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

Mealey's Class Actions

February 25, 2025
Nike Workers Who Filed Biased Pay, Promotions Suit File Notice Of Settlement

PORTLAND, Ore. — Four named Nike Inc. workers who brought a class and collective complaint accusing the athletic footwear and apparel company of “devalu[ing]” and “demean[ing]” female employees by paying them less than their male counterparts and passing them over for promotions filed a notice in a federal court in Oregon that they have finalized a settlement agreement as to their individual claims.
February 25, 2025
Judge Denies Motion To Certify Class Of Timeshare Purchasers, Bars Rebuttal Witness

ORLANDO, Fla. — An expert testifying on behalf of a timeshare company can testify that class certification is unnecessary for military members who allege that the timeshare contract violated the law, but the expert retained by those miliary members is barred because his report was untimely, a Florida federal judge ruled, also denying the motion for class certification.
February 24, 2025
7 Suits Over Insurer’s Data Breach Remanded To Wisconsin State Court

MADISON, Wis. — A health insurance company did not establish that federal jurisdiction existed over seven putative class actions that it removed to Wisconsin federal court, a judge held, granting a motion to remand the suits over a 2024 data breach to state court, finding that exceptions to the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA) defeated federal jurisdiction.
February 24, 2025
U.S. High Court Denies County, Sheriff’s Petition On Standing, Class Service Award

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 24 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by an Illinois county and sheriff accused by a former detainee of denying him and others sufficient dental care and asking the justices to decide whether the detainee as a putative class representative has standing under Article III of the U.S. Constitution to continue the litigation and seek an incentive award after receiving relief on his individual claims.
February 24, 2025
Netflix Wrongful Death Class Petition Granted; Order Affirming Dismissal Vacated

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 24 granted a petition for a writ of certiorari presenting jurisdictional questions in a putative class complaint filed by the estate and family members of a minor who died by suicide who accuse streaming service Netflix Inc. of strict liability, wrongful death and negligence in connection with its release of a show depicting a suicide; the high court vacated the judgment and remanded to the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals for further consideration in light of the ruling in Royal Canin U.S.A., Inc. v. Wullschleger.
February 21, 2025
Imprudence Claim Survives Dismissal In Suit Over ESOP’s Cash-Equivalent Strategy

PITTSBURGH — A Pennsylvania federal judge on Feb. 20 dismissed a prohibited transaction claim but ruled that an imprudence claim asserted under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act survives in a putative class action filed by former and current employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) participants who say that about 20% of the plan’s funds have been kept in cash equivalents — money market funds and short-term certificates of deposit — since at least 2009.
February 21, 2025
Carnegie Mellon’s $4.8M Pandemic Closure Settlement Preliminarily Approved

PITTSBURGH — A federal judge in Pennsylvania granted preliminary approval of a $4.8 million settlement between Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and students who accuse the school of depriving them of the education and services for which they paid when it halted in-person learning in spring 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
February 21, 2025
4th Circuit Denies Rehearing Sought By Mortgagors After Class, Damages Ruling

RICHMOND, Va. — The Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied a petition for rehearing and rehearing en banc filed by borrowers who allege that they were required to pay for “worthless” home appraisals after the appellate panel considered for a second time class certification and damages for the borrowers and the majority ruled that there was no showing of concrete harm.
February 20, 2025
Judge Permits ‘Mass Opt-Out’ From Eavesdropping Class Action Against Google

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A California federal judge stated that she had “little hesitation” denying Google LLC’s motion to reject a “mass exclusion request” by nearly 70,000 Google Assistant (GA) users who seek to opt out of an unfair competition class action over Google’s purported eavesdropping via the digital assistant app and pursue arbitration of their privacy claims against the company instead.
February 20, 2025
5 Federal Workers’ Class Suit Alleges Info Access Is Largest Breach Since Watergate

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Federal officials’ decision to allow individuals from outside the U.S. government to access the “personal sensitive information” (PSI) of millions of federal workers “is the biggest breach of American trust by political actors since Watergate,” five federal employees allege in a class complaint filed in a federal court in the District of Columbia.
February 20, 2025
Preliminary Approval Of $1.15M Lane Bryant Wage Class Settlement Denied

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A federal judge in California denied preliminary approval of a $1,150,000 class and Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) settlement in a case against a plus size clothing retailer, opining that the parties “artificially lowered” the potential value of the PAGA claim and failed to provide sufficient information for the court to determine whether preliminary approval was appropriate.
February 20, 2025
Mortgagors Seeks Rehearing After 4th Circuit Class Certification, Damages Ruling

RICHMOND, Va. — Borrowers who allege that they were required to pay for “worthless” home appraisals as part of refinancing their mortgage loans filed a petition for panel rehearing or rehearing en banc after the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals considered for a second time class certification and damages for the borrowers and the majority ruled that there was no showing of concrete harm.
February 19, 2025
Final Approval Of Settlement Granted In Stock-Drop Suit Against Holding Company

