Mealey's California Section 17200 : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's California Section 17200

December 11, 2023
Judge Dismisses Chinese Microwave Maker, U.S. Entity From Hot Handles Suit

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California federal judge granted a Chinese microwave manufacturer and its American subsidiary’s motions to dismiss a putative class action accusing them and other companies of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other statutes by selling defective microwave ovens with steel handles that became exceedingly hot, finding that the plaintiffs failed to establish personal jurisdiction over these two defendants.
December 11, 2023
Judge Overrules Demurrer To UCL Claim Against Tesla Insurance For Premium Hikes

ALAMEDA, Calif. — A California state court judge denied in part a demurrer filed by Tesla Insurance Services Inc., the insurance unit of electric car-maker Tesla Inc., to a driver’s putative class action accusing it of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by charging drivers higher insurance premiums based on false “Collision Warning” alerts generated when the driver is driving safely.
December 11, 2023
Panel Affirms Dismissal Of UCL Suit Against Firm For Filing ‘Countless’ ADA Claims

SAN DIEGO — A California appellate panel on Dec. 8 found that litigation privilege immunizes a law firm accused of operating a “shakedown scheme” by filing “countless” lawsuits against small businesses under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other statutes in a suit brought by the district attorneys of San Francisco and Los Angeles.
December 08, 2023
Judge Dismisses UCL Suit Against Amazon For Fake Recycled Ink Cartridge Sales

LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge dismissed with prejudice a lawsuit accusing Amazon.com Inc. and its subsidiaries of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by permitting third-party sellers to post allegedly deceptive listings for recycled printer ink cartridges, thereby diverting business from authentic ink cartridge recyclers, after finding the claims barred by Amazon’s statutory immunity as an online publisher.
December 08, 2023
Limitation In Disability Income Policy Is Ambiguous, Claimant Tells 9th Circuit

SAN FRANCISCO — A district court erred in finding that a disability income insurer correctly reduced the claimant’s disability income benefits according to the terms of the disability income policy because the policy’s monthly benefit limitation is ambiguous and, therefore, must be construed in favor of the claimant, a disability claimant says in an appellant brief filed in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeal.
December 07, 2023
Court Dismisses Mortgage Borrower’s Suit Against Lender For Modification Dispute

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California federal magistrate judge on Dec. 6 docketed an order granting a mortgage borrower’s request to voluntarily dismiss her lawsuit accusing a lender of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by not contacting her for years after her loan went into default following a modification request, one day after the magistrate recommended dismissing her suit.
December 07, 2023
San Francisco Says Online Companies Are Violating Flavored E-Cigarettes Ban

SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco City Attorney’s Office filed a lawsuit in California state court against three e-cigarette distributors based in California that the office claims are violating San Francisco’s bans on e-cigarettes and flavored tobacco by selling flavored e-cigarette products online and shipping the products into the city, seeking penalties under California’s unfair competition law (UCL).
December 06, 2023
9th Circuit Reverses, Remands $5.2M Settlement Of Tinder Age-Bias Class Claims

SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Dec. 5 reversed and remanded a $5.2 million settlement to resolve claims accusing a dating app of discriminatory age-based pricing in violation of the Unruh Civil Rights Act and California’s unfair competition law (UCL), ruling in favor of objectors who contended that the class representative was inadequate.
December 06, 2023
Google, YouTube Subscriber Agree To Dismiss UCL Suit Over Automatic Renewals

SANTA CLARA, Calif — A California state court judge entered a stipulated order dismissing with prejudice a plaintiff’s putative class complaint accusing Google LLC and YouTube LLC of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and automatic renewal law (ARL) based on its renewals of YouTube Premium and YouTube music memberships after the court sustained a defense demurrer to the complaint.
December 06, 2023
9th Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of UCL, Libel Claims For Anti-Qatar Disinformation

SAN FRANCISCO — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a district court’s order striking claims against several entities and individuals for allegedly violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and committing trade libel by spreading disinformation online casting the state of Qatar in a negative light, while also affirming the dismissal of the defendants’ counterclaims.
November 30, 2023
Gym Fee Dispute Stemming From COVID-19 Lockdowns Dismissed Without Prejudice

SAN DIEGO — A California federal judge on Nov. 29 granted the motions of a fitness and health company and its wholly owned subsidiary gym network and a health insurer to dismiss a putative class complaint brought by a gym member alleging breach of the implied duty of good faith and fair dealing, negligent representation and violations of California law in continuing to charge fees for gym memberships during COVID-19 lockdowns when the gyms could not be accessed.
November 30, 2023
In GitHub AI Copyright Suit, Parties Told To Meet, Confer Not Move To Compel

SAN FRANCISCO — While a California federal court mulls a second round of motions from OpenAI Inc., GitHub Inc. and Microsoft Corp. seeking dismissal of claims under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and California’s unfair competition law (UCL) related to allegations of improper attribution in the development of an artificial intelligence tool, a magistrate judge denied the plaintiffs’ motion to compel discovery responses in favor of a directive for the parties to meet and confer about discovery disputes.
November 30, 2023
9th Circuit: Class Suit Against Shopify Failed To Show Personal Jurisdiction

