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

Mealey's Class Actions

July 21, 2025
8th Circuit Partly Reverses Arbitration Denial In Pharmacy Benefit Class Action

ST. LOUIS — The Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has partially reversed a trial court ruling that denied a motion to compel arbitration in a class action by an Arkansas pharmacy against pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) OptumRx Inc., saying that the pharmacy’s new citation to a provider network agreement and a provider manual triggered an arbitration clause in the documents.
July 21, 2025
Nonprofits Seek Remand After Indicative Class Ruling In Birthright Citizenship Case

RICHMOND, Va. — Two nonprofits and individuals suing President Donald J. Trump and federal government officials over the January executive order (EO) that purportedly ends birthright citizenship filed a motion in the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals for limited remand after a federal judge issued an indicative ruling that classwide preliminary injunctive relief would be issued should the appellate court remand for a ruling on the pending motion.
July 18, 2025
‘Blanket’ Protective Order In Farmworkers’ Suit Found Restrictive By 9th Circuit

SEATTLE — A protective order issued by a trial court in a forced labor class action is overly restrictive, a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled, because of the “presumptively public” nature of discovery and the lack of good cause to prevent the plaintiffs’ counsel from using the discovered items in similar worker advocacy matters.
July 18, 2025
Judge Certifies AI Class, Wants Response To Fair Use Appeal Motion

SAN FRANCISCO — In a pair of developments, a California federal judge on July 17 granted a class certification motion in an artificial intelligence copyright suit involving pirated works, saying “It will be straightforward to prove the classwide wrong done” and the case is the exact type that benefits from representative litigation. In an earlier ruling the judge asked for a response to Anthropic PBC’s motion for reconsideration or an interlocutory appeal of a ruling on the company’s fair use arguments.
July 18, 2025
Lawsuit Over Database Site’s Use Of Photos, Personal Info May Proceed, Judge Rules

SEATTLE — Two days after he denied a motion to compel arbitration by the operator of an online professional services database, a Washington federal judge also denied the company’s motions to dismiss and to strike class allegations, allowing putative class publicity rights claims to continue.
July 17, 2025
Appellants, Amici Express Many Criticisms Re ERISA Conversion Row To 5th Circuit

HOUSTON — Advancing arguments regarding issues of standing, statute of repose, successor liability and class certification, appellants and prominent amici curiae filed briefs urging the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reverse judgment for the class in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit over the 1989 conversion of a defined benefit plan that used a final average pay formula to a retirement accumulation plan (RAP) cash balance plan.
July 15, 2025
COMMENTARY: Update On ERISA Class Actions In 2025

By Gerald L. Maatman, Jr. and Jennifer A. Riley
July 17, 2025
Judge Certifies Class In Suit Challenging Homeowners Insurer’s ACV Calculation

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California granted plaintiffs’ motion for class certification in their breach of contract, bad faith and unfair competition lawsuit alleging that their homeowners insurer has a common practice of depreciating sales tax when calculating actual cash value (ACV) benefits to insureds.
July 17, 2025
Denial Of Postjudgment Fees For Class Counsel In Coupon Settlement Upheld

SAN FRANCISCO — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a trial court’s ruling that class counsel’s postjudgment attorney fees motion was untimely following a settlement by a massage and skin care franchisor accused of violating its membership agreement by periodically increasing membership fees.
July 17, 2025
Judge OKs Employee Data Pact, Cuts Attorney Fees Request Of 1.6 Times Recovery

SANTA ANA, Calif. — A federal judge in California granted final approval of a class settlement in an employee data case but slashed the requested attorney fee award from 1.6 times the gross settlement amount to 25% of the net settlement fund, opining that while the class members’ recovery was “not inhibit[ed]” by the request and the agreement containing a clear-sailing provision was “non-collusive,” such a request could not be considered “reasonable.”
July 16, 2025
Government Appeals Extended Preliminary Injunction In Passport Gender Policy Case

BOSTON — The federal government appealed to the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals a June 17 ruling by a federal judge in Massachusetts certifying two classes and extending an already granted preliminary injunction to those classes in a case challenging a January executive order (EO) and its implementation that removed the option to designate “X” on passports for those individuals who do not identify as female or male or who wish to keep a specified gender off their passports.
July 16, 2025
Judge Dismisses Class Suit Against Ford Over Defective ‘E-Latch’ Doors

LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge granted in part Ford Motor Co.’s motion to dismiss a putative class action lawsuit accusing it of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by concealing an alleged defect with its electronic door handles that could leave the doors locked with children trapped inside when the vehicles lost power, finding that the plaintiffs did not plead Ford had a duty to disclose the defect.
July 16, 2025
Nearly $2M Settlement Of ERISA Forfeiture Row Wins Preliminary OK