ALBANY, N.Y. — A federal judge in New York granted final approval to an $850,000 settlement ending a class action filed by stockholders against a bank holding company for allegedly failing to disclose that the company maintained defective disclosure controls that increased the risk that it couldn’t timely file required financial reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission and become delisted from the NASDAQ, ultimately causing the stock price to drop after the alleged misrepresentations were disclosed.
February 19, 2025
Penn State’s $17 Million Pandemic Closure Class Settlement Given Final OK

PITTSBURGH — A federal judge in Pennsylvania on Feb. 18 granted final approval of a $17 million class settlement between The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) and students who accused the school of charging money for in-person education and on-campus access and services but failing to deliver them in spring 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
February 18, 2025
TRO Denied In Federal Workers’ Privacy Suit Over OPM ‘Test’ Emails

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Federal workers suing under pseudonyms who accuse the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) of failing to conduct and publish a privacy impact assessment (PIA) before allegedly sending out “test” emails the workers claim are being used to collect information on them failed to show “that they are likely to incur some irreparable injury” without a temporary restraining order (TRO), a federal judge in the District of Columbia ruled Feb. 17, denying a renewed TRO motion in the putative class case.
February 18, 2025
Lead Claims Against Tampon Makers Dismissed In Part By Judge

SAN DIEGO — A California federal judge issued two substantially similar rulings dismissing in part two putative class action lawsuits brought against tampon makers by women who accuse the companies of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by concealing the presence of lead in their tampons, finding that the claims should not be dismissed pending a Food and Drug Administration review of lead in tampons but also finding that the plaintiffs failed to allege that the tampons they bought contained dangerous levels of lead.
February 18, 2025
Class Action Alleges Allstate Collected, Sold Data Without Plaintiffs’ Consent

CHICAGO — A class action complaint filed in Illinois federal court alleges that The Allstate Corp. and its subsidiaries collected and sold the plaintiffs’ personal data and “‘trillions of miles’ worth of ‘driving behavior’” data without their consent.
February 18, 2025
Carnegie Mellon Students Seek Preliminary Approval Of $4.8M Pandemic Closure Pact

PITTSBURGH — Students who accuse Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) of depriving them of the education and services for which they paid when the school halted in-person learning in spring 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic filed a motion for preliminary approval of a $4.8 million settlement on Feb. 14.
February 14, 2025
Class Complaint Alleges Computer Fraud, Privacy Violations By Musk, Agencies

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Six U.S. citizens filed a putative class complaint in District of Columbia federal court over purported privacy violations by the access to government systems and citizens’ personal data given to Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
February 14, 2025
9th Circuit Rejects Appeal Of $725 Million Facebook Data-Sharing Suit Settlement

SAN FRANCISCO — More than a year after a trial court approved the $725 million settlement of a consolidated class action over the 2015 sharing of Facebook users’ profiles with Cambridge Analytica, a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Feb. 13 affirmed the approval over an appeal of the settlement and attorney fees amounts by two class members.
February 14, 2025
False Advertising Claims Over Walmart Avocado Oil Inadequate, Judge Says

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California federal judge on Feb. 13 granted Walmart Inc.’s motion to dismiss a consumer’s putative class action accusing it of deceptively labeling its avocado oil product as pure avocado oil in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL), finding that the plaintiff failed to allege that the product is labeled in a way that would deceive a consumer as to the purity of its oil.
February 14, 2025
Insurer’s Dismissal Motion Partially Denied In Suit Alleging It Illegally Employs AI

MINNEAPOLIS — A federal magistrate judge in Minnesota on Feb. 13 granted in part and denied in part an insurer’s motion to dismiss a class complaint alleging it illegally uses artificial intelligence (AI) to deny elderly insureds medically necessary care based on a model that the insurer knows “has a 90% error rate,” allowing breach of contract and breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing claims to proceed.
February 14, 2025
Plaintiffs Sue W.L. Gore For Greenwashing, Hiding PFAS Content Of Its Clothing

SPOKANE, Wash. — Plaintiffs have filed a class action against W.L. Gore & Associates in Washington federal court alleging that it has violated numerous state consumer protection laws and has fraudulently concealed the fact that its water-repellant Gore-Tex fabric contains per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which are then shed into the environment upon use. The plaintiffs argue that Gore is guilty of greenwashing by using PFAS but “purporting to be highly committed to environmental responsibility.”
February 13, 2025
Woman Seeks Class Status For PFAS Case Alleging Carpet Makers Were Deceptive

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — A woman filed an unopposed motion in Tennessee federal court on Feb. 12 to file a second amended class complaint against a carpet manufacturing company and its affiliates that she says are liable for knowingly using per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to add stain-resistance to its carpets. She argues that the companies “had exclusive knowledge” that its carpets contained PFAS and they “deceptively marketed and/or omitted material information” about that from the public.
February 13, 2025
Preliminary Approval Given To $95 Million Settlement Of Siri Eavesdropping Suit

OAKLAND, Calif. — A class action accusing Apple Inc. of collecting unauthorized recordings of Apple device users via its digital assistant Siri moved closer to resolution, with a California federal judge granting preliminary approval to a proposed $95 million settlement of the 5-1/2-year-old lawsuit.