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

Mealey's Class Actions

September 18, 2024
Judge Denies Meta’s Dismissal Bid In Class Suit Over Facial Recognition Software

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill.— An Illinois federal judge on Sept. 17 denied a dismissal motion filed by Meta Platforms Inc. (formerly Facebook Inc.) in a putative class action suit alleging violations of a state privacy law regarding Meta’s collecting biometric information using facial recognition software through its Facebook messenger and messenger kids applications, finding that Meta did not “overcome the presumption against preemption” by federal law and did not show that the complaint failed to allege that Meta collected and possessed biometric data.
September 18, 2024
Class Action Alleges Insurance Provider Negligently Failed To Prevent Data Breach

NEW YORK —A class action complaint was filed in a New York federal court against a financial organization that offers insurance, retirement and investment services primarily to teachers, alleging that the defendant failed to prevent a May 2023 data breach that resulted in the theft of the personally identifiable information (PII) of its current and former clients.
September 18, 2024
11th Circuit Agrees That Timeshare Loans Are Covered By Military Lending Act

ATLANTA — An 11th Circuit panel affirmed a trial court’s determination that timeshare loans do not fall within the Military Lending Act’s (MLA) exception for “residential mortgages” and that the MLA overrides the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) but dismissed an appeal by a timeshare resort company seeking to compel arbitration of a putative class lawsuit accusing it of extending consumer credit in violation of the MLA, opining that the panel lacked jurisdiction over the interlocutory appeal.
September 17, 2024
Class Suit Over College’s Handling Of Rapes Dismissed With Prejudice

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A federal judge in Michigan dismissed with prejudice a putative class complaint filed by two female college students against their school over the way in which their reports of being raped by other students were handled.
September 17, 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.
September 17, 2024
Pa. Health Provider’s $65M Data Breach Settlement Granted Preliminary Approval

SCRANTON, Pa. — A Pennsylvania judge granted preliminary approval of a $65 million settlement to be paid by Lehigh Valley Health Network Inc. (LVHN) to end a class complaint alleging that a February 2023 data breach resulted in the disclosure of personal information and medical records, including nude photographs.
September 16, 2024
4th Circuit OKs Interlocutory Appeal On Class Certification In Index TDF Case

RICHMOND, Va. — The Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Sept. 13 agreed to interlocutory review of a grant of class certification in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act case over BlackRock LifePath Index target date funds (TDFs).
September 16, 2024
Stay Granted Pending Settlement In Computer Operation FLSA Suit

LAS VEGAS — A federal judge in Nevada granted a joint motion to stay pending court approval of a settlement in a collective Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) case by Las Vegas call center employees seeking compensation for time spent turning on and off their computers; the motion and order come just over a month after the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals issued a mandate finding triable issues in the case.
September 13, 2024
Summary Judgment Bid Largely Fails In ERISA Class Row Over Proprietary Funds

BOSTON — A Massachusetts federal judge has mostly denied summary judgment in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act class action challenging the selection and retention of proprietary funds, also denying the defendants’ requests to partly exclude the opinions and exhibits of two of the plaintiffs’ experts.
September 13, 2024
Attorney Fees Judgment Stayed In Jack In The Box Workers’ Wage Suit

PORTLAND, Ore. — A federal judge in Oregon in a docket entry granted an unopposed motion by Jack in the Box Inc. to approve a supersedeas bond and stay the enforcement of judgment for attorney fees in a wage-and-hour suit by workers pending resolution of post-trial motions and appeal.
September 13, 2024
Stay Granted After NextHome Reaches Settlement In Real Estate Commissions Suit

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A federal judge in Missouri in a docket entry stayed the deadlines pertaining to NextHome Inc. pending a settlement with home sellers in a consolidated class complaint 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.
September 12, 2024
Magistrate Addresses Row Over Documents DOL Gave Plaintiffs Challenging ESOP Deal

DENVER — Ruling that a common interest agreement (CIA) does not protect the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) from waiving its privileges and protections by sharing investigative materials with plaintiffs challenging an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) deal, a Colorado federal magistrate judge on Sept. 11 said the plaintiffs gained “access to information they can leverage, use to take shortcuts, and rely upon to circumvent ordinary discovery protocols.”
September 12, 2024
11th Circuit Won’t Rehear ERISA Fees, Funds Ruling Rejecting Burden-Shifting

ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied a petition for rehearing en banc in which 401(k) plan participants argued that the panel ruling “conflicts with Supreme Court precedent, this Court’s precedent, and other circuits’ authoritative decisions” and that “[w]hich party bears the burden on causation, what satisfies that burden, and the standard for inadvertent waiver of all available remedies are questions of exceptional importance.”
September 11, 2024
Judge Finds PFAS Claims Against Drink Maker Exceed Proposition 65

