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Mealey's Class Actions

  • September 12, 2025

    In State Class Action, Man Says Bitcoin Depot Fails To Flag Impersonation Scams

    TAMPA — A Florida man has filed a complaint seeking certification of a class of state residents who lost money deposited at Bitcoin Depot ATM kiosks as part of an elaborate stolen identity scam.

  • 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 09, 2025

    Judge Rules Email Subscription Does Not Confer Consumer Status Under VPPA

    NEW YORK — A Missouri woman’s Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) claim against NBCUniversal Media LLC was dismissed for a third time by a New York federal judge who found that although the plaintiff sufficiently pleaded that NBC knowingly collected her personally identifiable information (PII) connected with her viewing of videos on the website of the Today Show, the plaintiff did not establish that she qualified as a consumer under the statute.

  • September 09, 2025

    Split U.S. High Court Grants Stay In Putative Class Suit Over Los Angeles Patrols

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A divided U.S. Supreme Court on Sept. 8 granted the federal government’s application to stay pending appeal a trial court’s July halt of “Operation At Large” being carried out in Los Angeles by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents and officers and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel who detain individuals in publicly accessible places to question their legal status based on the location, type of work being done, language being spoken, accent and race or ethnicity.

  • September 09, 2025

    Challenge To Tobacco, Vaccination Surcharges Partly Survives Dismissal

    CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Continuing a string of at least partial victories for plaintiffs in putative class cases over health plan tobacco surcharges, a North Carolina federal judge ruled that two of three claims against GardaWorld Cash Service Inc. survive dismissal; one of the surviving claims concerns the tobacco surcharge, and the other concerns a surcharge levied against those who didn’t show that they were fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by a certain date.

  • 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

    Class Settlement Wins Final Approval In ERISA Case Over Alleged Cost-Shifting

    ASHEVILLE, N.C. — A North Carolina federal judge granted final approval to a class settlement that resolves a long-running Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit over an alleged cost-shifting scheme concerning health plan administrative fees for chiropractic and physical therapy treatment; the deal includes gross amounts of $4.8 million for members of individual and plan classes and a separate $3.55 million for attorney fees and costs.

  • 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 03, 2025

    Briefly: Class Seeks Approval Of $15M Deal In Securities Fraud Case About Pipeline

    PHILADELPHIA — The lead plaintiffs in a long and winding securities fraud class action related to the construction of a hydraulic fracturing pipeline on Sept. 2 filed a brief in Pennsylvania federal court seeking final approval of a class action settlement for a cash payment of $15 million.

  • September 03, 2025

    Split 5th Circuit Blocks Putative Class Removal Under Alien Enemies Act

    NEW ORLEANS — The federal government may not remove from the United States under the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) three named individuals and the putative class they seek to represent who are all alleged by the government to be Venezuelan nationals who are members of Tren de Aragua, a divided Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled Sept. 2 in a case in which the U.S. Supreme Court granted a temporary injunction and remanded for a preliminary injunction ruling as well as a ruling regarding whether the government’s notice to these individuals of their removal satisfied due process; however, the Fifth Circuit majority noted in the present ruling that the named individuals and putative class may be removed “under other lawful authorities” and the preliminary injunction as to the class will expire if class certification is denied unless an appeal is sought and accepted.

  • September 03, 2025

    Dismissal Recommended In Putative Class Suit Challenging PRTs With Athene

    BOSTON — The tally on dismissal motions in a wave of putative class actions retirees have filed over pension risk transfers (PRTs) would stand at two granted, one denied if the recommendation of a Massachusetts federal magistrate judge were taken; among other things, the retirees allege that the use of offshore captive reinsurers makes annuity providers riskier.

  • September 03, 2025

    Citing Anderson, 9th Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of Challenge To Custom TDFs

    SAN FRANCISCO — Quoting Anderson v. Intel Corp. Investment Pol'y Committee, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in an unpublished Sept. 2 memorandum disposition briefly affirmed dismissal of putative class claims concerning custom target-date funds (TDFs), saying that under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, pleading “‘that a prudent fiduciary in like circumstances would have selected a different fund based on the cost or performance of the selected fund’” requires providing “‘a sound basis for comparison.’”

