YORK — Denying a summary judgment motion filed by a life insurer and related defendants in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act class action challenging the use of allegedly outdated mortality tables in calculating qualified joint and survivor annuity (QJSA) benefits, a New York federal judge said he was reserving expert disputes and other issues for a bench trial.
October 01, 2024
Consumer Accusing V8 Splash Of Misleading Labels Defends Against Dismissal

CAMDEN, N.J. — A consumer filed a brief in New Jersey federal court opposing Campbell Soup Co.’s motion to dismiss her putative class action accusing it of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by deceptively marketing its V8 Splash product as healthy, arguing that the product’s deceptive front label renders disclosures on its back label irrelevant.
October 01, 2024
11th Circuit Denies En Banc Hearing In ERISA Row Over Exhaustion Precedent

ATLANTA — Rejecting a request that drew amicus curiae support from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied initial hearing en banc in the suit where appellants seek the overturn of longstanding circuit precedent concerning exhaustion of administrative remedies in Employee Retirement Income Security Act lawsuits.
October 01, 2024
FBI Agrees To Pay $22.6M To Settle Some Basic Training Gender Bias Class Claims

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Current and former female employees of the FBI moved Sept. 30 in a federal court in the District of Columbia for attorney fees and to certify for the purposes of a $22.6 million settlement a class of workers who allege that they were subjected to gender bias during basic training.
October 01, 2024
Fact Issues Exist On Whether Coverage Is Owed For Water, Mold Damages, Judge Says

LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge denied a motion for summary judgment filed by insurers that denied coverage for mold and water damages sustained in numerous buildings of an insured’s construction project because questions of fact exist as to whether the policies’ fungus extension and delay in opening extension afford coverage and whether the policies’ exclusion for cost of making good (COMG) excluded coverage for any damage caused by faulty workmanship.
October 01, 2024
More Than $17.3M In Attorney Fees Awarded After Royalty Class Settlement

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — A federal judge in Oklahoma granted a renewed motion for $17,333,333 in attorney fees in an oil and gas royalty payments class lawsuit that has gone on for more than a dozen years and that was settled for $52 million, finding that the requested fees were “reasonable” and opining that distribution of the “fees among class counsel is a matter within their sole discretion.”
October 01, 2024
DMCA AI Ruling Heads To 9th Circuit After Grant Of Immediate Appeal

OAKLAND, Calif. — Plaintiffs with copyright claims against GitHub Inc. and others stemming from the training of artificial intelligences may file an interlocutory appeal of a ruling requiring identicality under the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) and dismissing the claims, a federal judge in California said.
October 01, 2024
9th Circuit Won’t Reconsider Dismissal Of Investors’ Claims Against EV Maker

SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ Aug. 9 ruling affirming the dismissal of a putative class complaint brought by investors alleging that an electric car company and the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) that acquired it misled investors has taken effect after the panel denied rehearing and rehearing en banc.
October 01, 2024
Class Suit Accuses 6 Publishers Of Coercing Scholars To Provide Free Labor

NEW YORK — A university professor who describes herself as a “[s]cholar and scientist” filed a putative class complaint in a federal court in New York accusing six for-profit publishers of peer-reviewed scholarly journals of conspiring in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act to “force” her and other scholars “to provide their valuable labor for free.”
September 30, 2024
Judge Says ‘No Choice’ But To Grant Judgment To Meta In Adult Entertainers Suit

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted summary judgment to Meta Platforms Inc. in a putative class action filed by adult entertainment (AE) performers alleging tortious interference and unfair competition in blacklisting social media posts by most AE providers in favor of the OnlyFans AE platform, finding that despite Meta’s “questionable recordkeeping,” the plaintiffs failed to show that questions remain regarding issues of material fact.
September 30, 2024
Target’s Motions To Strike And Dismiss Denied In Greenwashing Class Suit

MINNEAPOLIS — A federal judge in Minnesota denied two motions filed by Target Corp. seeking to strike and dismiss putative class allegations that the retailer misleads consumers with its “Target Clean” labeling on beauty products even though the manufacturers of the products and other retailers don’t identify the products as “clean” or “free from unwanted” ingredients, noting that while “some of Target’s arguments present a close call, that Court concludes that, at this stage and in light of the detailed allegations in the Complaint, dismissal is not appropriate.”
September 30, 2024
Judge Reprimands Counsel, Says Only Use Of AI Explains Briefing Errors

DALLAS — While plaintiff’s attorneys in a proposed employment class action acknowledged and apologized for miscited case law, quotes and other errors, their claim of poor procedures and lack of proper oversight explain only a portion of the mistakes, a federal judge in Texas said in reprimanding counsel after concluding that despite protests to the contrary, artificial intelligence must have been used to craft the response brief.
September 30, 2024
Judge Approves $3M Securities Settlement For Misleading COVID-19 Treatment Claims

NEWARK, N.J. — A New Jersey federal judge granted final approval of a $3 million settlement including $750,000 in attorney fees to resolve a securities class action against a pharmaceutical company for deceiving shareholders by making misleading statements about the prospects of its product for the successful treatment of COVID-19.
September 30, 2024
9th Circuit Won’t Stay Mandate In Dog Supplement Class Case Pending Petition

PASADENA, Calif. — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied a motion filed by the makers of Cosequin, a pet supplement, to stay the mandate following a class certification ruling and pending the filing of a petition for a writ of certiorari.
September 27, 2024
Airlines’ $4.75M USERRA Payless Leave Class Pact For Pilots Preliminarily OK’d

SPOKANE, Wash. — A federal judge in Washington granted preliminary approval of a $4.75 million settlement between Alaska Airlines Inc., Horizon Air Industries Inc. and a class of commercial airline pilots who allege that they were denied pay during short-term military leaves while pay was provided to pilots taking other types of leaves.
September 27, 2024
Plaintiff Consents To Hacked Facebook Accounts Suit Being Heard By Magistrate

SAN FRANCISCO — A plaintiff bringing a putative class action against Meta Platforms Inc. in California federal court for breach of contract and violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) due to it allegedly allowing “hackers to abscond with hundreds of thousands of Facebook accounts” while barring hacked users from regaining access to their accounts consented to magistrate jurisdiction over the suit on Sept. 26.