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

Mealey's Class Actions

July 22, 2024
In Consolidated Ruling, Panel Says Water Providers Not Liable For Contamination

TRENTON, N.J. — In a consolidated appeal of two class actions, a panel in New Jersey on July 19 ruled that there is no basis upon which municipal water providers may be held liable under a breach-of-contract theory for distributing water that contains a high level of contaminants.
July 22, 2024
Claims Trimmed From Remanded Crypto Wallet Data Breach Suit

SAN FRANCISCO — A cryptocurrency wallet firm and two of its business partners saw their motions to dismiss a suit over a 2020 data breach partly granted, as a California federal judge found some claims to be preempted by a forum selection clause and others to be insufficiently pleaded.
July 19, 2024
9th Circuit Sends ‘Plant- Based’ Baby Wipes Class Suit Back To District Court

PASADENA, Calif. — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel reversed in part and affirmed in part the dismissal of a consumer’s putative class claims against a baby wipes company for violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by labeling its products “plant-based,” finding that some of the challenged products were labeled in a way that was likely to mislead consumers.
July 18, 2024
Consolidated Class Alleges Negligence, Consumer Fraud Over Mr. Cooper Data Breach

DALLAS — More than six months after a Texas federal judge consolidated more than a dozen putative class actions against a mortgage servicer Mr. Cooper Group Inc. over a 2023 data breach, the plaintiffs filed a consolidated complaint in which they bring claims for breach of contract, negligence and violation of a bevy of state consumer statutes against the company.
July 18, 2024
Judge Grants Approval To $50M Settlement To End Antitrust Claims Involving EpiPen

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — A Kansas federal judge has signed off on final approval to a settlement agreement in which Pfizer Inc. agreed to pay $50 million to settle claims that it conspired with others in an attempt to delay entry of generic competitors for the EpiPen epinephrine autoinjector (EAI) into the market.
July 18, 2024
Meta Opposes Pixel Privacy Plaintiffs’ Bid To Reopen Discovery Briefing

SAN FRANCISCO — Disputing that it has reached an impasse with the plaintiffs who sued it for privacy violations related to the Pixel tracking tool, Meta Platforms Inc. asked a California federal court to reject their “manufactured urgency” in discovery proceedings and maintain a magistrate-ordered briefing moratorium while the parties continue discovery negotiations.
July 17, 2024
Judge Won’t Freeze Assets Of Electronics Company Accused Of Faking Online Reviews

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A California federal judge on July 16 denied a consumer’s motion for a preliminary injunction freezing more than $5 million of a Chinese manufacturer-owned company’s assets pending the outcome of his lawsuit accusing it of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other statutes for allegedly faking reviews on Amazon.com to sell shoddy electronics, finding insufficient evidence of damages.
July 17, 2024
Judge: Investors Didn’t Show Pharmaceutical Company’s Projections Are False

NEWARK, N.J. — A federal judge in New Jersey dismissed without prejudice a putative class complaint brought by investors who said a biopharmaceutical company and certain of its executives misled investors about the amount of capital available to the company to test its stem cell treatment for a type of blood cancer, finding that the investors failed to allege a material misrepresentation about the funding.
July 17, 2024
$2.5 Million Walmart COVID-19 Screening Settlement Approved

PHOENIX — A federal judge in Arizona granted final approval of a $2.5 million settlement to be paid by Walmart Inc. and Wal-Mart Associates Inc. (together, Walmart) to end a class complaint seeking compensation under Arizona law for time spent undergoing mandatory COVID-19 screening before each shift.
July 17, 2024
Judge Dismisses BetterHelp Customers’ Data Privacy Claims With Leave To Amend

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted in part and denied in part an online therapy company’s motion to dismiss consolidated class action claims that it violated California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and several other statutes by failing to adequately protect customers’ personal data, finding certain claims insufficiently pleaded but granting the plaintiffs leave to amend.
July 17, 2024
Rehearing Granted In GoDaddy TCPA Suit, Class Settlement Opinion Clarified

ATLANTA — An 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on July 16 granted a petition for panel rehearing filed after a May opinion vacated a Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) class settlement with GoDaddy.com LLC and issued an opinion substituting its previous opinion with one that was “the same as our previous except that we clarify that the opinion of this Court is delivered solely in Section III.C.iii, in which” the entire panel joined; the class’ rehearing petition sought clarification for “the basis of” the May decision, arguing that the opinion titled “Opinion of the Court” was not actually that.
July 16, 2024
La. High Court: $22M For Attorneys Must Be Reconsidered After Class Damages Cut

NEW ORLEANS — A more than $22 million attorney fee award upheld by a Louisiana trial court and appellate panel due to res judicata after the damages award for a class of landowners suing over water levels was reduced from more than $42 million to $4.6 million must be reconsidered, the Louisiana Supreme Court ruled, remanding to the trial court “for a hearing to determine a reasonable attorney fee.”
July 16, 2024
Investors Seek Approval Of $434M Settlement With Under Armour In Securities Case

