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

Mealey's California Section 17200

September 25, 2024
Most Claims Survive Dismissal In Forta Data Breach MDL Case

MIAMI — Ruling that the plaintiffs in a consolidated putative class action arising from a 2023 data security breach adequately allege standing, a Florida federal judge granted dismissal for failure to state a claim only as to all or part of 11 of the 27 claims; he said he would allow repleading on four of the claims, but the plaintiffs opted to forgo repleading.
September 24, 2024
Cigna, Insureds Debate ERISA, UCL Impact On AI Claims Denial Case

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Individuals allegedly denied coverage by an artificial intelligence algorithm employed by Employee Retirement Income Security Act insurer Cigna Corp. debated whether the program’s use violated plan terms on how the company would review claims, preemption and whether California unfair competition law claims were properly pleaded in briefing over a motion to dismiss a third amended complaint.
September 24, 2024
Google Partially Granted Summary Judgment In Ovulation Tracking App Suit

SAN FRANCISCO — Female consumers who used the Flo Period & Ovulation Tracker app and are now suing the app creator and third parties for privacy and contract violations as well as unfair competition law (UCL) claims under California law abandoned their defense of their UCL claims against Google LLC and failed to show that Google has actual knowledge of the alleged practices, a federal judge in California ruled Sept. 23, partially granting Google’s motion for summary judgment.
September 24, 2024
California, Environmental Groups Sue Exxon For Single-Use Plastics Pollution

SAN FRANCISCO — The California Attorney General’s Office and environmental groups on Sept. 23 separately filed complaints against Exxon Mobil Corp., accusing it of creating a public nuisance and violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) other laws by manufacturing single-use plastics that it misrepresented as recyclable while earning billions dollars from sales of plastic products per year.
September 24, 2024
Data Breach Class Suit Against Casino Operator May Proceed, Judge Rules

LAS VEGAS — A Nevada federal judge granted in part and denied in part a casino operator’s motion to dismiss putative class action claims against it for negligence, violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other statutes on behalf of a nationwide class and a California subclass in relation to a 2022 breach of its servers that led to the leak of more than 200,000 people’s personal identifying information (PII).
September 19, 2024
Judge Grants Summary Judgment To Mortgage Servicer On Misleading Notices Claims

LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge granted a mortgage loan servicer’s motion for summary judgment on a borrower’s claims accusing it of unfairly misrepresenting the interest rate and principal due on her loan, finding that despite receiving misleading notices, the plaintiff did not allege damages as she has remained in her home without making a mortgage payment for 16 years.
September 19, 2024
Preliminary Approval Of Settlement Granted In Payroll Processor Data Breach Suit

LOS ANGELES — A California state court judge granted preliminary approval of a settlement in a putative class action suit against an entertainment industry payroll processor whose alleged failure to implement cybersecurity measures to protect the plaintiffs’ personally identifiable information (PII) resulted in a data breach impacting more than 450,000 individuals, staying litigation in the case pending final approval of the settlement.
September 19, 2024
MrBeast Game Show Contestants File Wage, Harassment Class Complaint

LOS ANGELES — Five unnamed contestants of Beast Games, a game show produced in part by MrBeast and Amazon Alternative LLC, filed a class complaint in a California court accusing Amazon and others of wage-and-hour violations, harassment and unfair business practices after they say they were told they would be competing with 1,000 people for a $5 million prize but the odds of winning were actually far less when they began competing.
September 19, 2024
Planned Parenthood’s $6M Data Breach Class Settlement Given Final OK

LOS ANGELES — A $6 million settlement by Planned Parenthood Los Angeles (PPLA) to end a consolidated class complaint accusing the reproductive health care provider of failing to protect patients’ personally identifiable information and protected health information from being accessed and stolen was granted final approval by a California judge, following the submission of additional documentation.
September 17, 2024
Judge Dismisses ‘Worldwide Conspiracy’ Claims Against Foreign Honey Companies

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California federal judge dismissed with prejudice a complaint brought by three U.S. honey producers against importers, certifiers and packers of foreign honey for participating in an alleged “worldwide conspiracy” to sell inauthentic, adulterated honey products at low prices in the United States, finding that the plaintiffs failed to plead their fraud-based claims with sufficient particularity.
September 17, 2024
Yelp Agrees To Magistrate Oversight In Stolen Info Antitrust Suit Against Google

SAN FRANCISCO — Internet search platform Yelp Inc. consented to jurisdiction by a federal magistrate judge over further proceedings in its California federal court suit against multinational search engine tech company Google LLC asserting antitrust violations pursuant to the Sherman Act regarding Google’s alleged “numerous anti-competitive practices, including stealing information from Yelp’s website and passing it off as Google’s own.”
September 17, 2024
23andMe Asks MDL Judge To Approve $30M Data Breach Settlement

SAN FRANCISCO — Genetic data company 23andMe Inc. filed a brief urging the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to grant preliminary approval to a $30 million settlement to resolve claims in a multidistrict litigation brought by plaintiffs whose genetic data on 23andMe’s website was hacked and offered for sale online and asking the court to enjoin separate litigation and arbitrations brought against it for the breach that it says could “jeopardize . . . the Settlement.”
September 16, 2024
Panel Says Suit Against Crypto Exchange For False Security Claims Not Arbitrable

