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Mealey's California Section 17200

  • November 24, 2025

    Inflated Online Pricing Class Suit Against Costco Remanded To State Court

    LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge granted a putative class plaintiff’s motion to remand his suit accusing Costco Wholesale Corp. of deceptively inflating prices for items on its online store after finding that Costco failed to show that the suit was properly removed based on the amount in controversy, opining that Costco’s arguments regarding that amount were “speculative” and not based on the plaintiff’s pleadings.

  • November 24, 2025

    Judge Dismisses Stolen Profits Suit Against PayPal Over ‘Honey’ Discount Finder

    SAN JOSE, Calif. — A California federal judge on Nov. 21 granted PayPal Inc.’s motion to dismiss a putative class action brought against it by influencers and content creators active on platforms such as YouTube and Instagram who accused it of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by using a discount-finding browser extension, “Honey,” to redirect profits from their market affiliate links to itself, finding that they lack standing for failure to allege an injury traceable to PayPal.

  • November 20, 2025

    $3.25 Million Settlement, Injunctive Relief Approved In Student Data Breach Case

    LOS ANGELES — A California judge granted the state’s unopposed ex parte application for final judgment and a permanent injunction against a data storage provider, requiring the company to implement enhanced data security measures, undergo third-party audits for five years and pay $3.25 million in penalties after the state alleged that the provider failed to maintain data privacy safeguards that led to a 2022 breach exposing sensitive student information in at least 49 school districts.

  • November 18, 2025

    Costco, Consumer Jointly Dismiss Class Claims Over PFAS In Baby Wipes

    SAN FRANCISCO — A consumer, Costco Wholesale Corp. and a baby wipe manufacturer on Nov. 17 filed a joint stipulation of dismissal of the consumer’s putative class action alleging that Costco’s Kirkland Signature Baby Wipes contain unsafe levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS); the court in July denied Costco’s motion to reconsider a prior order refusing to dismiss the suit.

  • November 18, 2025

    Walmart Seeks $745K In Attorney Fees From Plaintiff’s Counsel In Avocado Oil Case

    LOS ANGELES — Walmart Inc. on Nov. 17 filed a brief in California federal court asserting that it is entitled to $745,422.75 in attorney fees from two attorneys who represented a plaintiff in a putative class action against Walmart for violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by deceptively marketing avocado oil, and against whom the court ordered sanctions after finding that they acted “recklessly” and in “subjective bad faith” by bringing a frivolous lawsuit.

  • November 18, 2025

    High Court Won’t Review Ruling Upholding Dismissal Of UCL Suit Against Amazon

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Nov. 17 denied certiorari to a remanufacturer of ink cartridges seeking review of a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling affirming a lower court’s dismissal of a suit accusing Amazon.com Inc. and its subsidiaries of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL), the Lanham Act and other laws by allowing third-party sellers to post allegedly deceptive listings for recycled printer ink cartridges, thereby diverting business from authentic ink cartridge recyclers.

  • November 17, 2025

    Insured Seeks Rehearing In Unjust Enrichment, UCL Suit Against Travel Insurers

    PASEDENA, Calif. — An insured on Nov. 14 filed a petition for rehearing en banc asking the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reconsider a panel majority ruling that affirmed a lower federal court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of travel insurers in his unjust enrichment and unfair competition lawsuit, challenging the majority’s finding that he is not entitled to recover any portion of the premium for a travel insurance policy he purchased for a cruise that was later canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic because there was no unearned premium.

  • November 17, 2025

    Advocacy Group Says Car Makers Conceal Use Of Prison, Child Labor

    LOS ANGELES — A labor advocacy group filed a lawsuit in California state court accusing the makers of Hyundai- and Kia-brand automobiles of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) under the unlawful, unfair and fraudulent prongs by misleadingly marketing their electric vehicles (EV) to state agencies while allegedly seeking to conceal their alleged use of “child, forced, and prison labor” to manufacture EVs.

  • November 17, 2025

    Judge Allows Claims Against Steel Cookware Seller For False Discount Pricing

    LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge denied a cookware company’s motion to dismiss a putative class action accusing it of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by falsely listing “discount” prices on its website when in fact the products were never sold at listed higher reference prices, thereby allegedly deceiving consumers into believing that they were obtaining the benefit of a bargain, finding that the claims are proper under binding precedent, which the defendant allegedly did not acknowledge.

  • November 13, 2025

    Judge Allows Class Claims Against Robinhood Over Interest Retention Practices

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge denied a motion filed by the operators of the “Robinhood” stock trading mobile app and website to dismiss putative class claims alleging that they violated California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and are liable for breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, finding the plaintiffs adequately alleged that Robinhood unfairly retained the interest accrued on customers’ accounts that they placed into interest-bearing accounts through Robinhood.

  • November 12, 2025

    Damages Expert Excluded In Dispute Over In-Game Purchases In Mobile Application

    SEATTLE — An expert retained by a pair of consumers who seek to represent a class of others who were allegedly deceived into making in-game purchases while playing online gambling games cannot opine on models used to calculate damages, a Washington federal judge ruled, finding that the expert has not demonstrated how he is qualified under Federal Rule of Evidence 702.

  • November 12, 2025

    Reconsideration Of Judge’s Refusal To Dismiss False Pricing Suit Denied

    LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge denied a motion by a children’s clothing company for reconsideration of a prior order refusing to dismiss a putative class action against it for violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by advertising false “discount” prices, rebuffing the company’s arguments that the court improperly allowed a claim for equitable restitution.

