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Mealey's Class Actions

  • June 24, 2022

    Class Certification Denied In Suit Seeking Refunds From NYU During Online Learning

    NEW YORK — A lawsuit seeking a pro rata refund of fees paid to New York University (NYU) after on-campus classes and activities were halted in spring 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic may not proceed as a class action as the lead plaintiff failed to show commonality, typicality or adequate representation, a federal judge in New York ruled on June 22, ordering dismissal as the basis for federal jurisdiction was eliminated.

  • June 24, 2022

    Self-Insured Plan Class Certified In ACA Transitional Reinsurance Program Suit

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A judge in the U.S. Federal Claims Court on June 22 granted an unopposed motion for class certification in a suit challenging contributions assessed under the Transitional Reinsurance Program (TRP) of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) on self-administered, self-insured employee health and welfare benefit plans.

  • June 23, 2022

    North Carolina Panel Denies Developer’s Relief Request In Settled Fees Suit

    RALEIGH, N.C. — A developer that negotiated a class settlement with a North Carolina city in a case over impact fees but did not timely submit its claim form failed to show that it deserved relief from the final order approving the agreement on the basis of excusable neglect, a North Carolina appellate panel ruled June 21.

  • June 24, 2022

    Rehearing Denied After Fla. Panel Finds Pandemic Closure Suit Should Be Dismissed

    MIAMI — A Florida appellate court on June 15 denied rehearing sought by a college student after the panel ruled in April that a trial court erred when it denied a college’s motion to dismiss the student’s putative class complaint over the transition to online learning in March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

  • June 24, 2022

    Domino’s Asks U.S. High Court To Decide If Delivery Drivers Are Exempt Under FAA

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Domino’s Pizza LLC filed a petition for a writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court on June 15 after being granted a one-month extension and asked the justices to decide whether pizza delivery drivers making in-state deliveries are exempt from the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) under Section 1 as transportation workers engaged in interstate commerce.

  • June 24, 2022

    Class Certification Denied In UCL Alleging Pabst Falsely Advertised Origin

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A consumer suing a beer maker alleging that it violated California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by falsely advertising that its Olympia Beer is brewed using artesian water from Olympia, Wash., failed to show any “real and immediate threat of repeated injury” as the beer has been discontinued, a federal judge in California ruled June 13, denying the consumer’s motion for class certification.

  • June 23, 2022

    Professional Female Soccer Players Seek Preliminary Approval Of Pay Settlement

    PASADENA, Calif. — Female professional soccer players who sued the United States Soccer Federation for pay gender discrimination filed a motion on June 22 in a federal court in California seeking preliminary approval of a $24 million class settlement; the motion was filed one day after the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals granted a limited remand.

  • June 23, 2022

    Settlement Announced In Facebook Location-Sharing Privacy Class Action

    SAN FRANCISCO — Two days after a settlement was announced between Meta Platforms Inc. and a group of plaintiffs suing the social network operator (formerly known as Facebook Inc.) for collecting their location information without authorization, a California federal judge on June 16 approved the parties’ joint stipulation to hold upcoming deadlines in abeyance while they work out the details of the proposed class settlement.

  • June 22, 2022

    Limited Remand Granted In USSF Pay Bias Suit For Settlement Consideration

    PASADENA, Calif. — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on June 21 granted a motion for remand in a pay discrimination lawsuit by female professional soccer players for the limited purpose of considering the parties’ $24 million settlement.

  • June 16, 2022

    9th Circuit: Homeowners Seeking To Certify Class In Defect Case May Appeal

    SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on May 27 granted a group of homeowners permission to appeal a federal judge’s ruling denying their motion to certify a class in a suit accusing construction supply manufacturers of selling defective foundational anchors and ties in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and breach of express warranty.

  • June 16, 2022

    Class Suit Accuses Beyond Meat Of Exaggerating Protein Content

    CHICAGO — Consumers filed a putative class complaint on May 31 in a federal court in Illinois accusing Beyond Meat Inc. of overstating the protein content of its various meat substitute products.

  • June 16, 2022

    Allocation Agreement Altered; Final Approval Of $1B Condo Collapse Pact Sought

    MIAMI — A Florida judge on June 13 issued a supplemental order approving a previously announced increase of the allocation settlement agreement for unit owners suing over the June 2021 partial collapse of Champlain Towers South (CTS) in Surfside, Fla., and granted a request by the receiver for an extension of the deadline to submit the proposed form escrow agreement due to a “dispute” between one group of settling defendants and its insurers.

  • June 16, 2022

    $118 Million Class Settlement Reached In Google Workers’ Unequal Pay Lawsuit

    SAN FRANCISCO — Female former employees of Google LLC who allege that the technology giant systematically assigns women to lower salary bands and promotes women more slowly and at lower rates filed a motion on June 10 seeking preliminary approval of a $118 million class settlement from a California judge.

  • June 16, 2022

    5th Circuit: New Orleans’ Failure To Honor Judgment Doesn’t Constitute A Taking

    NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans’ failure to return traffic fines found by a Louisiana state court in a class suit to be illegally collected over two years does not constitute a taking, the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled June 1.

  • June 16, 2022

    Class Certification Denied In Suit Over Fees By School Districts, Charter Schools

    BOISE, Idaho — A federal judge in Idaho in a pair of orders issued June 7 and June 9 denied class certification in a lawsuit challenging the legality of school fees allegedly charged by public school districts and charter schools.

  • June 15, 2022

    Labor Secretary Weighs In On Right To Pursue Planwide Relief Under ERISA

    NEW YORK — Arguing in a June 10 amicus curiae brief that the appellee’s “right to pursue plan-wide relief may not be prospectively waived,” the U.S. secretary of Labor urges the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to uphold denial of a motion for individual arbitration in a retirement plan participant’s putative class suit that alleges violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

  • June 15, 2022

    USSF Pay Bias Settlement Preliminary Approval Expressed In Indicative Ruling

    LOS ANGELES — A motion for preliminary approval of a $24 million pay bias class settlement between female professional soccer players and the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) would be granted if the matter is remanded by the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, a federal judge in California stated in a June 13 two-page indicative ruling .

  • June 15, 2022

    Final Approval Of $1.5M McDonald’s Franchisee Class Harassment Settlement Sought

    DETROIT — Female employees of a McDonald’s franchisee who allege physical and verbal harassment by a manager filed a motion on June 6 in a federal court in Michigan seeking final approval of a $1.5 million class settlement, and their counsel moved the same day for attorney fees, expenses and $10,000 service awards for each of the named plaintiffs.

  • June 14, 2022

    Fraud, UCL Claims Over Apple Device Processors Performance Speed Again Dismissed

    SAN JOSE, Calif. — For the third time in less than four years, a California federal judge on June 8 dismissed putative class claims under California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and federal and state fraud statutes over the purported processor speed slowdown for certain of Apple Inc.’s devices, finding that the plaintiffs did not establish the necessary elements to show any fraudulent conduct in the defendant’s efforts to mitigate a security vulnerability, which led to the slowdown.

  • June 14, 2022

    9th Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of Employees’ UCL Case Over Unpaid Drug Tests

    PASADENA, Calif. — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on June 13 affirmed a district court’s dismissal of a grocery store chain employee’s class action accusing the chain of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by denying prospective employees wages for time spent taking mandatory pre-employment drug tests, writing that the claims fail because the class members were not hired until after the tests.