Mealey's California Section 17200
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February 21, 2024
Panel Trims $933K From $22.3M Penalty Against Online School For Misrepresentations
SAN DIEGO — A California appeals court panel on Feb. 20 reduced a $22.3 million judgment in civil penalties against an online education company and its former online university by approximately $933,000 but otherwise affirmed the judgment after finding that the California attorney general’s office properly established more than 1 million violations of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and false advertising law (FAL) based on deceptive calls to lure in students.
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February 21, 2024
Judge Grants Stipulated Dismissal In AI-Tax Prep, UCL, Advertising Suit
SAN JOSE, Calif. — A federal judge on Feb. 20 approved a stipulated dismissal in a case involving two companies locked in a battle over whether the advertising of artificial intelligence tax preparation software violated the California unfair competition law.
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February 21, 2024
Magistrate Judge Grants Motion To Strike Bad Faith Claim In Water Damage Suit
SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal magistrate judge denied a business insurer’s motion to dismiss claims for promissory estoppel and unfair competition but granted the insurer’s motion to strike a bad faith claim in the insured’s complaint, which seeks coverage for water damages at the insured’s business, after determining that the bad faith claim is duplicative of the insured’s claim for breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.
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February 20, 2024
Google Says UCL, Other Claims In AI Training Lawsuit Fail
SAN FRANCISCO — Vague allegations and hypothetical damages involving the scraping of websites and other sources for data used in the training of artificial intelligence cannot form the basis of California unfair competition law (UCL) and other claims because the potential usage was adequately disclosed and individuals lack a privacy interest in information they themselves publicly disclosed, Google LLC tells a federal judge in California in seeking dismissal.
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February 20, 2024
High Court Won’t Hear Meta’s Appeal Over Standing In Biased Housing Ads Row
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In its Feb. 20 order list, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition for certiorari by Meta Platforms Inc. (formerly Facebook Inc.) in a putative class action in which it has been accused of participating in housing discrimination, leaving unanswered the social network operator’s question over the proper standard for determining whether a plaintiff has standing to sue under Article III of the U.S. Constitution.
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February 16, 2024
Class Certification Affirmed In Dispute Over Insurer’s Square Footage Calculation
SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower federal court’s ruling that granted an insured’s motion for class certification in a lawsuit alleging that a homeowners insurer improperly calculated the square footage of California homes, finding that the lower court did not abuse its discretion in redefining the certified class.
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February 16, 2024
Judge Disqualifies Law Firm From Job Search Sites’ Row Over Prior Representation
SAN JOSE, Calif. — A California federal judge hearing a lawsuit brought by the operators of a job search and resume-creation website against a competitor for copyright infringement and violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) granted the plaintiffs’ motion to disqualify a law firm whose attorneys included the defendant’s general counsel and one defendant’s wife, due to the firm’s prior representation of the plaintiffs.
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February 15, 2024
Judge Dismisses UCL Suit Accusing Gas Stove Maker Of Concealing Pollutants
SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge found that a consumer has standing to bring claims that he was deceived into overpaying for a gas stove because the manufacturer allegedly concealed that it emits air pollutants when used as directed, but granted the manufacturer’s motion to dismiss the plaintiff’s California consumer protection law claims with prejudice for failure to comply with presuit notice requirements for toxic exposure claims.
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February 15, 2024
California AG, Company Settle Medical Waste, Patient Records Disposal Suit For $5M
STOCKTON, Calif. — The California Attorney General’s Office and a medical diagnostics company filed a stipulation for entry of final judgment and permanent injunction in a state court, under which the company will pay roughly $5 million in part for civil penalties under California’s unfair competition law (UCL) due to the company’s improper disposal of medical waste and patient records.
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February 14, 2024
Consent Decree Entered Under 1 Dismissal In Case Over Alleged Counterfeit Policies
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A variety of claims and parties have been dismissed under agreements in a sprawling suit over allegations of fraud, trademark counterfeiting and trademark infringement involving captive reinsurance programs, with a Kentucky federal court permanently enjoining two defendants “from future infringement of Plaintiffs’ trademarks.”
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February 14, 2024
Judge Unseals Grant Of Summary Judgment In Apple Watch Heart Rate Tracking Row
SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge on Feb. 13 unsealed a partly redacted version of his order granting Apple’s Inc.’s motion for summary judgment on claims that it violated federal antitrust law and California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by impairing a competitor’s heart rate tracking app tailored for the Apple Watch to monopolize the market.
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February 14, 2024
Judge Dismisses Bulk Of Writers’ Copyright-Based Claims Against OpenAI
SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted in part and denied in part a motion by OpenAI Inc. and its affiliated companies involved in developing the ChatGPT artificial intelligence (AI) program to dismiss claims brought against it in two putative class actions filed by authors who say ChatGPT’s development and operations infringe their copyrights.
