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MINNEAPOLIS — A $69 million deal that the class representative called “the largest-ever ERISA settlement alleging breach of fiduciary duty for failure to remove underperforming investment options” has been granted final approval, a text-only June 13 docket entry in Minnesota federal court shows.
NEW ORLEANS — Ruling in part that the No Surprises Act (NSA)“does not contain a private right of action,” the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on June 12 upheld dismissal of a suit that air ambulance providers filed over “alleged failure to timely pay” independent dispute resolution (IDR) awards; amici curiae that weighed in on the appeal included the U.S. government, which participated in oral argument and urged reversal.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — An amended decision and second amended judgment were issued in a federal court in New York in a disability discrimination case brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against a distribution company accused of discriminating against a deaf applicant; pursuant to the filings, the job applicant was awarded the statutory cap of $300,000 for compensatory and punitive damages after remittitur was accepted by the EEOC, just over $8,000 as compensation for the negative tax consequences of receiving the lump sum back pay award, postjudgment interest and $25,000 for lost wages and benefits.
NEW ORLEANS — A split Louisiana appellate court reversed and remanded a lower court’s ruling granting summary judgment to an insurer and to the Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association (LIGA) but denying a motion for partial summary judgment filed by family members in a dispute over their deceased relative’s death purportedly from asbestos exposure, finding that issues of fact remain regarding the failure of the insurer and LIGA to show the applicability of a certain policy exclusion to bar coverage.
ST. LOUIS — An Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on June 12 denied a menthol-flavored vape maker’s petition for review of a Food and Drug Administration ban of its products, citing recent U.S. Supreme Court precedent affirming FDA decision-making in other e-cigarette cases and opining that FDA properly provided reasoning for its decision to treat menthol e-cigarettes as similar to other flavored e-cigarettes.
DETROIT — A Michigan Court of Appeals panel has affirmed a trial court’s decision against the former director of the Benton Harbor Water Department in a groundwater contamination lawsuit, ruling that a “reasonable juror could conclude that he was the most immediate, efficient, and direct cause of plaintiffs' injuries.”
SAN FRANCISCO — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a California federal judge’s dismissal of a trademark and unfair competition suit against Reddit Inc. by the founder of the “WallStreetBets” message board that was the center of the ballooning of GameStop Corp.’s share value in 2021; the panel said the board’s founder failed to show that he used the name “WallStreetBets” as a mark in commerce.
ROME, Ga. — A large textile mill operator, the town where it operates and one of its product manufacturers will pay more than $1.25 million to a group of water subscribers and ratepayers for their admitted involvement in contaminating groundwater in a northwest region of Georgia with toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) through partial class action settlements granted final approval on June 11 by a federal judge.
MIAMI — A Florida appellate panel on June 11 reversed a trial court and held that a plaintiff who sued Monsanto Co. alleging injuries related to exposure to the herbicide Roundup cannot seek punitive damages because “punitive damages are reserved for truly culpable and egregious behavior,” and the evidence falls short of supporting a claim for those kind of damages.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on June 11 said there was no error in the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (PTAB) finding that all claims of a biotechnology company’s patents on gene modification are invalid; the panel said that substantial evidence supported PTAB’s finding that prior art anticipated the patents.
CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. — Four months after preliminarily approving a $7.5 million settlement of a consolidated class action over a 2023 data breach experienced by a biotech firm, a New York federal magistrate judge granted final approval to the settlement, which provides for up to $10,000 in out-of-pocket reimbursements for class members.