SAN FRANCISCO — A putative class complaint accusing a payment processor of violating California privacy and unfair competition laws by concealing that it was collecting, storing and sharing consumers’ personal information failed to establish the trial court’s specific personal jurisdiction over the processor, a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled, affirming dismissal.
November 29, 2023
Judge Partly Dismisses UCL Suit Accusing Chocolate Maker Of Concealing Lead, Cadmium

SAN DIEGO — A California federal judge granted in part and denied in part a motion to dismiss a putative class action brought against a chocolate maker by three consumers who accuse it of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by representing its chocolate products as containing “No weird ingredients” when the products in fact contain allegedly unsafe amounts of lead and cadmium.
November 29, 2023
Judge Finds No Standing To Sue For Frozen Funds From Sanctioned Russian Bank

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted three American payment processing companies’ motion to dismiss a lawsuit accusing them of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by retaining more than $645,000 in funds that a woman sought to transfer from a Russian bank that was placed under sanctions after the invasion of Ukraine, finding that she lacks standing and dismissing the claims without leave to amend.
November 28, 2023
Mothers Say Section 230 Doesn’t Bar UCL Suit Against Roblox For ‘Illegal Gambling’

SAN FRANCISCO — Two mothers bringing putative class claims in California federal court against Roblox Corp., the operator of an online video game platform played by millions of children, filed a brief opposing its motion to dismiss, urging the court to reject its defense that federal law bars their claims or that it provided only “neutral tools” to third-party companies that allegedly operated gambling games on Roblox.
November 21, 2023
Google, Consumers, States Reach Final Settlement Of Play Store Antitrust Suits

SAN FRANCISCO — More than two months after announcing a tentative settlement of monopolization and unfair competition claims centering on Google Inc.’s Play Store, a group of consumers and a coalition of U.S. states, comprising the plaintiffs from two of the antitrust suits consolidated with one filed by Epic Games Inc., teamed up with Google on a notice of executed settlement, informing a California federal court that the parties had finalized the settlement.
November 21, 2023
Judge Dismisses ‘Nonsensical’ Copyright Claims For Meta’s Use Of Books To Train AI

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge on Nov. 20 granted a motion to dismiss the bulk of claims brought by authors in two related putative class actions against Meta Platforms Inc. for copyright infringement based on its use of their written works to train its artificial intelligence software, calling the plaintiffs’ “derivative works” argument “nonsensical.”
November 20, 2023
Judge Certifies Class Of Child Victims In Trafficking Suit Against Pornhub Owners

SANTA ANA, Calif. — A California federal judge on Nov. 17 certified a class and subclass of victims who were in child sexual abuse material (CSAM) distributed through pornography websites, including Pornhub, that are owned by several Canadian and U.S. entities, writing that a class proceeding would lead to greater “efficiency” in the litigation of the victims’ claims for violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL), child trafficking laws and other statutes, and denied defense motions to exclude two experts.
November 17, 2023
Panel Reinstates Builder’s Class Claims Against Concrete Seller For Deceptive Fees

LOS ANGELES — A California appellate panel affirmed in part and reversed in part a trial court’s judgment dismissing class claims brought by an individual who operates a construction company against a seller of concrete mix after finding the appellant sufficiently alleged a violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) based on allegedly deceptive fees.
November 17, 2023
Judge Dismisses Unfair Practices Claims For Lender’s Inquiries About Ex

SAN DIEGO — A California federal judge granted a mortgage lender’s motion to dismiss a woman’s suit accusing it of allegedly harassing her and accusing her of mortgage fraud in violation of the California debt collection law and unfair competition law (UCL) by sending her and her accountant questions about her former husband, alimony payments and finances, with the judge finding that debt collection claims don’t apply because she had no outstanding debt at the time.
November 16, 2023
Los Angeles Targets J&J’s Advertising Of Asbestos-Tainted Talc Products

LOS ANGELES — Johnson & Johnson and related entities marketed talc-based baby powder and Shower to Shower products to mothers and minorities despite knowing about the presence of asbestos, heavy metals and other contaminants that could not be removed, their link to ovarian cancer and the existence of potential alternatives without those risks, Los Angeles says in state court complaint alleging false advertising and unfair competition in violation of the California unfair competition law (UCL) and public nuisance.
November 16, 2023
Class Complaint Accuses Citibank Of ‘Redlining’ Customers With Armenian Names

LOS ANGELES — Citibank N.A. has expanded on its mid-20th century practices of “redlining” African-Americans seeking mortgages and now refuses to issue credit cards to and cancels active credit cards of customers with Armenian names, a California woman alleges in a class complaint filed in a federal court in her state.
November 15, 2023
HIV/AIDS Sufferers Defend ACA Discrimination, UCL Claims In Drug Case

SAN FRANCISCO — Defendants didn’t need a court ruling to know that restricting access to HIV/AIDS drugs would discriminate against those suffering from the disease in violation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), while the California unfair competition law (UCL) permits recovery of unlawful profits accrued through unfair means, plaintiffs tell a federal judge in California in a Nov. 14 memorandum opposing dismissal.
November 15, 2023
Insured’s Breach Of Contract, Bad Faith Suit Dismissed For Failure To Prosecute

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal magistrate judge on Nov. 14 dismissed an insured’s breach of contract and bad faith suit against his homeowners insurer based on the insured’s failure to respond to the insurer’s motion for judgment on the pleadings and the insured’s failure to respond to the court’s order to show cause as to why the suit should not be dismissed for failure to prosecute.