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Mealey's Class Actions

April 11, 2024
Golf Attendants Seek Rehearing After 11th Circuit Agrees They Are Not Employees

ATLANTA — Golf attendants at Palm Beach County, Fla., golf clubs who received discounted golf in exchange for their services filed a petition for rehearing after the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a trial court’s judgment for the county in their putative class lawsuit, opining that the attendants are public-agency volunteers and not employees under federal and state law.
April 10, 2024
Viability Of UCL Class Action Involving Asbestos And Talc Rests With 9th Circuit

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals heard oral arguments over whether allegations of a decades-long advertising campaign about the safety and purity of talcum powder sufficiently specifies the advertising in question and saves a California unfair competition law (UCL) class action alleging that in reality the products contained asbestos and other contaminants.
April 10, 2024
Amici Support Facebook Before High Court, Say Split Over Disclosure Must End

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Multiple groups filed a total of three amicus curiae briefs with the U.S. Supreme Court arguing that the court should grant a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by the company formerly known as Facebook Inc., echoing the social media giant’s argument that the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals deepened a circuit split over what public companies must disclose when it partly revived a putative class complaint brought by investors.
April 10, 2024
Products’ Nutrition Claims With ‘Childlike Drawings’ Are Puffery, Judge Says

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted in part and denied in part a fruit company’s motion to dismiss a putative class action against it for labeling various fruit products as “Healthy” and providing “Good Nutrition” despite containing significant amounts of sugar, writing that the statements are next to “childlike drawings” and therefore unlikely to deceive a consumer.
April 10, 2024
Stay Granted After Class Settlement Reached Between Seller, Real Estate Brokerage

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A federal judge in Missouri in a docket entry granted a stay as to a home seller’s putative class claims against a real estate brokerage firm and its subsidiary in a complaint accusing the brokerage, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and others of engaging in anticompetitive “steering” after the seller and brokerage filed a notice of pending settlement.
April 10, 2024
9th Circuit Denies Objectors Rehearing Over $90 Million Facebook Tracking MDL

SAN FRANCISCO — In a pair of almost identical one-page orders, a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel denied petitions for rehearing by objectors to the $90 million settlement of a 12-year-old privacy multidistrict litigation over internet tracking activities of social network users by Facebook Inc. (now known as Meta Platforms Inc.), which received final approval in November.
April 10, 2024
Illinois Federal Judge Dismisses Claims In Dispute Over Natural Gas Release

CHICAGO — A homeowning couple who brought a class action complaint against an Illinois public utility, its parent company and a public relations firm over the three companies’ involvement in releasing natural gas into a large underground aquifer failed to sufficiently plead several of their claims, including those brought under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), an Illinois federal judge found in partly granting the companies’ motion to dismiss.
April 09, 2024
9th Circuit Revives Investors’ Suit Against Entertainment Company

PASADENA, Calif. — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals partly revived a suit by shareholders of Genius Brands International Inc. who claim the company and its CEO made misleading statements to investors, saying a California federal judge erred in finding that some of the company’s claims were not materially misleading.
April 09, 2024
Jackson Water Crisis Plaintiffs Say Their Claims Are ‘Plausibly Pleaded’

JACKSON, Miss. — The plaintiffs suing Jackson, Miss., over the drinking water crisis in the city have filed a brief in Mississippi federal court arguing that it should deny the city’s motion to dismiss their class action on grounds that they have “plausibly pleaded” a claim for the violation of their bodily integrity and that their second amended complaint includes facts showing that they relied on the city’s misrepresentations about the water crisis in making their decision to continue drinking tap water.
April 09, 2024
Judge: Deception Claims Over ‘100% Recyclable’ Plastic Bottles May Proceed

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge on April 8 denied a motion to dismiss a putative class action brought by three consumers and The Sierra Club accusing The Coca-Cola Co. and two other bottling companies of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by labeling plastic bottles as “100% recyclable,” finding that the plaintiffs sufficiently alleged based on a survey that most consumers would be deceived.
April 09, 2024
Investors, Pharmaceutical Company Seek Approval Of Securities Claims Settlement

CAMDEN, N.J. — A pharmaceutical company and certain of its executives have agreed to settle for $97 million a securities class action by investors accusing the company of artificially inflating stock value to stave off a buyout, according to a motion for preliminary settlement approval filed by the lead plaintiff.
April 09, 2024
Norfolk Southern To Pay $600M To Settle Ohio Train Derailment Litigation

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Norfolk Southern Railway Co. and Norfolk Southern Corp. (Norfolk Southern collectively) and the plaintiffs suing them filed notice in Ohio federal court on April 9 indicating that they have reached a $600 million agreement in principle to resolve the class action pertaining to alleged injuries from the release of toxic chemicals in the 2023 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio; a third-party lawsuit among Norfolk Southern and railcar companies continues.
April 09, 2024
Cornell Waives Response To Review Bid For ERISA Prohibited Transaction Ruling

