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Mealey's Class Actions

  • March 03, 2026

    Amici File More Than 3 Dozen Briefs In Support Of Birthright Citizenship

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A large group of professors are the latest amici curiae to file a brief in the U.S. Supreme Court supporting arguments by a class of parents that the citizenship clause in the 14th Amendment guarantees U.S. citizenship to “virtually all children born in the United States . . . regardless of their parents’ immigration status or domicile”; more than three dozen briefs supporting the position of the respondents have been filed in the case challenging President Donald J. Trump’s January 2025 executive order (EO) that declared that children born in the United States are not citizens when their mother is “unlawfully present in the United States” or their mother’s presence is “temporary” and their father is not a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident.

  • March 03, 2026

    N.J. Appeals Panel Reverses Dismissal, Arbitration Denials In Used Car Fraud Suit

    TRENTON, N.J. — A New Jersey trial court erred in its reasoning denying motions to dismiss putative class claims alleging fraud in the sales of used vehicles and compel arbitration, a New Jersey appellate panel ruled, finding that there is a strong preference for enforcing arbitration agreements, the initial arbitration agreement that the car buyer admitted receiving incorporated more than just issues related to financing and if there was any ambiguity it was up to an arbitrator and not the court to decide.

  • March 03, 2026

    Magistrate Judge Grants Preliminary OK To Japanese Alcohol Labeling Settlement

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal magistrate judge granted preliminary approval to a settlement of a California consumer’s class action against a California company that was accused of deceptively marketing the origin of Japanese-style sake that is manufactured domestically, allegedly in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL), with the settlement providing for injunctive relief and attorney fees of $645,000.

  • March 03, 2026

    Judge Gives Final Approval To $7.75M Settlement In Stock-Drop Class Action

    NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York granted final approval to a $7.75 million settlement in a class action brought by investors against a biopharmaceutical company and certain of its current and former executives that alleged that the defendants made false and misleading statements that caused the company’s stock price to drop and investors to lose money.

  • March 03, 2026

    Fla. Man Files Class Suit Seeking Refunds From FedEx After High Court Tariff Ruling

    MIAMI — Federal Express Corp. and FedEx Logistics Inc. (together, FedEx) should refund customers restitution and damages and all duties and fees imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) for imported goods classified under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States as “duty-free” after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Feb. 20 that President Donald J. Trump lacked the authorization to unilaterally impose tariffs, a Florida man argues in a putative class complaint filed in a federal court in Florida.

  • March 02, 2026

    9th Circuit Panel Denies Remaining Challenges To Kia, Hyundai Theft Settlement

    PASADENA, Calif. — In separate orders issued a day apart, a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel granted a consumer class’ motion for summary disposition, ending the last of three appeals by objectors to a class settlement worth between $80 million and $145 million in a multidistrict litigation based on the theft of Kia and Hyundai vehicles, and one day later, on Feb. 26, denied a petition for rehearing filed in the first of the three appeals.

  • March 02, 2026

    High Court Refuses To Hear Appeal Bond Issue Pertaining To Ohio Train Derailment

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on March 2 denied review of a petition filed by a group of individuals who objected to the $600 million class action settlement in the Ohio train derailment lawsuit and appealed a lower court’s requirements pertaining to an appeal bond in that litigation.  The petitioners had argued that “the notion an appeal bond must be separately appealed, and cannot be challenged by motion within the appeal to which it relates, represents a split of authority among circuits.”

  • March 02, 2026

    Parties Seek High Court Review Of Ruling Related To $600M Ohio Train Settlement

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A group of individuals who objected to the $600 million class action settlement in the Ohio train derailment lawsuit and appealed the district court’s requirements related to an appeal bond have filed a petition for review in the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that “the notion an appeal bond must be separately appealed, and cannot be challenged by motion within the appeal to which it relates, represents a split of authority among circuits.”  The petitioners also argue that the issue involves a “misuse” of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure.

  • March 02, 2026

    Class Complaint: Insurer Sold Out Customer And Website Users’ Trust For Money

    CHICAGO — A class complaint was filed in an Illinois federal court alleging that an insurer committed an egregious privacy violation and breach of consumer trust in violation of Illinois, California and federal laws by knowingly deploying tracking technologies without the consent of its insurance customers and other website visitors and in violation of its own express assurances that the customers’ private information would remain confidential, asserting that the insurer sold out its customers and website users’ trust for money.

  • March 02, 2026

    ERISA Forfeiture Dismissal Appeals Update: Oral Argument And DOL Briefs

    Appellate courts have yet to weigh in on the wave of putative class Employee Retirement Income Security Act challenges to a common use of forfeited nonvested matching retirement contributions, but the U.S. Department of Labor has filed amicus curiae briefs supporting affirmance in four of the 10 pending appeals of rulings dismissing such cases, and the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has scheduled oral argument for March 18 in one of those appeals.

  • February 27, 2026

    Judge Gives Reasons For Juul Antitrust Class Ruling, Allows Reconsideration

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge on Feb. 26 issued a ruling providing the reasoning behind a previously issued short-form order certifying several classes of purchasers bringing antitrust claims against Juul Labs Inc. (JLI) and Altria Group Inc. for allegedly seeking to monopolize the e-cigarette market, and also granted a defense motion for reconsideration as to time limits on the class.

  • February 27, 2026

    9th Circuit Finds Investors Failed To Plead Loss Causation Against Meta

    SAN FRANCISCO — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a lower court’s dismissal of investors’ putative class action against Meta Platforms Inc. and certain of its executives over alleged misstatements regarding the financial impact of changes to Apple Inc.’s privacy policy on Meta’s advertisement targeting and measurement capabilities, finding the investors failed to plead loss causation or misrepresentation.

