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Mealey's Class Actions

April 18, 2024
Court: Positive Outlook Doesn’t Outweigh Disclosures In Asbestos Securities Class

NEW YORK — Even while putting a positive spin on Garrett Motion Inc.’s future, the company repeatedly warned investors about the dire financial situation posed by the asbestos-related liabilities it acquired in its spinoff from Honeywell International Inc., and the company was unlikely to believe it could mislead the market given the public nature of its information, the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said April 17 in affirming dismissal of a securities class action.
April 18, 2024
Amici File Briefs In Support Of Insurer’s High Court Appeal Of Remanded Class Action

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Two sets of amici curiae filed briefs on April 17 in the U.S. Supreme Court supporting an insurer’s petition for a writ of certiorari seeking review of the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ finding that a class action challenging its practices fits within the internal affairs and home state controversy exceptions to the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA).
April 18, 2024
EEOC Complaint Accuses Sheetz Of Racially Biased Hiring Practices

BALTIMORE — Sheetz Inc., Sheetz Distribution Services LLC and CLI Transport LP (together, Sheetz) discriminate against classes of Black, Native American and other multiracial applicants based on their race by screening for criminal convictions and then denying employment based on them, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleges in a complaint filed April 17 in a federal court in Maryland.
April 18, 2024
Judge Won’t Rethink Dismissal Ruling In GitHub AI Copyright Suit

OAKLAND, Calif. — Five Doe defendants who claim that they did not receive proper attribution for use of their licensed materials on GitHub Inc.’s online collaboration platform failed in their quest for reconsideration of dismissal of their claims under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) when a California federal judge ruled that they did not “show reasonable diligence in bringing the motion” and did not establish any of the prerequisites for justifying reconsideration.
April 18, 2024
Hyundai, Kia Engine Defect Settlement Approved; Attorney Fees Given Partial OK

SANTA ANA, Calif. — A federal judge in California granted final approval of a class settlement agreement providing an extended warranty, recall and product improvements and reimbursements for repairs and other expenses to owners and lessees of certain Hyundai and Kia models that allegedly were built with defective engines that can spontaneously ignite and partially granted a motion for attorney fees, costs and service awards.
April 18, 2024
4th Circuit Reinstates Nevada Deception Claim In Lab Testing Costs Class Suit

RICHMOND, Va. — Patients accusing a laboratory testing company in a putative class complaint of violating Nevada and Florida law by omitting material information and making false and misleading representations may proceed only with their claim that the company violated Nevada law by failing to include the list prices for tests not covered by insurance with estimates for the patients’ financial responsibility, a Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled in an unpublished per curiam opinion.
April 17, 2024
Settlement With Eli Lilly Over Insulin Costs Falls Apart In National Class Action

NEWARK, N.J. — A proposed settlement between Eli Lilly & Co. and class members in which the drugmaker would pay $13.5 million for an insulin price claims fund and ensure that class members will have prices for certain Lilly insulins capped at $35 a month for four years is off the table, lawyers for the plaintiffs told a New Jersey federal judge.
April 17, 2024
Centralization Of Cases Challenging Real Estate Commissions Denied By JPMDL

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPMDL) declined to centralize nine cases pending in seven districts brought on behalf of classes of home sellers alleging that rules governing buyer broker compensation violate antitrust laws, opining that pending nationwide class settlements in another case may resolve some of the claims in the nine cases.
April 17, 2024
Attorney Fee In ERISA Record-Keeping Suit Is Cut To 1/4 Of $4.1M Settlement

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Adopting the approach to attorney fees used in a 2014 decision in a different Employee Retirement Income Security Act case, a Connecticut federal judge on April 16 awarded class counsel a quarter of a $4.1 million class settlement with Xerox Corp. and its retirement plan committee rather than the requested third.
April 17, 2024
Jack In The Box Workers Partially Awarded Attorney Fees, Costs In Wage Suit

PORTLAND, Ore. — Motions for attorney fees and costs by both sides in a wage-and-hour suit brought by a class of Jack in the Box Inc. workers who saw some success with their claims were partially granted and partially denied by a federal judge in Oregon who ruled that the workers were entitled to a portion of the attorney fees and costs they sought and that the employer was entitled to no attorney fees but was entitled to a portion of the amount it sought for witness fees and other costs.
April 17, 2024
Federal Judge Clarifies Claims Deadline For Preliminarily Approved Class Settlement

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California issued an order clarifying the claims deadline for the submission of claims for purposes of a $23,997,500 settlement and notice plan that received preliminary approval in a putative class action alleging claims for unfair business practices, false advertising, fraud, deceit, misrepresentation and breach of the duty of good faith against travel insurers.
April 17, 2024
Apple, Plaintiffs, App Makers Differ On Discovery Issues In IPhone Antitrust Suit

SAN FRANCISCO — In a trio of discovery letter briefs filed in California federal court, Apple Inc., a class of consumers and a nonparty app developer bicker over the relevance of the plaintiffs’ discovery requests related to notification of the recently certified class and the merits of the class monopolization claims against Apple.
April 17, 2024
New York Agrees To $17.5M Settlement In Religious Head Covering Removal Suit

NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York issued an order in a class complaint by individuals who were forced to remove religious head coverings for post-arrest photos holding a partial summary judgment motion in abeyance in light of a proposed settlement under which New York City would pay $17.5 million.
April 16, 2024
Law Firm Agrees To $8M Class Settlement After Data Breach

SAN FRANCISCO — Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP has agreed to pay $8 million to end consolidated class litigation filed after the firm’s network was breached and the personal identifiable information (PII) of more than 630,000 individuals was potentially accessed, according to a motion for preliminary settlement approval filed in a federal court in California.
April 16, 2024
Fracking Company: Mineral Rights Plaintiffs’ Case Fails; Lease Ownership Not Shown

CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — A hydraulic fracturing company has filed a reply brief in West Virginia federal court arguing that a mineral rights class case brought against it should be dismissed because the plaintiffs fail to rebut the company’s cited authority that requires the plaintiffs to establish a chain of title evidencing their ownership in the leases that were allegedly breached.
April 16, 2024
Class Certification Deemed Not Appropriate In Sesame Place Race Bias Lawsuit

PHILADELPHIA — Claims of racial discrimination made by customers of a children’s amusement park in Pennsylvania are not appropriate for class certification as there are two individualized questions related to the park owner’s liability for negligent supervision concerning who the customers interacted with and when the company became aware of issues with any employees that are unresolved, a federal judge in that state ruled April 15, adding that the plaintiffs also failed to show numerosity.
April 16, 2024
California Appeals Court Upholds Judgment, Sanctions In On-Call Rest Periods Case

SAN FRANCISCO — A California trial court did not err in retroactively applying the state’s Emergency Ambulance Employee Safety and Preparedness Act (EAESPA) to a putative class complaint by an ambulance service employee arguing that she and others were improperly denied rest breaks as they were required to remain on call and did not abuse its discretion in imposing $2,000 in sanctions against the worker’s counsel after they refused to dismiss the lawsuit, a California appellate panel ruled, opining in part that the retroactive application of the EAESPA had already been considered and ruled on.
April 16, 2024
Ga. Schools, Officials Have More Time To Respond To Athletes’ Transgender Complaint

ATLANTA — A federal judge in Georgia granted Georgia schools and officials’ request for additional time to file an answer to a putative class complaint by female student-athletes challenging the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) transgender eligibility policies and arguing that allowing transgender females to participate in women’s sports denies them equal opportunities in violation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.
April 16, 2024
Epic Games Proposes Injunction To Stop Google’s Monopolistic Practices

SAN FRANCISCO — Four months after a California federal jury found that Google Inc. engaged in anticompetitive conduct, tying and restraint of trade related to distribution of and payment for Android apps, plaintiff Epic Games Inc. filed a proposed permanent injunction in which it suggests that Google be prevented from engaging in various agreements, incentives and downloading and installation practices, among other things, for the purpose of making the relevant app markets competitive.
April 16, 2024
Delaware High Court Partly Revives Investor Claims Against Dating Site Companies

WILMINGTON, Del. — The Delaware Supreme Court partially reversed a decision from the state’s Court of Chancery in a putative class case brought by shareholders questioning the fairness of a technology company’s spinoff from a controlled subsidiary, finding that the investors adequately alleged that one member of a separation committee lacked independence from the tech company.
April 15, 2024
5th Circuit Reverses Dismissal Of ERISA Imprudence Suit Over Fees, Share Classes

NEW ORLEANS — In an unpublished opinion reversing dismissal of a putative class Employee Retirement Income Security Act fees and funds challenge, a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled an imprudence claim plausible “in light of the Supreme Court’s decision in [Hughes v. Northwestern University (Hughes I)] and circuit court decisions addressing similar allegations.”
April 15, 2024
COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate Scrutiny Question Won’t Be Answered By U.S. High Court

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on April 15 declined to answer a question posed by a Michigan State University (MSU) worker in putative class complaint concerning whether Jacobson v. Massachusetts requires that a governmental action such as a vaccine mandate is “subject to heightened scrutiny” and whether such a mandate by MSU failed that test.
April 15, 2024
U.S. High Court Won’t Consider Class Certification In ATM Fees Dispute

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court left untouched the certification of three classes in an antitrust case against network operators over access fee rules they impose on automated teller machine (ATM) operators on April 15 when it denied a petition for a writ of certiorari by Visa and Mastercard.
April 15, 2024
U.S. High Court Denies Petition In Real Estate Commissions Class Suit

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on April 15 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by a real estate franchisor sued as part of an antitrust class action by home sellers over commission and asking the justices to decide whether a court or an arbitrator should decide a question of arbitrability.
April 15, 2024
On Remand, Judge Allows Suit Against Nestlé For Deceptive Sales Of ‘White Morsels’

SAN JOSE, Calif. — On remand from the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, a California federal judge on April 12 granted Nestlé USA Inc.’s motion to dismiss injunctive relief sought against it by consumers who claim that they were deceived into believing that the company’s “White Morsels” baking chips product was made of white chocolate but denied the motion as to their other claims, including for violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL).