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

Mealey's Class Actions

October 17, 2025
Change Of Plans In Former Twitter Workers’ Severance Case Sparks Intervention Bid

SAN FRANCISCO — On Oct. 16 — just under two months after the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals agreed to postpone oral argument based on the parties’ report of an unspecified “imminent class-wide settlement agreement” in former Twitter Inc. employees’ effort to revive their putative class action for more than $500 million in severance benefits — two former employees moved to intervene as of right on the grounds that the two named plaintiffs now intend only “to proceed with individual claims on an individual basis.”
October 17, 2025
2 Named Plaintiffs Have Standing To Pursue Claims Stemming From Data Breach

RICHMOND, Va. — Two of four named plaintiffs in a consolidated class action stemming from a data breach incident have standing to pursue their claims against the insurance companies whose network was hacked because their allegation that their driver's license numbers were posted on the dark web after the breach constitutes a concrete injury, the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said in partially reversing a district court’s opinion dismissing the case.
October 16, 2025
On Remand, ERISA Prohibited Transaction Case Is Sent Back To District Court

NEW YORK — Nearly half a year after the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on the question of what is necessary to state an Employee Retirement Income Security Act prohibited transaction claim involving a service provider, the appeals court on Oct. 15 issued two one-paragraph orders — one recalling the mandate and reinstating the case, then one remanding the case to a New York federal court.
October 16, 2025
Pennsylvania Federal Judge Gives Final OK To $450K Collective, Class Wage Settlement

PHILADELPHIA — A federal judge in Pennsylvania on Oct. 15 granted final approval of a $450,000 settlement that resolves production workers’ claims that a manufacturer and seller of coffee and related products violated federal and state wage laws by failing to pay hourly workers for all hours worked, including failing to compensate for pre- and postshift work and miscalculating the regular rate of pay for overtime.
October 16, 2025
Motion To Compel Discovery Partly Granted In Software Data Sharing Class Dispute

MINNEAPOLIS — A Minnesota federal magistrate judge on Oct. 15 granted in part a motion to compel discovery for production of documents and responses to interrogatories by a health care provider in a putative class suit filed by former and current patients alleging that the provider collected and shared patient medical data with third parties through use of pixel software developed by Meta Platform Inc., finding that the request for production related to social media use is “relevant to” the claims of the patients and the provider’s defenses.
October 16, 2025
Dismissal Denied In Class Suit Against Sirius Alleging ‘Deceptive Pricing Scheme’

PORTLAND, Ore. — An Oregon federal judge denied dismissal to Sirius XM Radio LLC in a putative class action alleging that Sirius XM was “deceptive” in falsely advertising its music streaming plans at prices lower than what it actually charged subscribers, finding that the allegations in the complaint are sufficient at this point in the litigation.
October 16, 2025
Majority Of 11th Circuit Panel Criticizes Exhaustion Precedent But Applies It

ATLANTA — After applying a 40-year-old circuit precedent in a unanimous Oct. 15 panel ruling affirming dismissal of an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) valuation case but remanding for clarification on “whether prejudice attaches,” two panel members suggested that the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals convene en banc “to consider overruling” that precedent, which they said “imposed a judicially-created and atextual administrative exhaustion requirement for fiduciary-breach and statutory claims under” the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
October 16, 2025
Judge Finalizes $50,000 Sanction For Disclosures To U.S. Labor Department

OAKLAND, Calif. — Noting that the parties in a recently certified class action over alleged underpayment for out-of-network behavioral health treatment decided not to request oral argument after considering her tentative sanctions ruling, a California federal judge on Oct. 15 finalized an order for a law firm representing the plaintiffs to pay $50,000 for disclosures to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) that she found constituted “a knowing and intentional breach of” a stipulated protective order.
October 15, 2025
Judge: Failure To Disclose Executives’ Misconduct Doesn’t Make Statements False

CAMDEN, N.J. — A federal judge in New Jersey dismissed investors’ class action complaint alleging a drug design company, its former CEO and former chairman of the board violated federal securities laws by not disclosing the former CEO’s and chairman’s misconduct in public filings about the company’s code of conduct and its fostering of an inclusive workplace, finding that most of the challenged statements were inactionable puffery and that the company’s failure to disclose the misconduct did not render the statements misleading.
October 15, 2025
High Court Won’t Hear Life Insurance Beneficiary’s Certifying Questions Appeal

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 14 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by a life insurance policy beneficiary who brought a putative class complaint against the insurer and presented to the high court two questions regarding certifying state law issues to state high courts.
October 15, 2025
6th Circuit Upholds Class Settlement In Property Foreclosure Surplus Case

CINCINNATI — A Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a trial court’s final approval of a class settlement between former property owners and 43 Michigan counties in a case over former property owners’ rights to any amount from tax foreclosure sales that was above and beyond the amount of unpaid taxes, rejecting arguments by objectors over the adequacy of class counsel and approval of the agreement.
October 15, 2025
Disney’s And Sodexo’s Wage Settlements Of Nearly $235M Granted Final Approval

