GREENVILLE, Miss. — A Mississippi federal judge on March 31 dismissed without prejudice a suit filed by a law firm against its cyber threats insurer and related entities alleging breach of contract related to the insurer’s alleged refusal to cover a claim for a $158,425 fraudulent wire transfer, finding that there was no coverage under the policy’s social engineering coverage endorsement because the “facts alleged” by the firm “are not covered by the unambiguous language of the Social Engineering Endorsement.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge in the District of Columbia on March 31 denied summary judgment to both sides — unions and nonprofits and federal government agencies — as to Administrative Procedure Act (APA) claims in a case over U.S. Digital Service and U.S. DOGE Service Temporary Organization (together, DOGE) personnel’s right to access U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) records, finding that “real disputes over facts foundational to plaintiffs’ APA claims . . . persist.”

Case law in the wave of putative class Employee Retirement Income Security Act suits concerning retirement plan use of forfeitures continues to be mixed; although the majority of decisions on dismissal motions continue to favor defendants, including in seven dismissal rulings handed down in the last two months, that same period brought three rulings that allowed cases to continue.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on March 31 held that a California federal judge correctly ruled that the asserted claim of a technology company that accused TikTok Inc. and related entities of infringement was invalid as abstract for lack of details on how to implement the claim; the panel agreed that the asserted claim does no more than describe the abstract concept of personalizing content based on a user’s profile.

CLEVELAND — On the heels of a surge of similar litigation over the selection and retention of American Century Fund target date funds (TDFs) as retirement fund options, an Ohio federal granted dismissal of a putative class suit on the grounds that at most, the allegations show “modest underperformance” that “is insufficient to infer imprudence.”

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A federal judge in Connecticut has dismissed, without further leave to amend, a putative class action alleging that Kimberly-Clark Corp. is the source of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination in the local groundwater supply, ruling that the third amended complaint fails to plausibly allege that the plaintiffs’ injuries were caused by Kimberly-Clark.

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Citing precedent from the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, a New York federal judge on March 30 granted Allstate’s motion for a preliminary injunction to stay no-fault arbitrations in state court filed by the same medical provider defendants Allstate is suing in federal court over their alleged participation in a no-fault fraud Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act scheme, finding that “the risk of irreparable harm” absent a stay tips “the balance of hardships” in favor of Allstate because the outcome of the state court proceedings “could have a preclusive effect” on the federal court’s “ability to provide relief.”

AUSTIN, Texas — The Third District Texas Court of Appealsreversed and remanded an amended final judgment that granted summary judgment in favor of the owner of a totaled Audi for nearly $240,000 plus interest for the value of his car, damages and attorney fees and costs in his suit against his insurer alleging breach of contract and state law claims, finding that the owner failed to conclusively prove the claims as a matter of law and failed to establish the policy terms and independent damage.