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Mealey's Class Actions

  • July 15, 2025

    Student-Athletes’ Counsel Awarded Hundreds Of Millions In Fees After NIL Settlement

    OAKLAND, Calif. — A federal judge in California awarded attorneys representing student-athletes, who settled for more than $2.5 billion name, image and likeness (NIL) claims with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and five conferences, hundreds of millions of dollars in attorney fees now as well as the opportunity for two types of future yearly fees; the judge also approved more than $9 million in costs and granted class counsel’s request for service awards of $5,000 to $125,000 for each of the class representatives.

  • July 15, 2025

    Confidential Class Settlement In COVID-19 Vaccine Refusal Suit Preliminarily OK’d

    KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A federal judge in Tennessee granted preliminary approval of a confidential class settlement between BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Inc. (BCBST) and workers who were fired for their religious convictions after refusing to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

  • July 14, 2025

    Per Confidential Agreement In Blackbaud Data Breach MDL, Settlement Fund Approved

    COLUMBIA, S.C. — In accord with a joint request by Blackbaud Inc. and the plaintiffs who sued it in a multidistrict litigation after a 2020 data breach, a South Carolina federal judge approved and established a qualified settlement fund (QSF) to be used in a confidential settlement of all claims against the cloud services company.

  • July 14, 2025

    Case Disputing Attorney Fees In Benicar MDL Sent Back To New Jersey District Court

    PHILADELPHIA — The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on July 11 sent a dispute over the amount of attorney fees awarded to a law firm for its work in the Benicar multidistrict litigation back to a New Jersey federal court, finding that the lower court erred in denying a motion to remand.

  • July 14, 2025

    9th Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of Driver’s Claim For Larger COVID-19 Refunds

    SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of a driver’s class action against her insurer, GEICO, for violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by providing drivers an insufficient rebate on premiums after the COVID-19 pandemic, finding that the insurer was protected by the “‘safe harbor’” doctrine as the state insurance commissioner approved its rebate amounts.

  • July 14, 2025

    Former NOAA Employees Allege Mass Terminations Violated Privacy Act

    GREENBELT, Md. — Former employees of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration filed a class action suit against a number of governmental entities involved in the mass terminations of NOAA employees under directives issued by the Trump administration, alleging that the entities violated the Privacy Act by relying on incomplete and inaccurate employment records as support for the terminations.

  • July 11, 2025

    Google Settles Menstrual App Privacy Claims, Is Granted Stay From Pending Trial

    SAN FRANCISCO — Two weeks before the scheduled start of a trial over privacy class claims related to an ovulation-tracking app, a California federal judge granted a motion to stay the case against one of the defendants — Google LLC — in light of its reported settlement in principle with the consolidated plaintiffs.

  • July 11, 2025

    Government Appeals Class Certification, Injunction In Immigrant Removal Case

    DENVER — The federal government appealed to the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals orders granting class certification and a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit by immigrants subject to removal under the Alien Enemies Act (AEA).

  • July 11, 2025

    Injunction Sought By Nonprofits After Dismissal Of Canceled Grants Class Suit

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Five justice-related nonprofit organizations filed an emergency motion July 10 in a federal court in the District of Columbia seeking an injunction pending their appeal to the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals after a federal judge dismissed their putative class complaint against the U.S. Justice Department and related officials for canceling, without notice or explanation, more than 370 agreements and contracts with private organizations worth more than $820 million.

  • July 11, 2025

    $4.5M WARN Act Class Settlement OK’d Pending News Group Asset Liquidation

    NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York granted final approval of a $4.5 million settlement in a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act class case brought by workers against JAF Communications Inc. after they were terminated by a now-defunct news organization, The Messenger, but left pending expenses, costs, a service award to the class representative and class counsel fees until the final accounting of proceedings in which JAF’s assets are liquidated.

  • July 11, 2025

    Caltech Cybersecurity Bootcamp Class Plaintiff Urges Approval Of $400K Settlement

    SAN FRANCISCO — A woman who enrolled in an online education program called the “Caltech Cybersecurity Bootcamp” and filed a putative class action suit alleging that the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and its partner, Simplilearn Americas Inc., deceptively marketed the bootcamp filed a brief in California state court urging the court to certify a settlement class and preliminarily approve a $400,000 settlement to be distributed among the participating class members.

  • July 11, 2025

    Judge Finds Securities Claims Against Medical Technology Company Lack Scienter

    TRENTON, N.J. — A federal judge in New Jersey dismissed a putative securities class action brought by pension funds against a medical device and technology company for alleged misstatements regarding efforts to address deficient manufacturing conditions at the company’s Boston facility, finding the pension funds did not plead “a strong inference of scienter.”

  • July 11, 2025

    Privacy Suit Over TD Bank’s Use Of Meta Pixel Dismissed As Insufficiently Pleaded

    CAMDEN, N.J. — A New York man’s putative class complaint over his bank’s purported sharing of his information with Meta Platforms Inc. was dismissed by a New Jersey federal judge, who found that the plaintiff failed to identify examples of his personal financial information (PFI) that were shared without his consent.