  • February 27, 2026

    Judge Bars 3rd-Country Removal Of Noncitizen Class As 1st Resort

    BOSTON — The federal government may not remove members of a class of noncitizens to any third country without first seeking to remove them to the class members’ designated country of removal or specified alternate country and without providing notice or the opportunity for class members to raise a country-specific claim against removal, a federal judge in Massachusetts ruled, declaring the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) March 2025 third-country removal policy “unlawful.”

  • February 27, 2026

    Retirees File 8th Circuit Appeal In ERISA Pension Actuarial Equivalence Case

    ST. LOUIS — Retirees have filed an Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals challenge to a ruling that ended their putative class Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit actuarial equivalence case by excluding their expert’s testimony and entering summary judgment against them.

  • February 26, 2026

    Nonparties Win Subpoena Fight In Case Over TIAA Cross-Selling

    NEW YORK — Saying in a memo endorsement order that she “does not believe it is appropriate” under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26 “to force the nonparty Universities to bear this burden for information of such limited relevance,” a New York federal judge denied a motion to compel compliance with subpoenas that was filed by the plaintiffs in a putative class Employee Retirement Income Security Act case potentially involving participants in thousands of retirement plans.

  • February 26, 2026

    California Judge Requests More Evidence Before Final Approval Of $3.5M Settlement

    LOS ANGELES — A California judge issued a final ruling continuing a proposed $3.5 million class settlement resolving claims arising from a 2022 data breach that affected nearly 200,000 mental health patients, finding that supplemental evidence was required regarding notice results, claims auditing, administration costs and supporting documentation for requested attorney fees and expenses.

  • February 25, 2026

    Hims & Hers Faces Putative Class Action Over Misleading Diet Drug Advertisements

    CHICAGO — An online provider of compounded semaglutide for weight loss misled “consumers into believing its product is just as safe and effective as Ozempic® and Wegovy®, including because it uses ‘the same active ingredient,’ which is false,” two Illinois residents allege in a putative class action filed in an Illinois federal court.

  • February 25, 2026

    D.C. Federal Judge Nixes Bid To Amend Complaint In Dismissed PRT Case

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Roughly 11 months after issuing a dismissal without prejudice for lack of standing, a District of Columbia federal judge on Feb. 24 declined to let Alcoa USA Corp. retirees file a second amended putative class complaint challenging pension risk transfers (PRTs) under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

  • February 25, 2026

    U.S. High Court: Yearsley Doesn’t Provide Immunity To Federal Contractors

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Yearsley v. W.A. Ross Construction Co. provides federal contractors with a possible merits defense only and not immunity, and so a ruling denying a contractor protection under Yearsley is not immediately appealable, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Feb. 25 in a forced labor class case against the operator of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) processing center.

  • February 25, 2026

    Judge Grants Meta’s Bid To File Amended Answer In Facial Recognition Software Suit

    EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — An Illinois federal judge granted a motion by Meta Platforms Inc. seeking leave to file a second amended answer and defenses in a putative class action suit alleging violations of a state privacy law regarding Meta’s collecting biometric information using facial recognition software through its Facebook messenger and messenger kids applications, finding in part that Meta used due diligence in researching its defenses.

  • February 25, 2026

    Judge Denies Class Certification In Amazon Wage Suit As 2022 Briefs Are ‘Outdated’

    DENVER — A federal judge in Colorado denied a 2022 motion for class certification filed by an Amazon worker who alleges that he and others were incorrectly paid overtime based on a pay rate that did not include holiday incentive pay (HIP), opining that the discussion of superiority is now “outdated” following a ruling by the Colorado Supreme Court in September 2024 that “seemingly resolved the ‘central issue’ of this case.”

  • February 25, 2026

    6th Circuit Partly Vacates Class Certification Order In Tornado Coverage Dispute

    CINCINNATI — The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals partly vacated a lower federal court’s order on class certification in a coverage dispute arising from tornado damage to a Nashville-based church insured’s two properties, holding that the insured has standing to represent class members whose claims are governed by the state laws other than Tennessee and that the lower court abused its discretion by failing to conduct an Erie R. Co. v. Thompkins analysis with respect to five of the 10 states involved in the putative class action.

  • February 25, 2026

    Image Hosting Service: No Photos Shared For AI, No Injury For Proposed Class

    DENVER — An online image hosting site pushed back on claims that it intended to license users’ photographs for use in training artificial intelligence, saying negotiations with unnamed third parties and speculative future conduct cannot form the basis of a class action.

  • February 24, 2026

    Employers To Pay $1.7M In Attorney Fees Over Invasive Application Questions

    SAN DIEGO — A California federal judge granted final approval to a settlement of $1 per class member, amounting to approximately $172,000, and granted a motion for attorney fees of $1,775,000 to the plaintiffs’ attorneys to resolve class action claims against multiple employers for requiring job applicants to answer invasive medical inquiries, including when one plaintiff’s last menstrual period was, in violation of the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) and California’s unfair competition law (UCL).

  • February 24, 2026

    1st Circuit Terminates Appeal In Third-Country Noncitizen Removal Class Case

    BOSTON — The First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals terminated an appeal filed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and several officials challenging a preliminary injunction issued by a trial court in a case by a class of noncitizens who are suing over a policy or practice by the federal government of removing members of the class to a country other than the initial or alternative countries identified in immigration proceedings without first providing an opportunity for them to apply for protection from removal.