Newsletter RSS

Mealey's Class Actions

  • December 03, 2025

    U.K. Plaintiffs’ Restitution Claim For ‘Honey’ Discount Losses Dismissed

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge dismissed with leave to amend a putative class action filed by citizens of the United Kingdom against two companies that own and operate the “Honey” discount-finding browser extension, finding that the plaintiffs’ claim for monetary restitution under California’s unfair competition law (UCL) is actually a claim for damages and, therefore, not recoverable.

  • December 03, 2025

    Drugmakers Urge High Court Review Of Class Certification Case, Cite Circuit Split

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A decision by the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that found no error in the certification of a national third-party payer (TPP) class of entities that paid for the diabetes drug Actos, despite the court recognizing that there is no way to calculate the number of class members that were not harmed, should be reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court to resolve a circuit split on when a court may certify the class action pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(3), two drug companies argue in a petition for a writ of certiorari.

  • December 03, 2025

    Class Suit Seeks To Recover Wagers Placed With Allegedly Illegal Gambling App

    NEW YORK — Seven users of the Kalshi App filed a putative class complaint in a federal court in New York seeking to recover wagers they placed regarding various aspects of professional sports games, arguing that the app-based platform marketed as a “prediction market” is actually an unlicensed sports gambling platform.

  • December 03, 2025

    $48.5M Deal That Followed ERISA Jury Verdict Wins Final OK, With Incentives

    NEW YORK — Granting three $25,000 case contribution awards over the defendants’ opposition, a New York federal judge on Dec. 2 gave final approval to a class settlement that was struck after a rare Employee Retirement Income Security Act jury trial in a challenge to the record-keeping and administration fees of a multiple employer retirement plan; the deal includes a $48.5 million payment that with interest now totals $49,539,537, and class counsel were awarded a third of that total for attorney fees as requested.

  • December 03, 2025

    Judge Grants Arbitration, Stays Wiretap Class Action Against Toyota, Progressive

    SHERMAN, Texas — A federal judge in Texas on Dec. 2 granted Toyota Motor North America Inc.’s motion to compel arbitration and stay a class action alleging that Toyota, Progressive Casualty Insurance Co. and a provider of data analytics services in the automotive industry violated the Federal Wiretap Act and are responsible for injuries they inflicted on tens of thousands of class members because of their unauthorized collection and dissemination of private information from Toyota vehicles.

  • December 03, 2025

    Journalists, Protesters Allege 1st Amendment Violations Outside ICE Facility

    PORTLAND, Ore. — Journalists and protesters filed a putative class complaint in a federal court in Oregon alleging that they were shot at and tear-gassed in violation of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution while attending and covering immigration policy protests outside a building in Portland that they refer to as the “Portland ICE building.”

  • December 03, 2025

    Align Technology Settles Dental Aligner Antitrust Case For $31.75 Million

    SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California granted final approval of Align Technology Inc.’s renegotiated $31.75 million settlement ending antitrust claims by a class of those who purchased or paid for SmileDirectClub aligners and granted the requested attorney fees, expenses and $7,500 service awards for each of the three class representatives.

  • December 03, 2025

    Class Suit Alleges Certain Faulty Frigidaire Gas Ranges Leave Food Undercooked

    WILMINGTON, Del. — Three models of Frigidaire gas ranges contain a defect that results in the ovens failing to achieve the set temperature, resulting in undercooked food, a California man alleges in a putative class complaint filed against Electrolux Home Products Inc. and Electrolux Consumer Products Inc. in a federal court in Delaware.

  • December 03, 2025

    Expert Challenges In Suit Over NFL Disability Denials Draw Mixed Ruling

    BALTIMORE — Addressing three expert challenges in a putative class action concerning NFL disability benefits, a Maryland federal magistrate judge excluded one expert in full and one in part and declined to exclude the third.

  • December 02, 2025

    11th Circuit Finds Investors’ Alleged Losses Caused By Fraud Cover-Up

    ATLANTA — An 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel reversed a lower court’s dismissal of investors’ class action against a utility holding company, its main subsidiary and executives for alleged misstatements made about the company’s involvement in an election interference scheme, finding that the investors adequately pleaded loss causation.

  • December 02, 2025

    2 Companies Appeal After Judgment For Worker Class Entered In WARN Act Suit

    BURLINGTON, Vt. — Two companies found liable for Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1988 (WARN Act) violations alleged by a class of bakery workers and ordered to indemnify the dissolution receiver filed a notice of appeal to the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals after a $2,987,040.60 judgment was entered for the workers by a federal court in Vermont.

  • December 02, 2025

    Judge Won’t Decertify ‘Orthodontic’ Pacifier Multi-State Class Action

    CHICAGO — An Illinois federal judge on Dec. 1 denied motions for class decertification and for summary judgment filed by two companies that are accused of deceptively marketing pacifiers as “orthodontic” in violation of Illinois law, California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and the consumer protection laws of several other states, and denied Daubert motions to exclude experts filed by both the plaintiffs and the defendants.

