Monsanto, Consumers Seek Remand Of Roundup Suit With Pending $7.25B Settlement
ST. LOUIS — Removal to federal court of a Missouri state court putative class action where a $7.25 billion nationwide Roundup settlement has been preliminarily approved can’t be done by objectors to the settlement, consumers who filed the lawsuit and Monsanto Co. argue in separate motions to remand filed in the federal court; Monsanto is seeking expedited consideration of its motion.
Split Federal Circuit Finds DTSA Claims Time-Barred For Insulin Pump Dispute
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A partially split Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on May 28 reversed a Massachusetts federal judge’s entry of judgment against defendant-appellants accused of misappropriating trade secrets related to an insulin patch pump, holding that the plaintiff-appellee’s claims were time-barred by the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA).
11th Circuit Affirms Ruling Tossing FCA Post-Settlement Medical Expenses Suit
ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on May 27 affirmed a lower court ruling that dismissed a couple’s suit under the False Claims Act (FCA) and the Medicare Secondary Payer Act (MSPA) alleging that insurers caused the man’s healthcare providers to present false claims to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and that by hiding purported responsibility as primary payers, the insurers forced the couple to reimburse CMS for post-settlement medical care, finding that the insurers were not responsible to reimburse Medicare for post-settlement expenses.
Unanimous High Court Says Interstate Journey Workers Can Qualify For FAA Exemption
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court on May 28 ruled that workers who transport goods on an intrastate leg of an interstate journey and do not cross state lines or interact with vehicles that do can qualify for the Federal Arbitration Act’s exemption from compelled arbitration for workers who are “engaged in foreign or interstate commerce.”
8th Circuit OKs Cumulative Counting Method In Withdrawal Liability Case
ST. LOUIS — Resolving a question regarding the building and construction industry exception (BCI) to withdrawal liability under the Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act (MPPAA), the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a summary judgment order that upheld an arbitrator’s decision exempting an employer from paying roughly $227 million.
4th Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of Terminated Workers’ Follow-Up Lawsuit
RICHMOND, Va. — Affirming dismissal of a lawsuit in which former employees of a shuttered manufacturing facility sought to enforce a judgment against entities that were not among the parties who in earlier litigation were found liable for violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals cited Peacock v. Thomas in ruling that the workers failed to establish federal question jurisdiction and federal common-law ancillary jurisdiction.
Objectors: $7.25B Roundup Deal ‘Extinguishes’ Claims; Case Should Be Sent To MDL
ST. LOUIS — Individuals who object to the proposed $7.25 billion nationwide Roundup settlement between a putative class and Bayer Corp., Monsanto Co.’s parent company, removed the putative class action to Missouri federal court, arguing that the proposed agreement “extinguishes” the claims of current and future plaintiffs “in exchange for pennies on the dollar.” The objectors also moved to stay all proceedings pending a ruling on their motion to transfer the case to the multidistrict litigation for Roundup litigation.
9th Circuit Reverses Water Fluoridation Ruling, Says Court Abused Discretion
SAN FRANCISCO — A panel of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has vacated and remanded a lower court decision on the risk of water fluoridation, ruling that the district court “abused its discretion” when it refused to rule on the record presented in the first of two bench trials and when it paused the case pending publication of an additional study on water fluoridation, despite both parties asking the court to decide the case on the existing evidentiary record.
Federal Circuit Reinstates $82M Damages Ruling Against Ford In Trade Secret Case
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held that a Michigan federal judge wrongly barred a technology company from seeking unjust enrichment damages against Ford Motor Co. and wrongly vacated a jury’s award of breach of contract damages; the panel also affirmed a finding that Ford had misappropriated the company’s trade secrets related to software used in vehicle development.
Another Circuit Rules That ERISA Requires Reasonable Conversion Assumptions
ATLANTA — Reviving a putative class action and agreeing with a recent ruling that made a sister circuit “the only other federal court of appeals to have decided the issue,” an 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on May 26 concluded that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act requires pension plans to “convert married participants’ single-life annuities to joint-and-survivor annuities using reasonable mortality and interest-rate assumptions.”
High Court Denies Rehearing In Case Over SEC’s, Court’s Authority Over Receivership
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on May 26 denied a petition for rehearing filed by a man subject to a civil action by the Securities and Exchange Commission asking the court to determine whether federal securities laws allow the SEC and a district court to use the commission’s general equitable authority to order a receivership that will seize every entity owned by a defendant that even slightly benefited from the defendant’s allegedly illegal acts; the Supreme Court had denied the man’s petition for certiorari on March 30.