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Mealey's Class Actions

  • January 07, 2026

    Amicus Filers Support Drugmakers’ Petition For Review Of Class Certification Case

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A pair of organizations representing business and biopharmaceutical research interests urged the U.S. Supreme Court to grant a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by two drug makers to resolve “an important, recurring question concerning courts’ authority to deviate from” the requirements under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(3) in a putative class action.

  • January 07, 2026

    Right Before Conference, Parties Agree To Drop ERISA Burden-Shifting Petition

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Two days before a scheduled U.S. Supreme Court conference on a certiorari petition that the U.S. government recently filed a consequential amicus curiae brief urging the high court to grant, the parties on Jan. 7 filed a one-paragraph dismissal motion, saying they agreed to each bear their own costs; the petition concerns an issue the high court has passed on several times and asks whether “burden-shifting applies to the element of causation under” part of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

  • January 07, 2026

    Government Parties Argue Individuals Stopped In Mexico Can’t Seek Asylum

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Individuals stopped in Mexico before crossing into the United States can’t apply for asylum under 8 U.S. Code Section 1158(a)(1) or be inspected by immigration officers under 8 U.S. Code Section 1225(a), Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other federal government officials argue in their petitioner brief filed Jan. 6 in the U.S. Supreme Court in an appeal challenging a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling that partially upheld a permanent injunction in a class case over a now-rescinded border metering policy.

  • January 07, 2026

    Judge Nixes Fees And Costs Deal For More Than $7.5M In Pension Case, For Now

    KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Citing “the uncertainty of the appellate relief and operation of the agreement,” a Kansas federal judge on Jan. 6 denied without prejudice the parties’ joint stipulation that “upon affirmance of the District Court’s decision that does not reduce the amount of the judgment” the defendants would pay $7,108,254.82 in attorney fees and $449,437.86 in costs plus interest in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act class action where labor union members whose early retirement benefits were stopped or denied because of non-boilermaker work largely prevailed following a bench trial.

  • January 07, 2026

    2nd Circuit Finds Channel-Stuffing Suit Fails To Allege Scheme Liability

    NEW YORK — A Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed the dismissal of a putative securities class action brought by investors alleging that an advanced driver-assistance systems technology company and its executives made misleading statements about the company’s minimum-order contracts that the investors claimed artificially inflated the price of the company’s stock; the panel found that the investors didn’t allege that material misstatements were made that would support scheme liability.

  • January 07, 2026

    9th Circuit Upholds Dismissal Of Class Suit Challenging Variable Rate Credit Cards

    SAN FRANCISCO — A trial court properly dismissed a putative class complaint accusing a bank of violating the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 (CARD Act) and California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by changing interest rates on outstanding balances on variable rate credit cards, a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled, holding that the increases and decreases fall within the CARD Act’s exception as they are based on the prime rate, a number that is out of the bank’s control.

  • January 06, 2026

    9th Circuit OKs Dismissal Of Former Twitter Workers’ Severance Benefits Appeal

    SAN FRANCISCO — Resolving several motions, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals granted voluntary dismissal of an appeal where former Twitter Inc. employees had initially tried to revive their putative class action for more than $500 million in severance benefits, saying in part that “[i]t appears that the interests of any members of the putative class . . . can be protected adequately in” a similar suit filed Nov. 4.

  • January 06, 2026

    $150M Settlement Approved In Consolidated Action Over Defective EV Battery

    DETROIT — A federal judge in Michigan has granted final approval to a $150 million settlement that will resolve consolidated litigation alleging that the batteries in Chevrolet Bolt electronic vehicles for model years 2017 to 2022 had a defect that allowed them to overheat, finding that “the settlement is fair, adequate, and reasonable; the attorneys’ fees and expense reimbursement and service awards are reasonable; and the settlement is in the best interest of the class as a whole.”

  • January 06, 2026

    Tesla ‘Self-Driving’ Cars Suit Paused For 9th Circuit Interlocutory Appeal

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge on Jan. 5 stayed a class action against Tesla Inc. and its affiliates for violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by misrepresenting the capabilities of Tesla vehicles’ “self-driving” technology after the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals granted the Tesla parties permission to file an interlocutory appeal of the court’s order granting the driver’s motion for class certification.

  • January 06, 2026

    Magistrate Judge Determines Settlement Amount In ‘Free Trial Scam’ Class Suit

    SAN DIEGO — A group of defendants referred to as the “Konnektive defendants” who are alleged to have provided software and other services used in a “free trial scam” will pay $2 million to settle consumers’ California Consumer Legal Remedies Act (CLRA) claims following a bench trial and Jan. 5 determination by a California federal magistrate judge that the consumers failed to prove their CLRA claims “by a preponderance of the evidence”; the parties agreed to the trial in order to decide whether the settlement amount would be $2 million or $5 million.

  • January 06, 2026

    Class Of Venezuelans Sent To Salvadoran Prison Certified, Granted Hearings

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Venezuelan men detained by the United States and held in Texas before being sent to a megaprison in El Salvador, referred to as CECOT, and then released to Venezuela with no opportunity to challenge their removals are entitled to class certification and hearings, a federal judge in the District of Columbia ruled, granting motions by the men for class certification and summary judgment.

  • January 06, 2026

    Certification Of 4 Classes, Summary Judgment Denied In Jail Strip Searches Case

    DETROIT — Individualized questions prevent certification of four classes of formerly incarcerated women, and “genuine issues of material fact as to qualified immunity and Monell [v. Department of Social Services] liability” prevent summary judgment for the defendants in a case accusing a Michigan county and a police officer of carrying out unlawful strip searches, a federal judge in Michigan ruled, addressing motions by both sides.