  • November 11, 2025

    Judge Defers Ruling On Motion To Compel Class Members Who Sued Lender To Arbitrate

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge on Nov. 10 ordered a motion to compel arbitration held in abeyance, finding that genuine disputes remain as to the argument by consumer loan app operators that binding arbitration agreements exist as to more than 235,000 of 250,000 certified class members who sued the app operators for concealing fees while operating as an unlicensed lender in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and California finance laws.

  • November 10, 2025

    PayPal Denied Arbitration Of Content Creators’ Claims Over ‘Honey’ Browser Extension

    SAN JOSE, Calif. — A California federal judge on Nov. 7 deferred ruling on an administrative motion to relate four putative class actions brought by influencers and content creators active on YouTube and Instagram who accuse PayPal Inc. of interfering with prospective economic relations and violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by using a popular browser extension to redirect their profits from market affiliate links to itself.

  • November 10, 2025

    Sutter Health Settles Anticompetitive Tying Class Suit For $228.5 Million

    SAN FRANCISCO — A more than decade-long class suit accusing Sutter Health of monopolizing northern California hospital markets to raise prices and decrease competition will be settled for $228.5 million, according to a federal magistrate judge in California’s orders granting final approval of the settlement, attorney fees, costs and service awards.

  • November 06, 2025

    Ransomware Data Breach Class Suit Resolved With $1.9M Settlement

    MINNEAPOLIS — A Minnesota federal judge entered judgment after granting final approval to a $1.9 million settlement resolving class claims including for violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) against a data hosting vendor on behalf of individuals whose personal data was hacked during a ransomware attack on the vendor’s accounting and health care customers, with the plaintiffs’ counsel awarded more than $633,000 in attorney fees.

  • November 05, 2025

    Trade Association Urges High Court Review Of Google, Epic Games Antitrust Dispute

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A trade association and a tech-industry coalition, as well as former national security officials and scholars, on Nov. 4 filed amicus curiae briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court in support of Google LLC and related entities’ petition seeking review of a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ ruling affirming a lower court’s jury verdict and injunction that Google says targets its “lawfully obtained competitive advantage” in an antitrust suit filed against it by Epic Games Inc. over Google’s removal of Epic’s Fortnite game from the Google Play Store.

  • November 04, 2025

    San Francisco Settles Suit Against Flavored Nicotine Pouch Sellers For Nearly $3M

    SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco City Attorney’s Office and three companies that sold flavored nicotine pouches in violation of the city’s ban on flavored tobacco products settled the city attorney’s lawsuit against them seeking civil penalties for violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL), with a state court entering judgments under which the defendants will collectively pay $2,985,000.

  • November 04, 2025

    Parents’ Unlawful Gambling Class Claims Against Roblox Dismissed By Judge

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted Roblox Corp.’s motion to partly dismiss a putative class lawsuit brought against it by the parents of minor Roblox players who allegedly lost money gambling with the in-game currency “Robux,” writing that the parents’ claims for violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) under the unlawful prong and for negligence per se did not sufficiently allege that Roblox violated state gambling laws.

  • November 04, 2025

    Majority Affirms Ruling In Favor Of Travel Insurers In Unjust Enrichment, UCL Suit

    PASADENA, Calif. — A majority of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower federal court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of travel insurers in a plaintiff’s unjust enrichment and unfair competition lawsuit, holding that the insured is not entitled to recover any portion of the premium for a travel insurance policy he purchased for a cruise that was later canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic because there was no unearned premium.

  • November 04, 2025

    California, Sling TV Settle Action Alleging Violations Of Data Privacy Laws

    LOS ANGELES — California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced a settlement between the state of California and streaming service Sling TV LLC in an action alleging that the streaming service violated the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) by not providing easy-to-use opt-out methods for consumers who choose to stop the sale of their personal information and not providing sufficient privacy protections for children.

  • October 31, 2025

    Some Claims Survive Dismissal In Suit Over Disability Policy ‘Age 65’ Language

    PHOENIX — Bad faith, breach of contract and reformation claims survived a dismissal bid in a putative class case over whether certain individual long-term disability (LTD) benefits must be paid through eligible insureds’ 65th birthdays, and an Arizona federal judge allowed limited leave to amend as to claims he dismissed in the Oct. 30 order.

  • October 31, 2025

    Trio Of Dismissal Rulings Issued In Data Breach Snowflake MDL

    BUTTE, Mont. — Less than a week after granting final approval of two class settlements totaling $13.5 million, a federal judge in Montana issued a trio of orders addressing motions to dismiss filed in a multidistrict litigation over data breaches experienced by Snowflake Inc., a data storage firm, that impacted a number of its clients.

  • October 30, 2025

    Microsoft Says Suit Over End Of Windows 10 Tech Support Must Be Arbitrated

    SAN DIEGO — Microsoft Corp. moved in California federal court to compel arbitration of a consumer’s suit accusing it of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by discontinuing free technical support for users of its Windows 10 operating system (OS), which the plaintiff claims is a tactic to drive users onto newer Microsoft products that use artificial intelligence so it can “monopolize the generative AI market.”

  • October 30, 2025

    Senior Living Facilities’ Disability Access Class Settlement Given Final OK

    OAKLAND, Calif. — The for-profit operator of three California senior living facilities accused of failing to make the sites accessible for people with disabilities will bring the interior and exterior common areas into compliance with the 2010 Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Standards (ADAS) for accessible design in the next five years as part of a class settlement approved by a federal judge in California.