Mealey's California Section 17200 : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's California Section 17200

September 22, 2025
Minors Sue Disney Over Data Collection On Videos For Children

LOS ANGELES — Three minors filed a putative class action in California state court accusing two Disney companies of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by failing to designate certain YouTube videos as “for kids” and collecting information about those viewers, which was also the subject of a recent $10 million settlement by Disney with the Federal Trade Commission.
September 19, 2025
Final Approval Given To $20 Million Global Settlement Of Fortra Data Breach MDL

MIAMI — Five months after a Florida federal judge preliminarily approved a $20 million global settlement of a multidistrict litigation over a 2023 data breach experienced by users of a file-transfer program, he granted final approval to the settlement, thus resolving all remaining claims against software firm Fortra LLC, its customers and their clients by class members who claim that their personally identifiable information (PII) was compromised in the cyberattack.
September 19, 2025
PornHub Investors, Hedge Fund Lenders Dismissed From Woman’s Trafficking Suit

LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge in two orders dismissed with prejudice claims brought against hedge funds that lent money to MindGeek S.a.r.l., the company that owns and operates pornography website Pornhub, and claims against former partial owners of MindGeek, in a lawsuit brought by a woman accusing MindGeek and its affiliates of violating sex-trafficking laws and California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by monetizing child sex abuse material (CSAM) that was made while she was a minor.
September 17, 2025
Weight Loss Company Loses Motion To Dismiss Trademark Infringement Case

SAN DIEGO — The manufacturer of Ozempic, Wegovy and Rybelsus, fended off a motion to dismiss after a California federal judge found that a weight loss company facing claims of trademark infringement and unfair competition did not show that its application of the trademarks was within the nominative fair use doctrine.
September 17, 2025
Data Breach Suit Against Casino Mostly Survives Dismissal

LAS VEGAS — The operator of a casino that was hit by a data breach in 2024 saw its motion to dismiss putative class privacy, negligence and unfair competition claims mostly denied by a Nevada federal judge, who found that a group of customers and former employees adequately alleged most of their claims and supported them with assertions of cognizable injuries.
September 17, 2025
Parties Reach Settlement To Resolve All Remaining Claims In Reinsurance Dispute

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The two remaining parties in a suit involving reinsurance and related agreements notified a California federal court that they have reached a final settlement, resolving all outstanding claims and providing for the distribution of funds held by the court.
September 16, 2025
Judge Partly Grants Certification In Suit Over Origin Of ‘Japanese’ Alcohol

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal magistrate judge on Sept. 15 granted a consumer’s motion to certify a class seeking injunctive relief against a U.S. company accused of marketing Japanese sake in a manner that would deceive consumers into believing that it is imported from Japan when it is actually manufactured in California in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) but refused to certify a class seeking damages.
September 16, 2025
Judge Certifies New York Class, Denies California Class In Elderberry Extract Suit

SAN DIEGO — A California federal judge granted a motion to certify a New York state class accusing the maker of a dietary supplement that contains elderberry extract of deceiving consumers with misleading label statements, denied the motion as to a California class bringing claims for violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) because the claims are barred due to a previous California suit, and denied a defense motion to exclude the plaintiffs’ expert witnesses.
September 16, 2025
$95 Million Settlement Of Siri Eavesdropping Class Action Gets Final Approval

OAKLAND, Calif. — A California federal judge gave a final OK to a $95 million settlement of a six-year-old class action accusing Apple Inc. of collecting unauthorized recordings of Apple device users via its Siri digital assistant, deeming the settlement “fair, adequate, and reasonable.”
September 15, 2025
California Attorney Must Pay $10K For AI Hallucinations In Employment Appeal

LOS ANGELES — A California appellate panel on Sept. 12 said it is the first court in the state to address an attorney using AI and filing briefs containing “fake legal authority” and ordered the lawyer to pay $10,000 in sanctions for filing two briefs written with “AI tools” in an unsuccessful appeal of summary judgment granted in favor of a company and its owner on her claims for retaliation, termination and violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL).
September 15, 2025
San Francisco City Attorney Settles Hospital Rankings Dispute With Publisher

SAN FRANCISCO — The Office of San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu announced a settlement with U.S. News & World Report L.P. under which the publisher will disclose on its website payments from hospitals that are included in its “Best Hospitals” ranking, following litigation between the parties over U.S. News’ alleged violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL).
September 11, 2025
California Seeks $1.1M In Penalties Against Flavored Vape Seller

FRESNO, Calif. — A California federal judge discharged an order to show cause why the CEO of a vape retail company should not be sanctioned after the director updated his address on the docket, one day after the California Attorney General’s Office moved for summary judgment seeking a more than $1.1 million fine against the CEO and his company for violating federal and state tobacco laws and California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by selling disposable flavored vape products without a license or youth restrictions.
September 10, 2025
Judge: OnlyFans Class Must Show Why AI Errors Don’t Require Sanctions

