Mealey's Class Actions : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Class Actions

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 Multistate 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.
November 20, 2025
$5M Class Deal In Geisinger Data Breach Case Wins Preliminary Approval

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — A Pennsylvania federal judge granted conditional certification of an opt-out settlement class and preliminary approval of a $5 million deal with a Pennsylvania health care provider and its tech services vendor who were sued over a 2023 data breach.
November 20, 2025
Judge Opens Door For 2nd Circuit To Weigh In On PRT Standing Split

NEW YORK — The question of whether alleging that a pension risk transfer (PRT) increased the risk of not receiving full benefits gives retirees standing to challenge the transaction could be addressed by two U.S. circuit courts after a New York federal judge certified for interlocutory appeal her decision that the plaintiffs in one such putative class action have standing.
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 19, 2025
2nd Circuit Vacates Dismissal Of Securities Act Claims Against Health Care Company

NEW YORK — A Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel vacated a lower court’s dismissal of investors’ Securities Act of 1933 claims against a health care company, certain of its executives, its board of directors and underwriters of its initial public offering (IPO), finding that the investors put forth sufficient allegations that the company’s offering documents included misstatements and omissions.
November 19, 2025
Putative Class Says Zillow Kickbacks, Conflicts Violate RESPA, Washington Laws

SEATTLE — Real estate marketing company Zillow Group Inc. has used its lead generating and advertising program to send customers to its mortgage lending arm in violation of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) and Washington consumer law, a woman alleges in a putative class complaint filed in a federal court in Washington.
November 19, 2025
Consolidated Class Suit Over College Data Breach Stayed Pending Settlement

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — A federal judge in Tennessee on Nov. 18 stayed a consolidated class action to allow for the finalization of a settlement in the case filed against Lee University after its system containing personally identifiable information (PII) of students and prospective students was hacked.