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

Mealey's Class Actions

September 03, 2024
Judge Won’t Remand Putative Class Suit Against Wal-Mart Over Avocado Oil Sales

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California federal judge denied a consumer’s motion to remand his putative class action against Walmart Inc. for allegedly deceptively labeling its avocado oil product as pure avocado oil in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws, finding that Walmart properly removed the suit after calculating that the amount in controversy is greater than $5 million.
August 30, 2024
ERISA Class Action Over BlackRock Index TDFs Survives Summary Judgment

RICHMOND, Va. — Two weeks after certifying a class in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act case over BlackRock LifePath Index target date funds (TDFs), a Virginia federal judge on Aug. 29 issued separate rulings denying the defendant's summary judgment motion and denying the plaintiffs’ motion to exclude experts Lorie L. Latham and Russell R. Wermers.
August 30, 2024
Judge Won’t Reconsider Certification Of Class Action Against Pasta Company

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge on Aug. 29 denied an Illinois-based pasta manufacturer’s motion for leave to file a motion for reconsideration of the court’s order certifying a class action against it for allegedly deceiving consumers into believing its products originated in Italy based on its label bearing the statement “Italy’s #1 Brand of Pasta” and Italian flag colors.
August 30, 2024
Oral Argument Including DOL Set In 9th Circuit ERISA Tobacco Surcharge Case

SAN FRANCISCO — With oral argument set for Sept. 12 in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals case involving the effective vindication doctrine, a health plan participant who filed the Employee Retirement Income Security Act case over a tobacco surcharge has filed a notice of supplemental authorities including a recent Sixth Circuit ruling.
August 30, 2024
Final Approval Of $10.8M Settlement Sought In Wage Suppression Case

NEWARK, N.J. — Individuals who worked for a tax preparation franchisor or franchisees who brought a class complaint in a federal court in New Jersey alleging that there was a conspiracy to suppress compensation via no-poach agreements filed motions for final approval of a $10.8 million settlement and for approval of attorney fees, expenses and service awards.
August 29, 2024
Federal Judge: Rapid Release Tylenol Class Action Fails Under Preemption Grounds

NEW YORK — A New York federal judge granted a motion to dismiss a putative class action alleging that Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc. improperly advertised that its Tylenol Rapid Release Gelcaps worked faster than the cheaper tablet alternatives after finding that a woman’s claims are preempted by federal law.
August 29, 2024
Consumer Groups Urge 9th Circuit To Rehear Baby Food UCL Case

PHOENIX — Consumer and food associations filed an amicus curiae brief urging the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to grant a baby food company’s petition for panel or en banc rehearing, writing that a panel’s reversal of the dismissal of class claims accusing it of deceptive labeling will create “confusion.”
August 29, 2024
6th Circuit Reverses Dismissal Of Misclassification Suit Involving ERISA Benefits

CINCINNATI — Reversing dismissal of a putative class action in which insurance agents assert Employee Retirement Income Security Act claims over alleged misclassification and denial of benefits, a Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled that the lower court erred by relying on documents regarding which “there are legitimate questions” of whether they “are a full set of the relevant, governing plan documents.”
August 29, 2024
Judge Dismisses Advertiser’s ‘Click-Through Fraud’ Claims Against Reddit

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted Reddit Inc.’s motion to dismiss a tech company’s putative class action accusing it of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and of breach of contract by allegedly charging fraudulent fees per click on digital advertisements, finding that the plaintiff lacks standing but granting it leave to amend.
August 29, 2024
Asphalt Paving Company To Pay $1.25M To Settle EEOC Race Harassment Suit

TAMPA, Fla. — An asphalt paving company with offices in five states will pay $1.25 million and provide injunctive relief to end a lawsuit by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging that the company subjected a dozen Black former employees and a class of other Black employees to frequent, severe harassment due to their race, according to a consent decree signed by a federal judge in Florida.
August 29, 2024
$2 Million Class Settlement Reached In Catholic University Pandemic Closure Suit

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A New York woman who sued Catholic University of America for failing to provide students with the full value of their education in spring 2020 when the school, like many others around the country, closed its campus due to the coronavirus pandemic filed a motion in a federal court in the District of Columbia seeking preliminary approval of a $2 million class settlement.
August 29, 2024
Production Of Full Funding Agreement Ordered In DUFTA Case Involving Insurer

WILMINGTON, Del. — Saying his relevance conclusion sprang from “the class action context . . . and the express terms of the Funding Agreement itself,” a Delaware Chancery Court vice chancellor ordered the plaintiffs in a suit over an alleged scheme to strip capital from an insurance subsidiary on which many policyholders depend for long-term care (LTC) disability benefits to produce the funding and contingent fee agreements in their entirety.
August 28, 2024
Federal Judge Grants Final Approval In Data Breach Class Action

LINCOLN. Neb. — A Nebraska federal judge dismissed a data security breach class action and issued final approval of a $850,000 class action settlement in a data security breach suit after determining that the settlement fairly and adequately represents the interests of the class members.
August 28, 2024
Preliminary Approval Granted To $19M Settlement In Recalled Baby Sleeper Suit