  • July 10, 2025

    DOL, Other Amici Urge 9th Circuit To Uphold Dismissal Of ERISA Forfeiture Case

    SAN FRANCISCO — On July 8 and 9, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and other amici curiae opposing revival of a putative class Employee Retirement Income Security Act challenge to a common use of forfeited nonvested matching retirement contributions weighed in on the much-watched Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals dispute.

  • July 10, 2025

    Judge Approves $13M Settlement In Vehicle Marketplace Stock Drop Class Action

    NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York gave final approval to a $13 million settlement between shareholders and the officers and the trustee of a consignment-to-retail used vehicle marketplace and its parent company in a class action that alleged the company and its officers misrepresented the company’s business model in violation of federal securities laws.

  • July 10, 2025

    Class Provisionally Certified, Injunction Granted In Birthright Citizenship Case

    CONCORD, N.H. — A class of infant and unborn children was provisionally certified and granted a preliminary injunction on July 10 by a federal judge in New Hampshire in a case challenging President Donald J. Trump’s January 2025 birthright citizenship executive order (EO).

  • July 10, 2025

    2nd Circuit Lets ERISA Determination Stand In Deferred Compensation Row

    NEW YORK —  In a July 9 summary order, the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals dismissed interlocutory cross-appeals on the grounds that it lacked jurisdiction in the dispute that involves arbitration and drew four briefs from amici curiae; the appellate court therefore let stand a determination that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act governs the compensation incentive and equity incentive plans at issue in a suit over a Morgan Stanley deferred compensation program.

  • July 10, 2025

    Forum Selection Clause Issue Certified For Appeal In Crypto Wallet Data Breach Row

    SAN FRANCISCO — Declining to grant partial final judgment as to dismissed claims and defendants in a putative class action over a crypto-asset wallet firm’s 2020 data breach, a California federal judge, instead, granted interlocutory appeal on the issue of whether subcontractors of the wallet maker can avail themselves of a forum selection clause in the lead defendant’s terms of service (TOS).

  • July 09, 2025

    Attorney Fees In Broiler Chicken Antitrust Case Modified, More Settlements OK’d

    CHICAGO — A Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed with modification attorney fees awarded to counsel for the end user consumer plaintiff (EUCP) class in an antitrust case accusing broiler sellers of fixing the prices for chicken, opining that class counsel were entitled to 26.6% of the net common fund; the panel’s ruling was filed two days after another group of settlements between the EUCPs and a number of sellers totaling $22.35 million was granted final approval by a federal judge in Illinois.

  • July 08, 2025

    Prenatal Tests Maker To Settle Class Action Claims Of False Positives For $8.25M

    OAKLAND, Calif. — The manufacturer of noninvasive prenatal tests will pay up to $8.25 million in a class action settlement to resolve claims that its tests returned false positive test results for some rare genetic conditions despite advertising its products as reliable and accurate, according to a motion for preliminary approval of class action settlement filed in a California federal court.

  • July 08, 2025

    Preshift COVID-19 Screening Compensation Case Stayed Pending 7th Circuit Ruling

    CHICAGO — In a former employee’s purported class action against his employer seeking to recover unpaid wages for mandatory preshift COVID-19 screening under the Illinois Minimum Wage Law (IMWL), the Illinois Wage and Payment Collection Act (IWPCA) and quantum meruit, which alleged that the time spent screening and awaiting screening was controlled by the employer and necessary to his job and, thus, compensable, an Illinois federal judge on July 7 stayed the case pending the result of a similar case in the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

  • July 07, 2025

    $48.5M Deal Gets Initial OK In ERISA Fees Suit After Federal Jury Verdict

    NEW YORK — A New York federal judge has preliminarily approved a settlement that would include a $48.5 million payment and other relief in a suit over the record-keeping and administration fees of a multiple employer retirement plan (MEP); in the granted motion, the class of retirement plan participants said the deal would be nearly $10 million higher than the verdict a jury issued in their favor.

  • July 07, 2025

    U.S. Marshal’s Race Bias Class Suit Stayed Pending EEOC Approval Of Settlement

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge in Washington, D.C., stayed a putative class complaint filed in 2024 by a former deputy U.S. marshal who has spent more than three decades litigating over alleged racial discrimination, opining that judicial economy and hardship to the government both weigh in favor of a stay pending resolution of appeals challenging a 2023 settlement between the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS).

  • July 07, 2025

    3rd Circuit Affirms $3.2M In Attorney Fees, Costs In Wawa Data Breach Suit

    PITTSBURGH — Assessing a trial court judge’s review on remand of a $3.2 million attorney fees and costs award to consumers’ class counsel in a class action over Wawa Inc.’s 2019 data breach, a Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel upheld the judge’s finding that the award did not contain a clear sailing agreement and was not the result of collusion.

  • July 07, 2025

    DHS: 8 Deported To South Sudan After U.S. High Court Clarifies June Stay Order

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced June 5 that “eight barbaric, violent criminal illegal aliens” from Cuba, Laos, Mexico, South Sudan, Burma and Vietnam were deported to South Sudan after the U.S. Supreme Court on July 3 clarified a June 23 order that stayed a preliminary injunction issued by U.S. Judge Brian E. Murphy of the District of Massachusetts in the case by a class of noncitizens who are challenging a policy or practice by the federal government of removing members of the class to a country other than the initial or alternative countries identified in immigration proceedings without first providing an opportunity for them to apply for protection from removal.