  • December 02, 2025

    1st Circuit Remands DOGE Fair Housing Grants Case Due To High Court August Order

    BOSTON — The First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals construed a notice of supplemental authority by four fair housing nonprofit organizations as a motion to remand and agreed that an appeal of a trial court’s April electronic order dissolving a temporary restraining order (TRO) in a putative class suit challenging the federal government’s termination of the Fair Housing Initiatives Program (FHIP) must go back to the trial court to allow the parties to litigate the impact of the U.S. Supreme Court’s August order in National Institutes of Health v. American Public Health Ass’n.

  • December 02, 2025

    Fresno State Agrees To Gender Review, Other Relief To Settle Title IX Class Suit

    FRESNO, Calif. — A federal judge in California granted final approval of a class settlement reached by students and California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) in a case accusing the school of unfair treatment when it comes to sports opportunities for female students; the agreement includes a gender equity review conducted by a neutral third party and the creation of a gender equity plan.

  • November 26, 2025

    9th Circuit: Investment Firm Owed No Duty When Recommending Account Switch

    SAN FRANCISCO — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a lower court’s ruling dismissing clients’ class action against a broker-dealer and investment advising firm for breach of fiduciary duty, finding that the firm did not owe the clients a fiduciary duty when recommending the clients switch to a different type of investment account.

  • November 26, 2025

    ERISA Forfeiture Case That Survived Dismissal Settles For Nearly $2M

    SAN JOSE, Calif. — A $1,995,000 class settlement won final approval on Nov. 25 in a case that had challenged the use of forfeited nonvested retirement plan contributions to offset the plan sponsor’s future matching contributions, with a California federal judge granting the requested $665,000 award for attorney fees and costs but directing that 10% of the fees be retained by the settlement administrator pending a determination “that the settlement distribution process has been completed.”

  • November 25, 2025

    9 Appeals Of ERISA Forfeiture Dismissals: Where Things Stand

    As the wave of Employee Retirement Income Security Act challenges to a common use of forfeited nonvested matching retirement contributions continues to swell, here’s a look at where things stand in nine appeals of rulings dismissing putative class cases; one highlight is that the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is considering filing a second amicus curiae brief.

  • November 24, 2025

    2nd Circuit Upholds Dismissal Of ERISA Challenge To Plan’s High-Risk Strategy

    NEW YORK — In a summary order saying that the complaint “fails plausibly to allege breach of fiduciary duty against any of the Defendants,” the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Nov. 21 affirmed dismissal of a putative class Employee Retirement Income Security Act case in which a participant in a defined-benefit multiemployer pension plan challenged an allegedly high-risk investment strategy.

  • 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 24, 2025

    ERISA Forfeiture Cases Are Dismissed In Texas, Mississippi And California

    Aligning with the majority of rulings in the wave of putative Employee Retirement Income Security Act class suits challenging a common use of forfeited nonvested matching retirement contributions,federal judges in Texas, Mississippi and California granted defendants’ dismissal motions in cases filed against Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages LLC, Peco Foods Inc. and AT&T Services Inc.

  • November 21, 2025

    Wis. Appeals Court: Identity Theft Threat Doesn’t Create Data Breach Suit Standing

    WAUSAU, Wis. — Workers who filed a class complaint against their employer following a data breach alleged only a risk of future harm, which was insufficient to show standing for their negligence, breach of contract and other putative class claims, a Wisconsin appellate court ruled, affirming the trial court’s dismissal of the case.

  • November 21, 2025

    Class Members Will Recover Up To $48,000 Each In Proton Beam Settlement

    FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A Florida federal judge granted final approval to a class settlement in which an insurer will pay up to $3,408,000 to resolve a suit challenging denials of coverage for proton beam therapy (PBT) that occurred over about nine years; the insurer will also separately pay $1,675,000 in fees and costs, a $15,000 individual general release payment and claim administration costs estimated at $12,000.

  • November 21, 2025

    Magistrate Recommends Denying Dismissal In Putative Class Tobacco Surcharge Case

    LAFAYETTE, La. — Repeatedly referencing rulings previously issued in the recent wave of similar cases, a Louisiana federal magistrate judge recommended denying dismissal of a putative class action challenging a health plan’s tobacco surcharge under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

  • November 20, 2025

    $6.4M Data Breach Settlement With Medical Equipment Vendor Given Final Approval

    INDIANAPOLIS — An Indiana federal judge granted final approval and entered judgment in a data breach class action against a sleep apnea product supply company for a nonreversionary $6.38 million settlement that provides up to $2,000 per claimant and awards $1,699,212.44 in attorney fees, $39,897.57 in litigation expenses and $3,000 service awards to each of the 21 class representatives.