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A proposed $1,995,000 class settlement is proceeding after a California federal judge on July 15 granted a preliminary approval motion in which a plaintiff whose key claims regarding the use of forfeited nonvested retirement plan contributions to offset the plan sponsor’s future matching contributions survived dismissal called the Employee Retirement Income Security Act lawsuit “the first and only case to reach settlement on this novel theory of recovery.”
July 16, 2025
Stay Extended In Geisinger Data Breach Suit As Parties Finalize Settlement

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Granting a joint motion to extend an existing stay in a consolidated, putative class action against a health care provider and its tech services vendor after a 2023 data breach, a Pennsylvania federal judge gave the parties 60 days to prepare a motion for preliminary approval of their recently announced settlement.
July 15, 2025
Student-Athletes’ Counsel Awarded Hundreds Of Millions In Fees After NIL Settlement

OAKLAND, Calif. — A federal judge in California awarded attorneys representing student-athletes, who settled for more than $2.5 billion name, image and likeness (NIL) claims with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and five conferences, hundreds of millions of dollars in attorney fees now as well as the opportunity for two types of future yearly fees; the judge also approved more than $9 million in costs and granted class counsel’s request for service awards of $5,000 to $125,000 for each of the class representatives.
July 15, 2025
Confidential Class Settlement In COVID-19 Vaccine Refusal Suit Preliminarily OK’d

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A federal judge in Tennessee granted preliminary approval of a confidential class settlement between BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Inc. (BCBST) and workers who were fired for their religious convictions after refusing to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
July 14, 2025
Per Confidential Agreement In Blackbaud Data Breach MDL, Settlement Fund Approved

COLUMBIA, S.C. — In accord with a joint request by Blackbaud Inc. and the plaintiffs who sued it in a multidistrict litigation after a 2020 data breach, a South Carolina federal judge approved and established a qualified settlement fund (QSF) to be used in a confidential settlement of all claims against the cloud services company.
July 14, 2025
Case Disputing Attorney Fees In Benicar MDL Sent Back To New Jersey District Court

PHILADELPHIA — The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on July 11 sent a dispute over the amount of attorney fees awarded to a law firm for its work in the Benicar multidistrict litigation back to a New Jersey federal court, finding that the lower court erred in denying a motion to remand.
July 14, 2025
9th Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of Driver’s Claim For Larger COVID-19 Refunds

SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of a driver’s class action against her insurer, GEICO, for violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by providing drivers an insufficient rebate on premiums after the COVID-19 pandemic, finding that the insurer was protected by the “‘safe harbor’” doctrine as the state insurance commissioner approved its rebate amounts.
July 14, 2025
Former NOAA Employees Allege Mass Terminations Violated Privacy Act

GREENBELT, Md. — Former employees of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration filed a class action suit against a number of governmental entities involved in the mass terminations of NOAA employees under directives issued by the Trump administration, alleging that the entities violated the Privacy Act by relying on incomplete and inaccurate employment records as support for the terminations.
July 11, 2025
Google Settles Menstrual App Privacy Claims, Is Granted Stay From Pending Trial

SAN FRANCISCO — Two weeks before the scheduled start of a trial over privacy class claims related to an ovulation-tracking app, a California federal judge granted a motion to stay the case against one of the defendants — Google LLC — in light of its reported settlement in principle with the consolidated plaintiffs.
July 11, 2025
Government Appeals Class Certification, Injunction In Immigrant Removal Case

DENVER — The federal government appealed to the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals orders granting class certification and a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit by immigrants subject to removal under the Alien Enemies Act (AEA).
July 11, 2025
Injunction Sought By Nonprofits After Dismissal Of Canceled Grants Class Suit

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Five justice-related nonprofit organizations filed an emergency motion July 10 in a federal court in the District of Columbia seeking an injunction pending their appeal to the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals after a federal judge dismissed their putative class complaint against the U.S. Justice Department and related officials for canceling, without notice or explanation, more than 370 agreements and contracts with private organizations worth more than $820 million.
July 11, 2025
$4.5M WARN Act Class Settlement OK’d Pending News Group Asset Liquidation

NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York granted final approval of a $4.5 million settlement in a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act class case brought by workers against JAF Communications Inc. after they were terminated by a now-defunct news organization, The Messenger, but left pending expenses, costs, a service award to the class representative and class counsel fees until the final accounting of proceedings in which JAF’s assets are liquidated.
July 11, 2025
Caltech Cybersecurity Bootcamp Class Plaintiff Urges Approval Of $400K Settlement

SAN FRANCISCO — A woman who enrolled in an online education program called the “Caltech Cybersecurity Bootcamp” and filed a putative class action suit alleging that the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and its partner, Simplilearn Americas Inc., deceptively marketed the bootcamp filed a brief in California state court urging the court to certify a settlement class and preliminarily approve a $400,000 settlement to be distributed among the participating class members.