SAN FRANCISCO — A California appellate panel affirmed a trial court’s denial of a cryptocurrency exchange’s petition to compel arbitration of claims that it misrepresented the security of its platform in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws, finding that the plaintiffs’ claims are inarbitrable because they seek public injunctive relief, thereby affirming the opposite conclusion of that reached by a federal judge hearing similar claims brought by some of the same plaintiffs.
September 16, 2024
9th Circuit Won’t Rehear Baby Food Labeling Suit

PHOENIX — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied a baby food company’s petition for panel or en banc rehearing, with only a dissenting judge from the original panel voting in favor of rehearing the case in which the court reversed the dismissal of putative class claims and said that certain state law labeling claims were not preempted by federal law.
September 13, 2024
Magistrate Judge Won’t Dismiss UCL Suit Over ‘Sunset’ Of Payroll Software

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal magistrate judge on Sept. 12 denied a software provider’s motion to dismiss a suit against it for breach of contract and violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL), brought by a payroll company that alleges that it unlawfully lost access to payroll software and searchable client data contained therein after paying licensing fees for more than 20 years.
September 13, 2024
Judge Denies Motion To Reconsider Rehab Plan For Workers’ Comp Insurer

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — Denying a motion that sought coverage of certain litigation costs for policyholders and a higher interest rate, a California state judge declined to reconsider her ruling approving a rehabilitation plan for California Insurance Co. (CIC), saying she “previously heard and considered these grounds.”
September 12, 2024
Judge Allows Consumer Suit Alleging ‘Compostable’ Bags, Tableware Contain PFAS

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California federal judge on Sept. 11 granted in part and denied in part a motion to dismiss a putative class action against a compostable product maker and Target Corp. for selling tableware and food storage bags that were allegedly deceptively labeled as “compostable” when they in fact contain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
September 12, 2024
Split Panel Reverses Dismissal Of Hand Sanitizer Suit On ‘Dirty Hands’ Theory

PASADENA, Calif. — A split Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Sept. 11 reversed the dismissal of a putative class action against a hand sanitizer maker that advertises its products as capable of killing “99.99% of germs,” with the majority finding that the plaintiff adequately raised an “alternative theory” that the defendant misrepresented the effectiveness of its products under “real-world conditions” in which consumers’ hands may be dirty, greasy or wet.
September 11, 2024
Judge Finds PFAS Claims Against Drink Maker Exceed Proposition 65

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge said a consumer’s putative class action against a sports drink maker for violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other statutes is not barred under the state’s Proposition 65 because her allegations of health risks caused by the presence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the product exceed those covered by the regulation, but dismissed several of her claims as insufficiently pleaded.
September 10, 2024
Hunter Biden Wins Attorney Fees From Laptop Files Poster

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge on Sept. 9 granted Hunter Biden’s motion for attorney fees against a conservative activist and his organization, whom Biden accuses of violating computer fraud laws and California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by posting data from his private laptop online, finding that Biden is entitled to fees incurred defending against a frivolous motion to strike pursuant to California’s anti-Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP) law.
September 06, 2024
Consumer Drops Suit Accusing Arrowhead Water Of Microplastics Contamination

LOS ANGELES — A consumer filed a notice of voluntary dismissal in California federal court weeks after filing a third amended complaint accusing the company that sells Arrowhead-brand bottled water of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by labeling its product as “100% Mountain Spring Water” when it allegedly contains microplastics that may be detrimental to human health.
September 05, 2024
Judge Again Rejects Gaming Company’s Bid To Arbitrate False Advertising Claims

SAN FRANCISCO — After soliciting another round of supplemental briefing on new state law precedent, a California federal judge on Sept. 4 again denied a gaming company and its co-founders’ motion to compel arbitration of putative class claims against them for violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by falsely advertising their mobile games as offering live competition, reiterating that the arbitration agreement is unconscionable and unenforceable.
September 03, 2024
StubHub Pays $300K To Settle California Suit For Failure To Refund For COVID

LOS ANGELES — The California Attorney General’s Office and StubHub Inc. filed a joint stipulation in California state court resolving the state’s claims that the ticket reselling website wrongly denied cash refunds to customers in violation of California consumer protection laws after it agreed to pay nearly $300,000 in civil penalties and previously paid roughly $20 million in cash refunds to customers.
September 03, 2024
Judge Won’t Remand Putative Class Suit Against Wal-Mart Over Avocado Oil Sales

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California federal judge denied a consumer’s motion to remand his putative class action against Walmart Inc. for allegedly deceptively labeling its avocado oil product as pure avocado oil in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws, finding that Walmart properly removed the suit after calculating that the amount in controversy is greater than $5 million.
August 30, 2024
Judge Won’t Reconsider Certification Of Class Action Against Pasta Company

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge on Aug. 29 denied an Illinois-based pasta manufacturer’s motion for leave to file a motion for reconsideration of the court’s order certifying a class action against it for allegedly deceiving consumers into believing its products originated in Italy based on its label bearing the statement “Italy’s #1 Brand of Pasta” and Italian flag colors.