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

Mealey's Class Actions

August 13, 2025
Anthropic, Amici Ask 9th Circuit For Review Of Class, Fair Use Rulings

SAN FRANCISCO — A ruling denying summary judgment on claims that Anthropic PBC pirated and kept copyrighted works and a second one certifying a class of potentially impacted copyright holders is replete with individuality issues and notice manageability problems and the rushed class ruling prematurely forces the company to grapple with the possibility of billions of dollars in business-ruining damages, the company and various amici curiae tell a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel in seeking immediate appeal.
August 13, 2025
Amici Support GEO Group In High Court Appeal Over Interlocutory Orders

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Nevada Hospital Association (NHA) filed one of six amicus briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court supporting arguments by The GEO Group Inc. that a decision concerning its entitlement to derivative sovereign immunity as a federal contractor is important enough to the merits that it should be treated as final and thus appealable.
August 13, 2025
Preliminary Approval Of Class Settlement, Certification Granted In RESPA Suit

FRESNO, Calif. — A federal judge in California preliminarily granted approval of a class action settlement and conditional class certification in a long-running Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) case, authorizing class members to receive $875 in cash compensation per affected loan with an estimated gross settlement award totaling $30.5 million.
August 13, 2025
$299,000 Class Deal Wins Final OK In ERISA Row Over Plan’s Tobacco Surcharge

CHICAGO — Resolving an Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit over annual $1,152 surcharges imposed on about 431 health plan participants who use tobacco, an Illinois federal judge on Aug. 12 gave final approval to a $299,000 class settlement and made awards in the amounts requested, including $99,666.67 for attorney fees and a $5,000 case contribution award.
August 13, 2025
After Bench Trial, Judge Gives Plan Sponsor Win In ERISA Imprudence Row

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Following a four-day Employee Retirement Income Security Act bench trial in a suit over a retirement plan’s recordkeeping fees and share classes, a North Carolina federal judge on Aug. 12 found not only that the class of more than 55,000 participants didn’t establish any breach of the plan sponsor’s fiduciary duty of prudence but also that the sponsor’s process was prudent.
August 13, 2025
Split D.C. Circuit Vacates Contempt Ruling In Immigrant Removal Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel dismissed an appeal by the federal government for lack of appellate jurisdiction and vacated a trial court’s ruling that probable cause exists to determine that the federal government’s actions in an immigrant removal class case constitute criminal contempt, opining that the government “satisfied the stringent requirements for a writ of mandamus.”
August 13, 2025
Judge Trims Fees, Service Awards In $7.15M Class Settlement Of ERISA Case

BOSTON — With a Massachusetts federal judge granting final approval, an Employee Retirement Income Security Act lawsuit over a profit sharing plan settled on a class basis for $7.15 million with a reported average gross recovery of $89,000; however, the judge awarded reduced attorney fees and service awards.
August 12, 2025
Judge Won’t Stay AI Case While Anthropic Appeals Class Cert, Fair Use Rulings

SAN FRANCISCO — Any appeal by Anthropic PBC of a ruling rejecting fair use defenses for pirating copyrighted works or granting class certification should involve a full record, and to the extent going to trial financially threatens the artificial intelligence company, that reality would be the outcome of its own conduct, a federal judge in California said Aug. 11 in declining to stay the case pending appeal.
August 12, 2025
Suit Over Airline’s LTD Plan Is Voluntarily Dismissed After Resolution Report

FORT WORTH, Texas — A putative class complaint that a disabled pilot filed over a May 2024 plan revision that he alleged resulted in underpayment of long-term disability (LTD) benefits was voluntarily dismissed without prejudice on Aug. 11 after the defendants told the Texas federal court in a dismissal motion that the pilot’s union had already gotten the issues resolved through a Railway Labor Act (RLA) dispute-resolution process.
August 12, 2025
Amici Support 4th Circuit Review Bid Re Standing Ruling In Lawsuit Over PRT

RICHMOND, Va. — A petition for permission to file an interlocutory appeal to the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals regarding a ruling that retirees had standing to file a putative class lawsuit that is part of a much-watched recent string of Employee Retirement Income Security Act cases challenging pension risk transfers (PRTs) is unopposed and has garnered two supporting briefs from amici curiae; among other things, the retirees allege that the use of offshore captive reinsurers makes annuity providers riskier.
August 11, 2025
9th Circuit Briefing Wraps Up In 1st ERISA Forfeiture Appeal

SAN FRANCISCO — Initial briefing has concluded in the most advanced of five appeals that have been filed over rulings in cases challenging a common use of forfeited nonvested matching retirement contributions, with the appellant who is seeking revival of the putative class Employee Retirement Income Security Act case referencing two amicus curiae briefs in his reply filed in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
August 11, 2025
$3.5M Class Settlement OK’d In Assisted Living Facilities Misrepresentation Suit

LOS ANGELES — A federal judge in California approved a $3.5 million class action settlement and injunction between the operator of assisted living communities and a resident resolving claims that the operator misrepresented to residents its capability of adequately providing care services.
August 11, 2025
Judge Partly Grants Motion To Certify Class In Misleading Crypto Promotions Suit

LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge granted in part and denied in part a motion by cryptocurrency investors to certify a class against a cryptocurrency developer, the developers’ executives and celebrities such as Kim Kardashian and Floyd Mayweather Jr. who promoted the crypto coin as a reliable investment, allegedly in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other state laws.
August 11, 2025
Class Certification, Injunction Granted In Suit Over Birthright Citizenship EO

GREENBELT, Md. — A federal judge in Maryland issued two opinions, one certifying a class of children born or who will be born in the United States and are challenging a Jan. 20 executive order (EO) that purportedly ends birthright citizenship and one granting a preliminary injunction halting enforcement of the EO against the nationwide class.
August 11, 2025
4th Circuit: Regular Appeal Notice Proper For Challenging CAFA Remand Order

RICHMOND, Va. — A regular notice of appeal filed under 28 U.S. Code Section 1291 is appropriate to seek review of a remand order based on the Class Action Fairness Act’s local controversy exception, a Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled, affirming a remand order in a putative class complaint alleging community lead exposure following hydroblasting of a television tower in Baltimore.
August 11, 2025
$6.9M Settlement Gets Final OK In ERISA Imprudence Row Over Fees And Funds

CHICAGO — An Illinois federal magistrate judge granted final approval to a $6.9 million class settlement of an Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit involving recordkeeping fees and proprietary target date funds (TDFs); according to retirement plan participants, the gross amount is “approximately 12% to 38% of damages” estimated by their expert.
August 07, 2025
Fiduciary Breach Claim Partly Survives In Long-Running Insurance Coverage Row

SAN FRANCISCO — After more than a decade of litigation that includes numerous appellate court rulings in a class action over thousands of mental health and substance use disorder treatmentclaims, a California federal magistrate judge ruled that part of a breach of fiduciary claim survives and exhaustion as to that remaining claim is not required or is excused.
August 07, 2025
Judge Approves $6.8 Million Settlement Of Rite Aid Data Breach Class Action

PHILADELPHIA — A $6.8 million settlement of a consolidated class action over a 2024 data breach experienced by Rite Aid Corp. satisfied the requirements of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23 and relevant case law, a Pennsylvania federal judge found, granting final approval to the settlement as well as to the plaintiffs’ requests for attorney fees, costs and service awards.
August 07, 2025
False Advertising Suit Against IVF Embryo-Testing Company Dismissed

OAKLAND, Calif. — A California federal judge dismissed a putative class action filed by two women against a company that advertises itself as testing embryos obtained through in vitro fertilization (IVF) for abnormalities before implantation, finding that the plaintiffs’ claims that the company misrepresented the accuracy of its tests in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws were not pleaded with sufficient specificity.
August 06, 2025
$8.2M Class Settlement Gets Final OK In ERISA Case Involving Target Date Funds

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — An Employee Retirement Income Security Act retirement plan case over the inclusion of Northern Trust target date funds (TDFs) and other purported pension benefit plan mismanagement has been closed after a Pennsylvania federal judge granted final approval to an $8.2 million class settlement.
August 06, 2025
$26M Settlement In Mastercard Pay Discrimination Class Suit Wins Final Approval

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — Mastercard Inc. will pay $26 million to settle a class and collective action alleging that it systematically treated female, Black and Hispanic employees less favorably than white or male employees performing similar work in violation of equal pay and antidiscrimination laws; a federal judge in New York granted final approval to the settlement, finding the relief “significant and meaningful.”
August 06, 2025
2nd Round Of Settlements Ends Indirect Chicken Buyers’ Antitrust Claims

CHICAGO — A federal judge in Illinois granted final approval of a second round of settlements totaling $41.25 million between commercial and institutional indirect purchaser plaintiffs (CIIPPs) and 13 defendants in an antitrust case accusing broiler sellers of fixing the prices for chicken.
August 06, 2025
ERISA ‘Excessive Fee’ Settlements, Proposals Under $5M

Class settlements below $5 million have been finalized or proposed in 18 “excessive fee” Employee Retirement Income Security Act cases between late April and early August.
August 05, 2025
Magistrate: Fracking Royalty Case Warrants Partial Grant Of Class Certification

PITTSBURGH — A federal magistrate judge in Pennsylvania on Aug. 4 issued a report in which he recommended that leaseholders’ motion for class certification in their case against hydraulic fracturing operators for unpaid royalties be granted in part and denied in part, saying the plaintiffs have shown that the class is ascertainable but have not presented evidence to satisfy Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(2).
August 05, 2025
9th Circuit Uses Effective Vindication Doctrine In ERISA Tobacco Surcharge Case

PASADENA, Calif. — Calling the holding in the tobacco surcharge case “consistent with” decisions that five sister circuits issued in a variety of Employee Retirement Income Security Act disputes in the past few years, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Aug. 4 ruled in part that a health plan arbitration provision’s “representative action waiver violates the effective vindication doctrine and is unenforceable.”