LOS ANGELES — Plaintiffs in a California unfair competition law and advertising class action challenging the use of professional chatters on the OnlyFans site must show why they shouldn’t be sanctioned after their counsel submitted a quartet of briefs with artificial intelligence-created errors, a federal judge in California said in an order to show cause.
September 10, 2025
California ‘Insurer Of Last Resort’ Sued For Allegedly Mishandling Fire Claim

LOS ANGELES — A homeowner whose property is covered by the California Fair Plan Association (CFPA) sued the insurance pool in state court, alleging that the state’s “insurer of last resort” failed to adequately investigate and assess damage and issue payment after her home was damaged in the Palisades Fire.
September 10, 2025
Panel Affirms $7.9M Judgment Against Retail Chain For ‘Credit’ Insurance Sales

LOS ANGELES — A California appellate panel on Sept. 9 affirmed a trial court’s entry of a more than $7.9 million judgment, comprising civil penalties for more than 318,000 violations of California’s unfair competition law (UCL), against a retail chain and its CEO for improper sales of “credit property insurance” policies on which only 2.7% of the profits were paid out as benefits.
September 10, 2025
Putative Class Plaintiffs Say PFAS Case Against Band-Aid Makers Is Well-Founded

TRENTON, N.J. — Plaintiffs who filed a putative class action against Johnson & Johnson and affiliates alleging that they have been injured by the presence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in Band-Aids have filed a brief in New Jersey federal court arguing that the defendants’ motion to dismiss “fails on every front, applying incorrect legal standards and ignoring well-pleaded factual allegations.”
September 10, 2025
Apple Seeks To Dismiss Developers’ App Store ‘Monopoly’ Claims

OAKLAND, Calif. — Apple Inc. in California federal court moved to dismiss a putative class action brought by developers accusing it of monopolizing the market for mobile apps and forcing companies to pay “supra-competitive commissions” to keep their products on the Apple App Store, writing that the plaintiffs lack standing under California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and cannot bring claims for violation of Korean and Japanese anti-monopoly laws.
September 09, 2025
Nuisance Suit Against Exxon For Plastics Pollution May Proceed, Judge Says

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted Exxon Mobil Corp.’s motion to dismiss claims by environmental groups that it violated California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by manufacturing single-use plastics that it allegedly misrepresented as recyclable while earning billions of dollars from sales but denied the motion as to the plaintiffs’ public nuisance claims.
September 08, 2025
Judge Sends Putative Class Suit Over ‘Sustainable’ Cocoa Labeling To Illinois

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California federal judge on Sept. 5 transferred a putative class action lawsuit against a chocolate company for violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by allegedly misrepresenting its cocoa as “Sustainably Sourced” to Illinois federal court where another putative class complaint over the same alleged misrepresentation was previously filed.
September 05, 2025
Jury Awards Google Users More Than $425M For Online Data Gathering

SAN FRANCISCO — After an 11-day trial in a five-year-old privacy class action, a California federal jury awarded two classes of mobile device users more than $425 million for invasion of privacy and intrusion upon seclusion by Google LLC for the company’s practice of tracking mobile device users’ online activity despite selecting a setting to opt out of such data collection.
September 05, 2025
Judge Dismisses ‘Fanciful’ Misrepresentation Suit Over ‘Brewed In USA’ Tea

LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge dismissed a consumer’s putative class action against the manufacturers of a bottled tea product the consumer had alleged was unlawfully labeled in a manner that conveyed that the product originated in the United States when it in fact does not, writing that the plaintiff’s alleged reading of the product’s label “strains credulity.”
September 04, 2025
U.K. Plaintiffs Amend Class Deception Claims Against Coupon Finder

SAN FRANCISCO — Citizens of the United Kingdom filed an amended putative class action against a company that operates a discount-finding browser extension and its parent company for alleged violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) on behalf of all U.K. users of the browser extension who were not provided the best discounts available for certain products they purchased online, after a judge dismissed a prior complaint for lack of a connection to California.
September 02, 2025
Driver Amends Suit Against Tesla For ‘Self-Driving’ Claims After Class Certified

SAN FRANCISCO — A Tesla driver on Aug. 29 filed an amended complaint in California federal court accusing Tesla Inc. and affiliated entities of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by misrepresenting the capabilities of Tesla vehicles’ “self-driving” technology, two weeks after a judge granted the driver’s motion for class certification.
September 02, 2025
Retailers’ Bid To Arbitrate False Discount Claims Properly Denied, Panel Says

LOS ANGELES — A California appellate panel affirmed a court’s refusal to compel arbitration of a consumer’s claims that a retail chain deceptively listed normal prices as discounts in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL), finding that the consumer only agreed to place an order online and did not agree to enter into an arbitration agreement.
August 29, 2025
$8.5M Settlement OK’d In Worker’s Suit Alleging Calif. Wage-And-Hour Violations

LOS ANGELES — A federal judge in California granted final approval of an $8.5 million class and representative settlement, ending wage-and-hour claims brought by one employee under California law against an engineering conglomerate accused of failing to provide meal and rest breaks, overtime and minimum wages and expenses.