  • September 03, 2025

    Judge Won’t Compel Claim Forms, Documents In Wawa Data Breach Settlement

    PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania federal judge found no merit to objections raised by Wawa Inc. related to class members’ claims rate in responding to a preliminarily approved settlement agreement over a 2019 data breach, leading her to deny the convenience store chain’s motion to compel production of claim forms or communications between the settlement administrator and  counsel for plaintiff financial institutions (FIs).

  • 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

    $332M Deal Would End Residual Annuities Class Action Filed Under ERISA

    NEW YORK — A long-running Employee Retirement Income Security Act lawsuit over residual annuities would be resolved under a proposed $332 million settlement that the 1,177-member class of retirees partly unveiled Aug. 29 in a New York federal court.

  • September 02, 2025

    3rd Circuit: NFL Player’s Attorney Gets Costs, No Fees After Concussion Settlement

    PHILADELPHIA — A retired National Football League (NFL) player’s former counsel is entitled to costs only, not fees, for its efforts in representing the players in a now-settled concussion injury multidistrict litigation, a Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled, affirming a special master’s recommendation that was adopted by a trial court judge.

  • September 02, 2025

    Split 6th Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of Class Suit Over College’s Rape Response

    CINCINNATI — Two female college students who brought a putative class complaint against their school over the way in which their reports of being raped by other students were handled failed to show disparate treatment, a divided Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled, affirming a trial court’s dismissal of the case.

  • September 02, 2025

    Split 2nd Circuit: Investors Alleged Actionable Misstatements Against Peloton

    NEW YORK — A split panel of the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals found that investors plausibly alleged Peloton Interactive Inc. and its executives stated two actionable material misstatements, vacating in part a lower court’s dismissal of the investors’ stock-drop suit against the company and executives.

  • September 02, 2025

    Judge On Remand: Benefits Never Vested In Life Insurance Termination Case

    WHEELING, W.V. — On remand from a split Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel, a West Virginia federal judge conducted a two-day bench trial in the class action that unsuccessfully challenged termination of retiree life insurance coverage, then ruled that the benefits “never vested during the relevant period” and entered judgment in favor of the defendants on what had been the sole remaining claim.

  • September 02, 2025

    Judge Approves $3.1M Deli Meat Class Settlement, $1.03M In Attorney Fees

    WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — A New York federal judge granted final approval of a $3.1 million class settlement in a Boar’s Head lunch meat listeria contamination case and approved a motion for $1.03 million in class counsel fees for six plaintiff law firms.

  • August 29, 2025

    8th Circuit Reverses Dismissal, Summary Judgment Rulings For BNSF In EEOC Suit

    OMAHA, Neb. — A trial court judge erred in granting partial dismissal and summary judgment to a railway accused by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission of creating a hostile work environment for a female employee as well as a class of similarly situated female workers, an Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled Aug. 28, opining that a heightened pleading standard was applied in error when dismissing the claims of the class of women and that genuine issues of material fact should have prevented the summary judgment ruling.

  • August 29, 2025

    $2.8B Provider Class Settlement With Blue Cross Insurers Wins Final Approval

    BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Attorneys for an opt-out health care provider class were granted their requested $657,160,000 for fees and $102,059,478.49 for expenses in a $2.8 billion settlement that also provides “extraordinary injunctive relief,” an Alabama federal judge said in granting final approval to the deal in a multidistrict antitrustcase against the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and its member plans (collectively, BCBSA or the Blues).

  • 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.

  • August 28, 2025

    Defendants, Claims Partially Dismissed In 2 Class Suits Over America PAC Payments

    PHILADELPHIA — A federal judge in Pennsylvania partially granted motions to dismiss in two putative class lawsuits over allegations that offers of payments to Pennsylvania and other swing state voters who signed or referred others to sign America PAC’s petition supporting the First and Second amendments to the U.S. Constitution went unpaid.