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge said a consumer’s putative class action against a sports drink maker for violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other statutes is not barred under the state’s Proposition 65 because her allegations of health risks caused by the presence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the product exceed those covered by the regulation, but dismissed several of her claims as insufficiently pleaded.
September 11, 2024
After ERISA 401(k) Win, Defendants Seek Awards Totaling $222,275

SANTA ANA, Calif. — Defendants who won on all claims after a bench trial in a consolidated Employee Retirement Income Security Act class action over 401(k) fees and funds have asked a California federal court to award them $10,000 in attorney fees from each of the three named plaintiffs and $192,275.32 in attorney fees and expert expenses from class counsel.
September 11, 2024
Penn State Agrees To $17M Class Settlement In Students’ Pandemic Closure Case

PITTSBURGH — Students who accuse The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) of charging money for in-person education and on-campus access and services but failing to deliver them in spring 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic reached a $17 million class settlement with the school and moved for preliminary approval of the deal in a Pennsylvania federal court.
September 10, 2024
Health Care Biller Will Pay $2.8M To Settle Claims Against It In Data Breach MDL

BOSTON — A federal judge in Massachusetts in a Sept. 9 order granted preliminary approval of a $2.8 million settlement to be paid by a health care billing company that is one of a number of defendants in a data breach multidistrict litigation (MDL) that was created in the federal court after a ransomware gang stole the personally identifiable information (PII) of nearly two million individuals from hundreds of businesses that use MOVEit software.
September 10, 2024
Class Counsel Get A Third Of $11.8M ERISA Settlement In Retirement Plan Case

BALTIMORE — A Maryland federal judge granted final approval to an $11.8 million class settlement that the named plaintiff who challenged management of a Maryland health system 403(b) retirement plan under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act said “provides for average relief of $481 to Class Members,” also overruling the lone objection to awarding $3,933,333.33 for attorney fees.
September 09, 2024
Class Certification Bid Fails In Remanded ERISA Case Over LTC Premium Hikes

BOSTON — On remand after partial revival of an Employee Retirement Income Security Act challenge to long-term care (LTC) insurance premium increases, a Massachusetts federal judge declined to certify injunctive relief and damages classes, saying in part that the central dispute “can only be resolved by examining extrinsic evidence that is necessarily individualized in nature.”
September 09, 2024
3rd Circuit Issues 1 Personal Jurisdiction Ruling In 2 Wiretapping Software Cases

PITTSBURGH — A split Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel in a single opinion addressing jurisdiction in two putative class cases involving wiretapping software affirmed dismissal of one lawsuit for lack of personal jurisdiction and vacated dismissal of the other and remanded for the trial court to apply the traditional test in Ford Motor Co. v. Mont. Eighth Jud. Dist. Ct.
September 09, 2024
Judge Certifies Summary Judgment Ruling In ERISA Fees Case For Publication

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A Kentucky federal judge has agreed to certify for publication a ruling in which she granted summary judgment against the plaintiffs on all claims in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act class action over record-keeping fees after excluding their expert but declining to exclude the defendants’ expert.
September 09, 2024
Judge Approves Settlements For More Than $42.66M Combined In Royalty Class Action

WHEELING, W.Va. — A federal judge in West Virginia has approved two settlements for a combined $42,667,289 between class representatives and hydraulic fracturing operators related to claims that the companies failed to properly calculate and pay royalties on natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs) pursuant to the leases held by the members of the class.
September 06, 2024
Magistrate Judge Allows Rebuttal Witness, 2nd Report In COVID-19 Class Suit

EUGENE, Ore. — An Oregon federal magistrate judge on Sept. 5 ruled that a rebuttal witness on ventilation systems can testify for state officials facing a class action from a group of inmates in Oregon prison who allege that they were subjected to cruel and unusual punishment when state officials failed to protect them from heightened exposure to COVID-19.
September 06, 2024
9th Circuit Stops Efforts To Revive Behavioral Health Benefits Claim In Coverage Row

SAN FRANCISCO — Saying in an unpublished memorandum disposition that it previously “reversed (without remand) both the district court’s class certification order and merits judgment on the denial of benefits claim,” a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel granted a mandamus petition 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.
September 06, 2024
Consumer Drops Suit Accusing Arrowhead Water Of Microplastics Contamination

LOS ANGELES — A consumer filed a notice of voluntary dismissal in California federal court weeks after filing a third amended complaint accusing the company that sells Arrowhead-brand bottled water of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by labeling its product as “100% Mountain Spring Water” when it allegedly contains microplastics that may be detrimental to human health.