BUFFALO, N.Y. — A federal judge in New York granted preliminary approval of a $19 million class settlement between consumers and Fisher-Price Inc. and its corporate parent, Mattel Inc., in a multidistrict litigation alleging that the safety risks of the now recalled Rock ’n Play Sleeper (RNPS) were not disclosed when the units were being sold in violation of various consumer protection laws.
August 28, 2024
Investor Asks Supreme Court To Consider Opt-Outs In Shareholder Settlements

WASHINGTON, D.C. — An investor in a movie theater chain tells the U.S. Supreme Court that the Delaware Supreme Court was wrong to affirm a settlement between the chain and other investors because the settlement contained no opt-out clause for objecting investors such as herself; the investor says that the case provides the ideal vehicle to solve a circuit split over such opt-out clauses.
August 28, 2024
Judge Dismisses Putative Class Suit Over Alleged Data Breach For Lack Of Standing

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Granting dismissal of a putative class action against a private contractor over an alleged data breach, an Ohio federal judge said the plaintiff “has not adequately pleaded that any of his PII [personally identifiable information] was improperly accessed, let alone stolen.”
August 27, 2024
City Of Baltimore: Fracking Operators, Others Conspired To Inflate Oil Prices

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The city of Baltimore has filed a putative class action against multiple hydraulic fracturing companies in New Mexico federal court arguing that they engaged in a conspiracy to restrict the production of crude oil, along with “Wall Street investors, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), and certain non-OPEC member countries aligned with OPEC, called “OPEC+” in an effort to inflate the price of crude oil.
August 27, 2024
Investors: Norfolk Southern Broke Securities Laws Related To Ohio Train Derailment

ATLANTA — Investors have filed a brief in Georgia federal court opposing a motion to dismiss their securities fraud class action against Norfolk Southern Corp. and its principals, arguing that they have laid out in “exacting detail” that the defendants misled investors about the purported safety of the railroad’s operations while the company implemented cost-cutting procedures that “systematically dismantled critical safety measures in pursuit of profits, culminating in the derailment” of a Norfolk Southern train in East Palestine, Ohio, which resulted in toxic chemical pollution in that town.
August 27, 2024
Certification Of Arbitration Order For Appeal Denied In Citibank ‘Redlining’ Case

LOS ANGELES — A California woman who filed a putative class complaint against Citibank N.A. under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and California’s unfair competition law (UCL) for allegedly “redlining” customers with Armenian names failed to show that a difference of opinion exists surrounding an April ruling granting the credit card issuer’s motion for arbitration, a federal judge in California ruled, denying a motion for certification of the order for interlocutory appeal.
August 27, 2024
Airlines Will Settle Pilot’s USERRA Payless Leave Class Suit For $4.75M

SPOKANE, Wash. — Alaska Airlines Inc. and Horizon Air Industries Inc. have agreed to pay $4.75 million to a class of commercial airline pilots who allege that they were denied pay during short-term military leaves while pay was provided to pilots taking other types of leaves, according to motion for preliminary settlement approval filed in a federal court in Washington.
August 27, 2024
$725M Profile-Sharing Suit Settlement Is Fair, Facebook And Plaintiffs Tell Court

SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook and plaintiffs who successfully reached a $725 million settlement agreement in a consolidated privacy class action over the sharing of Facebook users’ profiles with Cambridge Analytica urged the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reject the appeal of two objectors who argue that the settlement should be higher and the attorney fees greatly reduced.
August 26, 2024
Bench Trial Yields Ruling For Defendants In ERISA Fees, Funds Challenge

SANTA ANA, Calif. — Noting in part that that she afforded “little to no weight” to the testimony of two of the class’s experts, a California federal judge ruled for the defendants on all claims after a bench trial, in a consolidated Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit over 401(k) fees and funds.
August 26, 2024
Former Employees Reach Settlement With Philadelphia Inquirer Over Data Breach

PHILADELPHIA —Three employees or former employees of the Philadelphia Inquirer LLC moved for preliminary approval of a $525,000 class action settlement reached with the newspaper to settle claims for damages caused by a data breach that the newspaper did not disclose to subscribers and employees for nearly a year.
August 23, 2024
Excessive-Fee Claim Survives Dismissal In Multiemployer Health Plan ERISA Case

CHICAGO — Denying dismissal of an excessive-fee claim in a putative class Employee Retirement Income Security Act case concerning a national multiemployer health plan, an Illinois federal judge said the lack of “direct guidance” regarding the pleading standard for such a claim means that “the court must reason by analogy” to retirement plan cases.
August 23, 2024
Hospitality Business Workers’ Human Trafficking Claims Settled for $730,000

OKLAHOMA CITY — A federal magistrate judge in Oklahoma on Aug. 22 granted final approval of a $730,000 settlement between hospitality businesses based in that state and workers from the Philippines who allege that they were induced to travel to the United States to work based on false promises.