SANTA ANA, Calif. — A California judge in separate orders granted final approval of settlements totaling $234,750,000 by The Walt Disney Co. and Walt Disney Parks and Resorts US Inc. (Disney) and Sodexo Inc. and SodexoMagic LLC (together, Sodexo) in a wage class lawsuit by workers.
October 15, 2025
Class Complaint Alleges Popular Running Shoes Come With Unwanted Squeak

PORTLAND, Ore. — Running shoes that cost nearly $200 per pair are defective as technology intended to provide cushioned support causes “a noisy and embarrassing squeak with each and every step,” two consumers allege in a putative class complaint filed in a federal court in Oregon.
October 14, 2025
6th Circuit Majority Affirms Class Certification Order In Suit Against Auto Insurer

CINCINNATI — A Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals majority affirmed a district court’s class certification order in a suit alleging that an auto insurer breached its contract and acted in bad faith in determining a vehicle’s total loss value after determining that the insured had standing to bring the suit and met the necessary requirements to certify a class.
October 14, 2025
U.S. High Court: U.S. May Participate In Arguments In Forced Labor Class Suit

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 14 granted a motion by the U.S. solicitor general for leave to participate in oral argument as amicus curiae and for divided argument in an appeal by the operator of a private immigration detention facility in Colorado that seeks a ruling on whether interlocutory orders holding that a federal contractor does not meet the requirements under Yearsley v. W.A. Ross Construction Co. for a defense to liability for damages are immediately appealable under the collateral order doctrine.
October 14, 2025
Microsoft Accused Of Harming Competition With OpenAI Partnership

SAN FRANCISCO — A group of ChatGPT Plus subscribers on Oct. 13 filed a putative class action in California federal court against Microsoft Corp., seeking treble damages and injunctive relief — including “the divestiture or segregation of Microsoft’s Generative AI” business — based on allegations that Microsoft limited OpenAI’s access to computational power and drove up ChatGPT prices while promoting its own chatbot in competition with OpenAI.
October 14, 2025
Judge Clarifies Partial Dismissal Of Data Sharing Claims Against LinkedIn

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A California federal judge issued an amended order clarifying a prior order partially dismissing claims under the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA) and dismissing one of four putative class complaints in its entirety regarding allegations that LinkedIn Corp. used a tracking pixel to intercept and share users’ personal data with third-party advertisers.
October 13, 2025
Shutdown Pause Denied In Putative Class Suit Over Los Angeles Patrols

LOS ANGELES — A federal judge in California on Oct. 10 denied the federal government’s motion to pause due to the government shutdown a putative class case over “Operation At Large” being carried out in Los Angeles by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents and officers and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel who detain individuals in publicly accessible places to question their legal status based on the location, type of work being done, language being spoken, accent and race or ethnicity.
October 13, 2025
Judge: Individuals Who Sued Over U.S. Centralized Database May Face Retaliation

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge in the District of Columbia on Oct. 10 granted a sealed motion to proceed under pseudonyms filed by individuals who, along with several nonprofits, sued the federal government on behalf of a putative nationwide class seeking to enjoin the use of their personal data in a centralized database of Americans’ personal data; the judge ruled that the individuals “have demonstrated specific retaliation risks that far outweigh any prejudice to Defendants.”
October 13, 2025
$332M Deal To End Residual Annuities Class Action Wins Preliminary Approval

NEW YORK — A long-running Employee Retirement Income Security Act lawsuit over residual annuities would be resolved under a proposed $332 million settlement that a New York federal judge has granted preliminary approval.
October 10, 2025
Past Settlement Of Kombucha Mislabeling Suit Dooms New Class Claims, Judge Says

LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge dismissed four plaintiffs with prejudice from their class action accusing a kombucha maker of misleading consumers as to its beverage’s alcohol and sugar content in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) because they are members of a class that previously won a settlement against the same defendant for similar claims, but allowed putative class claims by other plaintiffs who didn’t start drinking kombucha until after the previous settlement.
October 10, 2025
$150 Million GM Defective Engine Class Settlement Granted Final Approval

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California granted final approval of a $150 million settlement between General Motors LLC and consumers who sued over allegedly defective engines, opining the “[a]greement resulted from extensive arm’s length, good faith negotiations.”
October 10, 2025
Immigrant Class Opposes High Court Review Of Now-Rescinded Metering Policy

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court should not grant a petition challenging a divided Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling on a border metering policy as the policy has since been rescinded, the appellate panel majority’s ruling was proper and the petition presents a poor vehicle, a nonprofit and the immigrant class it represents argue in an opposition brief.
October 10, 2025
Partial Dismissal Granted In Data Breach Suit Against Chicago Children’s Hospital

CHICAGO — A federal judge in Illinois partially granted a Chicago children’s hospital’s motion to dismiss a consolidated amended class complaint filed by patients and parents after nearly 800,000 patients’ personal and medical data was accessed by cybercriminals.
October 10, 2025
$2.62M Settlement Over Debt Collection Company Data Breach Gets Final OK

PHILADELPHIA — A federal judge in Pennsylvania has granted final approval of a $2,625,000 settlement in a consolidated class action over a 2023 data breach experienced by a national debt collection and accounts receivable management company, finding it “fair, reasonable, and adequate.”