  • January 05, 2026

    Judge Takes Cunningham Suggestion Regarding ERISA Prohibited Transaction Claim

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Taking a suggestion the U.S. Supreme Court made in an April ruling, a California federal judge ordered a reply to an answer in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act case challenging a 2019 employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) deal; the reply will concern a prohibited transaction claim to which a defendant raised an affirmative defense.

  • January 05, 2026

    Federal Workers’ Privacy Suit Over OPM ‘Test’ Emails Dismissed For No Jurisdiction

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge in the District of Columbia dismissed for lack of jurisdiction a putative class complaint by federal workers suing under pseudonyms who alleged that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) failed to conduct and publish a privacy impact assessment (PIA) before allegedly sending out “test” emails the workers claimed were being used to collect information on them.

  • January 05, 2026

    6th Circuit: Truck Drivers’ Contract Choice-Of-Law Provisions Can’t Be Enforced

    CINCINNATI — Choice-of-law provisions in independent contractor and lease agreements between truck drivers and a transportation company can’t be enforced where “there is no material connection between Tennessee and the parties’ transactions,” a Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled, reversing a Tennessee federal court’s dismissal of the drivers’ wage-and-hour putative class complaint brought under New Jersey law.

  • January 02, 2026

    9th Circuit Panel Reverses, Says Chemical Exposure Case Belongs In Federal Court

    SAN FRANCISCO — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel has reversed and remanded a toxic chemical exposure case, ruling that a lower court relied on an unpublished opinion that is not the law of the circuit when it remanded the case based on the local controversy exception in the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA).

  • January 02, 2026

    DOL To 2nd Circuit: Disregard 2023 Amicus Brief In ERISA ‘Would Have’ Appeal

    NEW YORK — Roughly 15 months after oral argument in an appeal involving whether the “could have” standard used in damages instructions is grounds for overturning judgment in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act class action that went before a jury, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) told the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals it wants to withdraw an amicus curiae brief it filed during the Biden administration because the agency “has reconsidered its position on shifting the burden on loss causation for claims alleging a breach of fiduciary duty.”

  • January 02, 2026

    $21.5M Deal Proposed In Partly Revived ERISA Pension Benefits Class Action

    RIVERSIDE, Calif. — A long-running Employee Retirement Income Security Act pension benefits class action the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals partly revived in November 2024 after a bench trial would be resolved for $21.5 million under a settlement proposal the plaintiff asked a California federal court to grant preliminary approval.

  • December 31, 2025

    Role Of Benchmarks In ERISA Claims Is Focus Of Petition For High Court’s Review

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Certiorari briefing has concluded in a case concerning the role benchmarks play in pleading Employee Retirement Income Security Act claims for breach of the fiduciary duty of prudence, with retirement plan fiduciaries arguing that the U.S. Supreme Court does not need to address the issue but if it does, the petition is “a more suitable vehicle” than a similar one that the U.S. government recently urged the high court to grant.

  • December 30, 2025

    Voluntary Benefits Are Focus Of 4 ERISA Suits Against Large Employers, Brokers

    “Voluntary” accident, critical illness and hospital indemnity insurance programs are the focus of four recent putative class actions filed under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act against large employers and insurance brokers, with the plaintiffs alleging that they paid “excessive and unreasonable premiums” because of mismanagement and prohibited transactions.

  • December 26, 2025

    Class Certification Affirmed In BIPA Suit Over Amazon’s Virtual Try-On Feature

    CHICAGO — A trial court judge did not abuse his discretion in certifying a class of users of Amazon’s virtual try-on (VTO) feature, a Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled, noting that class certification is not permanent and “[t]he district court should remain vigilant in monitoring the propriety of certification as the case develops.”

  • December 23, 2025

    Final Approval Of Class Settlement, Attorney Fees Request Granted In RESPA Suit

    FRESNO, Calif. — A federal judge in California granted final approval of a class action settlement and finalized certification of the settlement class in a long-running Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) case, authorizing class members to receive $875 in cash compensation per affected loan under an uncapped, claims-made agreement with an estimated maximum class payout settlement of $29.5 million, also approving $9.031 million in attorney fees, $2.07 million in litigation expenses and $5,000 service awards to the five class representatives.

  • December 23, 2025

    Federal Judge: Detained Noncitizen Class Can’t Be Held Without Bond Hearings

    BOSTON — A federal judge in Massachusetts modified the class definition in a case challenging the federal government’s mandatory detention of noncitizens without a bond hearing and granted the detainee’s motion for partial summary judgment, opining that “Defendants’ policy of subjecting members of the certified class to detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A) without consideration for bond and a custody redetermination (i.e., bond) hearing is unlawful and violates the Immigration and Nationality Act and its regulations.”

  • December 23, 2025

    Respondents To High Court: Skip ERISA Releases Ruling; There Is No Split

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a brief filed at the request of the U.S. Supreme Court, former Atmel Corp. employees urge denial of a certiorari petition focused on a ruling concerning Employee Retirement Income Security Act releases in their long-running class action concerning severance benefits “[b]ecause there is no circuit conflict and nothing remarkable about the Ninth Circuit’s formulation of the non-exhaustive list of factors relevant to a district court’s assessment of the enforceability of an ERISA claims release.”

  • December 22, 2025

    Class Claims Over Meta Portal’s Unfair Obsolescence Partly Dismissed By Judge

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted in part a motion to dismiss a putative class action claiming that the Meta Portal-brand devices were unfairly marketed to customers and later “bricked” by Meta and rendered “obsolete” when Meta removed major apps from the product, finding that the plaintiffs failed to plead most of their claims but allowing a claim for violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) under the unfair prong to proceed.