BALTIMORE — Plaintiff investors in a class action alleging that Under Armour Inc. and its former CEO violated federal securities laws by making false claims about demand for the company’s products on July 15 sought preliminary approval from a federal court in Maryland of a $430 million settlement with the company.
July 16, 2024
Washington Supreme Court: Equitable Tolling Applies To Nurse Class’s Wage Claims

OLYMPIA, Wash. — A class lawsuit on behalf of nurses seeking unpaid wages after a complaint by their union attempting to recoup the pay was dismissed for lack of associational standing may proceed even though the statute of limitations has passed as equitable tolling applies, a divided Washington Supreme Court ruled.
July 16, 2024
In New 5th Circuit Panel Ruling, Big ERISA Multiplan Class Survives As Opt-Out

NEW ORLEANS — Withdrawing its August 2023 opinion upholding certification of a mandatory class of participants in thousands of retirement and health benefit plans, a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on July 15 partly reversed and remanded, saying an opt-out class is appropriate but a mandatory class is not.
July 16, 2024
EEOC Supports Rehearing En Banc Request After Race Bias Ruling For Uber

SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in considering the appeal of putative class racial bias claims by an Uber Technologies Inc. driver correctly recognized that no one framework “‘is mandatory at the pleading stage’ of a discrimination lawsuit” but then erred when it proceeded to apply “a notably higher standard to” the driver’s allegations, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission argues in a July 15 amicus curiae brief supporting the driver’s petition for rehearing en banc.
July 15, 2024
2 Disney Employees File Class Suit Over Scrapped Relocation Plans

LOS ANGELES — The Walt Disney Corp. told certain California workers that their jobs would be relocated to a new campus in Orlando, Fla., and that they could move or lose their jobs and then later scrapped the plans after some workers moved, two of the impacted workers allege in a putative class complaint seeking damages filed in a California court.
July 15, 2024
NCAA, Conferences Hit With Basketball Players’ NIL Sherman Act Class Suit

NEW YORK — The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), its conferences and a partner have used the names, images and likenesses (NIL) of student-athletes for commercial purposes without the players’ consent and without compensating them in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act, more than a dozen basketball players allege in a putative class complaint filed in a federal court in New York.
July 15, 2024
9th Circuit Affirms Remand Of Data-Sharing Class Claims Against Medical Center

PASADENA, Calif. — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a judge’s ruling remanding putative class action claims for invasion of privacy and violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) against a health care provider based on its usage of various tracking tools in its website and app, finding that federal directives regarding online patient access do not create “federal officer jurisdiction.”
July 12, 2024
On Remand, Judge Dismisses Kids’ Privacy Claims Against YouTube, Google

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A California federal magistrate judge court granted YouTube LLC, Google LLC and several YouTube kids’ channel-operators’ motion to dismiss minor plaintiffs’ putative class claims for violating their privacy and consumer protection statutes, including California’s unfair competition law (UCL), by collecting the minors’ personally identifiable information (PII).
July 12, 2024
DMCA Claims In GitHub AI License Dispute Dismissed For 3rd, Final Time

OAKLAND, Calif. — John Doe defendants suing GitHub Inc. and others for a purported lack of attribution of their shared materials in artificial intelligence (AI) products saw their claims under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) dismissed for a third time, this time with prejudice.
July 12, 2024
Amazon’s $7.2M Global Security Screening Pay Settlement Approved

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A federal judge in Kentucky granted final approval of a more than $4.3 million settlement to be paid by Amazon.com Inc. and related parties to end the second of two class complaints accusing the online retailer of failing to pay workers at its Pennsylvania warehouses for time spent undergoing mandatory security screenings; this amount brings the total global settlement to end the two cases to $7,205,837.
July 12, 2024
Bank Customer’s Claims For Unfair Autopay Practices May Proceed, Judge Says

SAN DIEGO — A California federal judge granted in part and denied in part a motion for judgment on the pleadings that Bank of America Corp. filed in response to a customer’s putative class complaint accusing it of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by not notifying him that his automatic payments would be disabled due to account inactivity, allegedly causing his accounts to go overdue and harming his credit score.
July 12, 2024
Chicken Purchasers’ Final Settlement OK’d; Attorney Fees Cut In End Users’ Pact

CHICAGO — In a pair of rulings in an antitrust case accusing broiler sellers of fixing the prices for chicken, a federal judge in Illinois granted final approval to a settlement between direct-purchaser plaintiffs (DPPs) and six prevailing defendants eliminating the DPPs from having to pay litigation costs and approved a reduction of attorney fees for the end-user consumer plaintiffs (EUCPs) after the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals vacated and remanded an earlier award of one-third the settlement or $57.4 million.
July 12, 2024
6th Circuit Upholds Arbitration Determination In Pilots’ Vaccine Mandate Case

CINCINNATI — Religious and disability bias claims by Kalitta Air LLC pilots who filed a putative class complaint challenging their employer’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate required interpretation of the collective bargaining agreement’s terms, a Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled, affirming the trial court’s ruling that the claims must go through arbitration first as minor disputes pursuant to the Railway Labor Act (RLA).