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Cornell University and related respondents have waived their right to respond to a certiorari petition in which retirement plan participants tell the U.S. Supreme Court that of two 2023 decisions that amplified a “preexisting circuit split” over Employee Retirement Income Security Act pleading standards for prohibited-transaction claims, the ruling against them “is the superior vehicle for review.”
April 09, 2024
Parties Dispute Summary Judgment Issues In ERISA Suit Over ESG Factors

FORT WORTH, Texas — In a reply brief supporting summary judgment in a putative class case concerning environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations and the purported proxy voting activism of investment management firms, American Airlines Inc. and a related defendant reiterate their contentions that the plaintiff’s theories fail for reasons including that he can’t prove any loss to the retirement plans at issue.
April 09, 2024
After Summary Judgment In ERISA Fees Case, Defendants File Bill Of Costs For ESI

DES MOINES, Iowa — After an Iowa federal judge granted summary judgment against a class of 401(k) participants in a dispute over record-keeping fees, grocery chain Hy-Vee Inc. and related defendants filed a bill of costs seeking $53,319.87 in taxable costs, including $40,232.83 for discovery of electronically stored information (ESI).
April 08, 2024
Driver Appeals Grant Of Summary Judgment On UCL Claim For ‘Unfair’ COVID Premiums

SAN FRANCISCO — A driver on April 5 appealed to the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals a California federal judge’s grant of summary judgment in favor of GEICO after finding that it did not violate California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by unfairly profiting from a premium giveback program initiated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
April 08, 2024
Water District: Appeal Of AFFF Deal Valid, Claim About Motive ‘Inflammatory’

CHARLESTON, S.C. — A California water district has filed a brief in South Carolina federal court denying what it calls an “inflammatory charge” against it leveled by class counsel in the multidistrict litigation for the firefighting substance aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) who seek an appeal bond from the water district related to its decision to appeal the court’s approval of a $1.18 billion class settlement between plaintiffs and E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. related to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination from AFFF.
April 08, 2024
High Court’s Review Sought For 5th Circuit ERISA Prohibited Transaction Ruling

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Seeking U.S. Supreme Court review of a decision involving what constitutes a prohibited transaction, a dental office and the 401(k) plan it sponsors present the case as a good vehicle “for resolving multiple circuit splits and providing much needed clarity on important and often dispositive issues of law arising from service relationships between [Employee Retirement Income Security Act] plans and their providers.”
April 08, 2024
State Consumer Protection Claim Against Mortgage Subservicer Survives Dismissal

NORFOLK, Va. — A couple may proceed with a fraud-based claim under the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act (WVCCPA) in a putative class complaint accusing a mortgage subservicer of overcharging interest by incorrectly applying prepayments as that state law provides “‘an avenue of relief’” based on violations of Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) servicing guidelines, a federal judge in Virginia ruled partially denying the subservicer’s motion to dismiss.
April 08, 2024
Judge Allows Some Claims In ACA Hearing Loss Proxy Discrimination Case

SEATTLE — Proxy discrimination and injunctive relief claims based on exclusions or limitations in health insurance coverage for hearing aids that allegedly targeted people with disabilities in violation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) may proceed, but other claims appear to be barred by state law, a federal judge in Washington said in partially granting a motion to dismiss.
April 08, 2024
ACA Fertility Discrimination Claims Survive Dismissal, Federal Judge Says

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A woman who claims that an insurer’s policy on what constitutes infertility discriminates against non-heterosexual individuals assigned female at birth enjoys standing under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, but since she no longer participates in the plan, she cannot proceed on a declaratory relief claim, a federal judge in Connecticut said in partly granting the insurer’s motion to dismiss.
April 08, 2024
Another Set Of Retirees Challenges AT&T Pension Risk Transfer Under ERISA

BOSTON — A second set of retirees has filed a putative class case in Massachusetts federal court challenging a May 2023 AT&T pension risk transfer (PRT) under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
April 05, 2024
8th Circuit Argument Set In ERISA Imprudence Dispute Over Pleading Standard

ST. LOUIS — The Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has set oral argument for April 9 in retirement plan participants’ bid to revive their dismissed Employee Retirement Income Security Act case, with the key issue being whether the pleading standard in Matousek v. MidAmerican Energy Co. was met.
April 05, 2024
Bench Trial Results In Class Win In ERISA Suit Over Retirement Plan Conversion

HOUSTON — Following a bench trial in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act class action over the 1989 conversion of a retirement plan, a Texas federal judge has found that the plaintiffs “are entitled to equitable relief” in an amount yet to be determined.
April 05, 2024
Defendants Win Dismissal Of ERISA Suit That Followed $30.9M Class Settlement

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — A Massachusetts federal judge has granted dismissal of a follow-up Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit over retirement plan fees and proprietary funds, ruling in part that the class settlement of the prior case limits the claims.