Mealey's California Section 17200

  • November 06, 2026

    Dozens Of AirTag ‘Stalking’ Complaints Filed Against Apple After MDL Created

    SAN FRANCISCO — Dozens of complaints have been filed in California federal court by anonymous plaintiffs claiming that Apple Inc.’s “AirTag” tracking devices were used to stalk them in violation of their rights to privacy, California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws after class certification was denied and the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPMDL) ordered that the cases be centralized in a multidistrict litigation.

  • November 05, 2026

    Panel Affirms Denial Of Arbitration In Unfair Pricing Class Suit Against Uber

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California appellate panel on Nov. 4 affirmed a trial court’s ruling denying Uber Technologies Inc.’s motion to compel arbitration with two consumers who accuse Uber of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by deceptively listing prices on its app, writing that because the consumers seek public injunctive relief their claims are not arbitrable.

  • November 05, 2026

    Pasta Consumers Appeal Order Striking Expert Evidence On Consumer Perception

    SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Nov. 4 docketed consumers’ appeal of a California federal magistrate judge’s order terminating their class action against a pasta maker for allegedly marketing its products in a manner that could deceive consumers into believing the pasta was made in Italy in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL).

  • November 04, 2026

    OnlyFans Seeks To Appeal Contract Claim In Deceptive Chat Class Suit

    LOS ANGELES — The companies that operate the OnlyFans adult website filed a motion in California federal district court seeking to certify an interlocutory appeal of the court’s ruling denying their motion to dismiss a putative class claim for breach of contract brought by OnlyFans subscribers who say that they were deceived into paying extra fees to “chat” with professional third-party “chatters,” writing that the court’s decision conflicts with Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA).

  • November 04, 2026

    Class Claims Over Deceptive McDonald’s ‘McRib’ Marketing May Proceed, Judge Rules

    CHICAGO — An Illinois federal judge denied in part McDonald’s Corp.’s motion to dismiss putative class claims brought by plaintiffs alleging that it violated the consumer deception laws of several states, including California’s unfair competition law (UCL), by using the “McRib” name to market a sandwich that does not in fact contain any rib meat but granted the motion as to the plaintiffs’ contract-based and negligent misrepresentation claims.

  • November 04, 2026

    Guess, Insurer Seek To Dismiss Suit Seeking Coverage Under Foreign Policies

    LOS ANGELES —  Guess? Inc. and its insurer filed a stipulation asking a California federal court to dismiss Guess’ lawsuit seeking coverage under foreign insurance policies for five underlying actions following mediation where the parties agreed to a settlement in principle.

  • November 04, 2026

    Class, Subclass Decertified In Contract Price-Hike Suit Against Ricoh

    LOS ANGELES — Common questions of law and fact don’t predominate over individual questions in a lawsuit accusing Ricoh USA Inc. of breach of contract, unfair competition and other violations in connection with yearly price increases that allegedly exceed the contractual percentage permitted, a federal judge in California ruled, decertifying a class and subclass that had been certified in June.

  • November 03, 2026

    9th Circuit Panel Affirms 2 Challenged Travel Insurance Class Settlements

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California man who is an attorney and who separately objected to the settlement agreements reached in two separate travel insurance cases failed to show any abuse of discretion in either case, including when it came to incentive awards for the class representatives, a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel majority ruled in two memorandums issued the same day.

  • November 03, 2026

    Judge Excludes 2 Swifties From Parallel Class Action, Denies Discovery Motion

    LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge adopted as final his tentative ruling in which he agreed to exclude two Taylor Swift fans who are plaintiffs in a ticket sales antitrust suit against online ticket seller Ticketmaster LLC, its parent company Live Nation Entertainment Inc. and a venue owner from being considered members in an earlier-filed class action against Live Nation for similar claims but declined to exclude hundreds of other plaintiffs from membership and declined to order production of discovery from the parallel case.

  • November 03, 2026

    Insureds Want ERISA, UCL Classes Certified In Cigna AI Claims Denial Case

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Whether Cigna Corp.’s use of artificial intelligence to deny medical claims satisfies standards under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and California unfair competition law (UCL) involves common questions and answers, and the case deserves class status, two insureds tell a federal judge in seeking class certification.

  • November 02, 2026

    9th Circuit Affirms Denial Of Arbitration With Minors In ‘Robux’ Gambling Case

    SAN FRANCISCO — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Oct. 30 rebuffed all arguments brought by the developer of a third-party gambling app that allegedly accepted “Robux,” the in-game digital currency used on Roblox Corp.’s online gaming platform, including from minors, for enforcing the app’s arbitration agreement included in its terms of service (TOS), writing that there was “no evidence” players received notice of the TOS.

  • October 29, 2026

    ChatGPT Led To Daughter’s Seizure Death, Parents Say In Negligence, UCL Case

    SAN FRANCISCO — A Chinese immigrant and machine-learning engineer died after ChatGPT provided her with a schedule to reduce dosage of her doctor-prescribed anti-seizure medication, assuring her that the day-by-day schedule it created would absolutely help her avoid side effects she believed might jeopardize her ability to remain in the United States, parents say in a complaint alleging eight causes of action, including negligence and violation of the California unfair competition law.

  • October 29, 2026

    Spotify Proposes Judgment After Class Suit Over Alleged Bot Streams Dismissed

    LOS ANGELES — Spotify USA Inc. on Oct. 28 filed its proposed judgment of dismissal in California federal court after a federal judge dismissed with prejudice a putative class action brought against it by a rapper who accused the company of negligence and violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) for allegedly failing to prevent billions of artificial “bot streams” of music by musicians such as Drake, which allegedly reduced the revenue pool open to competing musicians.

