Clothing, Footwear Companies Named In Latest Class Suits Seeking Tariff Refunds
NEW YORK — Ralph Lauren Corp. owes consumers more than $5 million the company collected “based on or attributed to . . . unlawful tariffs,” a Florida woman alleges in a putative class complaint filed May 14 in a federal court in New York; the complaint is one of several tariff-related class complaints filed in the last week against clothing and shoe companies and one of several dozen filed in the last few months against various companies that collected tariffs pursuant to executive orders issued by President Donald J. Trump.
Judge Reinstates Verdict Of Over $25M In Software Companies’ Trade Secrets Row
SAN JOSE, Calif. — In a case on remand from the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, a California federal judge on May 14 reinstated a jury verdict awarding an employee feedback software company more than $25 million in its trade secret dispute with an employee survey software and analytics company, finding that the original judgment that implemented the jury verdict awarding “$11.7 million in compensatory damages and $14 million in exemplary damages” for trade secret misappropriation is correct.
High Court Grants Stay Of Order Requiring In-Person Visits For Mifepristone
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Supreme Court on May 14 left in place nationwide access to mail-order mifepristone, one of two drugs used to induce early termination of pregnancy, granting a stay of a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decision that granted Louisiana’s motion to stay the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s 2023 decision that removed the in-person dispensing requirement for the drug.
Plaintiffs’ Amended Complaint Moots Gore’s Bid To Dismiss PFAS Case, Judge Says
WILMINGTON, Del. — A federal judge in Delaware on May 14 denied as moot a motion to dismiss filed by W.L. Gore & Associates Inc. in a lawsuit over the presence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in its outdoor clothing, ruling that the plaintiffs’ second amended putative class action complaint supersedes the one Gore moved to dismiss.
Federal Circuit Affirms Another Win For Roku In Dispute Before PTAB
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) finding that patent claims describing universal remote-control systems were unpatentable as obvious in inter partes review (IPR) proceedings initiated by Roku Inc. against a rival it has met on appeal at the Federal Circuit in recent months.
Judge Says Creditor May Seek To Enforce $47.6M Award Against Spain
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal judge granted an award-creditor’s motion for relief allowing it to begin enforcing an International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) arbitral award against the Kingdom of Spain worth more than $47.6 million and to register the judgment in other districts, and deferred ruling on Spain’s motion to quash or modify the creditor’s postjudgment subpoenas.
High Court: Common-Law Suits Against Freight Brokers Not Preempted By Federal Law
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Reasoning that common-law standards and duties of care are part of a state’s authority to regulate motor vehicle safety, a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court on May 14 held that the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act (FAAAA), which preempts state laws related to the services of a broker with respect to the transportation of property but does not restrict the safety regulatory authority of states with respect to motor vehicles, does not preempt common-law actions for negligent hiring of a motor carrier or driver by a freight broker.
3rd Circuit Panel Affirms Dismissal Of BIPA Voiceprint Class Action
PHILADELPHIA — A Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a Delaware federal judge’s dismissal of a biometric privacy putative class action that alleged that Illinois callers’ voiceprints were unlawfully collected, holding that a Georgia-based voice-authentication vendor was exempt under a financial-institution exemption in the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) and that claims against Amazon Web Services Inc. (AWS) failed because the alleged conduct did not occur in Illinois.
Unanimous High Court Rules On Jurisdiction After Stay For Arbitration
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In its second unanimous decision of the day, the U.S. Supreme Court on May 14 ruled that nothing in the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) bars a federal court from ruling on motions brought under Sections 9 and 10 of the FAA confirming or vacating an arbitration award when the court previously stayed the case pending arbitration.
NCAA Settles Coaches’ Wage-Fixing Class Suit For $303 Million
FRESNO, Calif. — The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) will pay $303 million to end wage-fixing claims by current and former “volunteer” college coaches after final class settlement approval was granted by a federal judge in California who noted that class counsel reported that the settlement amount is more than 100% of the alleged damages.
Bus Company To Pay $5.6M, Mitigate Massachusetts Fleet Idling To Settle CAA Suit
BOSTON — A company that operates a fleet of buses in Massachusetts agreed to implement a series of anti-idling and emissions controls and pay $5.6 million for pollution mitigation and litigation costs to settle a yearslong Clean Air Act (CAA) suit brought in federal court by an environmental group alleging violations of state anti-idling regulations.