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February 14, 2024
Magistrate Judge Denies Daubert Motions In Mislabeling Suit Against Rust-Oleum
SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal magistrate judge denied a plaintiff’s and a defendant’s motions to disqualify each other’s expert witnesses in a class action against Rust-Oleum Corp. for allegedly violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by deceptively labeling its KRUD KUTTER cleaning products as “non-toxic” and “Earth friendly.”
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February 13, 2024
Amazon Accused Of Unfairly Imposing New Ad-Free Streaming Costs In Class Suit
SEATTLE — A California resident filed a putative class action in Washington federal court accusing Amazon.com Inc. of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by abruptly inserting ads into its Amazon Prime video streaming services unless subscribers pay a higher monthly fee.
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February 13, 2024
Federal Judge Denies Remand Of Class Suit Over No Breaks From Walkie Talkies
LOS ANGELES — A putative class complaint accusing a hospitality company of wage-and-hour violations due to its policy requiring workers to keep their walkie talkies on throughout their shifts, even during breaks, contains violations for which the amount in controversy requires the case to remain in federal court, a federal judge in California ruled, denying a motion to remand.
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February 12, 2024
Judge Awards Attorney Fees After Rejecting Ana De Armas Fans’ Movie Trailer Claims
LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge has awarded a Hollywood studio more than $126,000 in attorney fees under California’s anti-strategic lawsuit against public participation (anti-SLAPP) law after it won a motion to strike certain claims from a suit accusing it of deceptively advertising a film using footage of actress Ana De Armas that was cut from the final film.
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February 08, 2024
Judge Certifies Class Accusing Rust-Oleum Of Mislabeling Products As ‘Non-Toxic’
SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal magistrate judge granted a motion to certify a class of consumers accusing Rust-Oleum Corp. of deceiving consumers in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by labeling its KRUD KUTTER cleaning products as “non-toxic” and “Earth friendly.”
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February 08, 2024
Judge Rules In Apple’s Favor In Challenge Brought By Heartbeat App Developer
SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge entered final judgment in favor of Apple Inc. after entering a sealed order granting Apple’s motion for summary judgment on claims that it violated federal antitrust law and California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by allegedly violating its patents for heart rate tracking technology tailored for the Apple Watch to monopolize the market.
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February 07, 2024
Cigna: ERISA Plans Bar Algorithm Health Care Claims; UCL Claims Lack Specificity
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Insureds’ cannot demonstrate denial of claims based solely on review by an algorithm or that the use of such a tool would violate the provisions of their Employee Retirement Income Security Act plans, the insurer tells a federal judge in California in a motion to dismiss while arguing that the plaintiffs fail to plead their California unfair competition law (UCL) claims with requisite specificity.
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February 05, 2024
Panel: Senior Challenging $52,000 Solar Panel Loan Not Required To Arbitrate
FRESNO, Calif. — A California appellate panel affirmed a judge’s refusal to compel arbitration of a senior citizen’s lawsuit against a solar panel installation company and an affiliated lending company for violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws, finding that no valid arbitration agreement was entered and that the woman did not appear to have signed or understood that she had entered a $52,000 loan contract.
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February 05, 2024
Judge Denies Mortgage Servicer’s Motion To Dismiss Loan Modification UCL Suit
LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge granted in part and denied in part a mortgage loan servicer’s motion to dismiss a suit accusing it of improperly denying a borrower’s loan modification applications, finding that the plaintiff’s claims are not time-barred because she now alleges that she recently discovered that the servicer sent her statements with errors that contributed to the principal balance on her loan.
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February 05, 2024
Judge: Apple’s Suit Against Alleged Hackers Belongs In California, Not Israel
SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge denied two Israeli technology companies’ motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought against them by Apple Inc. based on a forum non conveniens defense, finding that Apple’s claims that the defendants violated federal and California law by allegedly developing malware to hack into Apple’s servers and consumer products may be heard in California.
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February 05, 2024
Judge Partly Dismisses Suit Against Walmart Over Malic Acid In ‘Natural’ Products
LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge granted in part and denied in part Walmart Inc.’s motion to dismiss a putative class action accusing it of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by deceptively labeling certain store-brand “Great Value” products as containing “natural” flavor when they are allegedly flavored with synthetic malic acid.
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February 05, 2024
Judge: No Coverage Owed For Unfair Competition Suit Brought Against Insured
SAN DIEGO — A federal judge in California concluded that an insurer has no duty to defend its furniture delivery company insured against an underlying misappropriation of trade secrets and unfair competition lawsuit brought by a competitor, granting the insurer’s motion for summary judgment in the insured’s breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit.
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February 02, 2024
Judge Limits Experts, Certifies Class Action For Deceptive ChapStick Label Suit
SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted a motion to certify a class action asserting California unfair competition law (UCL) violations for deceptive labeling of certain ChapStick products and agreed to exclude dueling experts after finding their testimony irrelevant.