  • October 27, 2026

    Attorney Fees Appeal Terminated In Acura Bluetooth Case After Settlement Reached

    SAN FRANCISCO — American Honda Motor Company Inc.’s nearly year-and-a-half appeal of a trial court’s award of attorney fees and costs that was much larger than the monetary settlement for a consumer class who alleged defective HandsFreeLink (HFL) Bluetooth systems in certain Acura vehicles that cause excessive electric drain was terminated by the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals after the parties notified the appellate court that they reached a settlement.

  • October 20, 2026

    Classes Wrongly Certified In Tesla Self-Driving Suit, 9th Circuit Says

    SAN FRANCISCO — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel vacated a California federal judge’s ruling certifying three classes of drivers suing Tesla Inc. and its affiliates for unfairly marketing cars as having “self-driving” technology in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws, writing that the lower court “erred by inferring” that an entire class was exposed to allegedly deceptive statements by Tesla regarding the ability of hardware in its cars to provide full self-driving (FSD).

  • October 19, 2026

    Judge Won’t Certify Class Alleging ‘Nutritional’ Drinks Were Deceptively Labeled

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal magistrate judge issued the public version of a previously sealed ruling denying a plaintiff’s motion to certify a statewide class allegedly deceived into purchasing nutritional drinks based on their health claims in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws, writing that the plaintiff failed to show that her damages model could reliably calculate classwide damages and partly excluding consideration of her damages experts after finding them “unreliable.”

  • October 19, 2026

    California Residents Say Cancers Linked To Sterigenics Facilities’ EtO Emissions

    LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles County residents sued Sterigenics U.S. LLC and others in a California court alleging that the operators of sterilization facilities use inadequate technologies to reduce ethylene oxide (EtO) gas emissions, thereby causing the plaintiffs serious and fatal diseases.

  • October 19, 2026

    Judge Certifies Class Accusing Contact Lens Maker Of Deceptive Lens Sales

    LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge adopted as final a tentative ruling and granted a plaintiff’s motion to certify a statewide class accusing a contact lens manufacturer of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by allegedly sending customers contact lenses that do not satisfy federal requirements for contact lens prescription fulfillment and denied a defense motion to exclude the plaintiff’s expert on materiality and damages.

  • October 16, 2026

    U.K. Customers Say Suit Against Online Discount Finder Was Wrongly Dismissed

    SAN FRANCISCO — A group of U.K. citizens filed an opening brief urging the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reverse a ruling dismissing with prejudice their putative class action against two companies that own and operate the “Honey” discount-finding browser extension for allegedly deceiving them into believing that it could help them save money on online purchases in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL), writing that the trial court erred by dismissing their complaint.

  • October 16, 2026

    Insured Granted Another Chance To Amend Request For Punitive Damages

    LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge dismissed without prejudice an insured’s request for punitive damages in a coverage dispute stemming from vandalism of the insured’s property after determining that the insured failed to plausibly allege that the actions of the insurer’s agent are imputed to the insurer.

  • October 15, 2026

    Judge Won’t Dismiss Class Suit Against Ginger Ale Maker Over Natural Flavor Claims

    SAN DIEGO — A California federal judge on Oct. 14 denied a ginger ale maker’s motion to dismiss a putative class action lawsuit brought by a consumer who says its ginger ales are misrepresented as “natural” and in fact allegedly contain synthetic citric acid, in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL), finding that the plaintiff’s claims were sufficiently pleaded and not preempted.

  • October 15, 2026

    Split 9th Circuit Vacates Class Certification In Consumer Hair Product Labels Case

    SAN FRANCISCO — Consumers seeking to represent a class in a case challenging animal testing claims on John Paul Mitchell Systems (JPMS) hair product labels presented an insufficient proposed classwide damages model, a split Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled, vacating a class certification order and remanding for further proceedings.

  • October 14, 2026

    Judge Grants Final Approval To $68M Settlement For Google Assistant Eavesdropping

    SAN JOSE, Calif. — A California federal judge on Oct. 13 granted a motion for final approval of a $68 million settlement resolving class claims against Google LLC and Alphabet Inc. (collectively Google) for allegedly eavesdropping on Google Assistant (GA) users in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and privacy laws and granted the plaintiffs’ motion for more than $22 million in attorney fees but reduced the named plaintiffs’ service awards.

  • October 13, 2026

    High Court Won’t Review Denial Of Arbitration In Headrest Defect Class Action

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 13 denied a car manufacturer’s petition for a writ of certiorari seeking review of a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling that the manufacturer claimed contributed to a circuit split regarding the enforceability of delegation clauses in arbitration agreements by nonsignatories, leaving in place the Ninth Circuit ruling affirming the denial of the manufacturer’s attempt to compel arbitration of class claims over an alleged headrest defect.

  • October 08, 2026

    California Insureds: Chubb Failed To Conduct Fair Investigation Of Wildfire Loss

    LOS ANGELES — Insureds sued their homeowners insurer for breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing and violation of the California unfair competition law (UCL), alleging that the insurer, in concert with environmental consulting and testing companies, directed an investigation into their Palisades Wildfire claim “that repeatedly narrowed the scope of testing, ignored evidence of contamination in concealed and exterior areas, and proposed piecemeal remediation that could not restore the Property to its pre-loss condition.”