Mealey's Class Actions : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Class Actions

March 22, 2024
Commission Case Parties Asked If Arbitration Motions Remain Live After Settlement

CHICAGO — Parties in a class lawsuit over broker commissions were asked March 21 by a federal judge in Illinois to address whether several pending motions for arbitration filed by real estate franchisors remain live after the National Association of Realtors (NAR) announced nearly a week earlier that it would resolve nationwide claims for $418 million.
March 22, 2024
6th Circuit Largely Upholds Dismissal Of Vaccine Religious Exemption Claims

CINCINNATI — Putative class claims by 46 hospital workers whose requests for religious exemption from a COVID-19 vaccine mandate were largely properly dismissed by a trial court as 44 of the 46 workers failed to establish standing, a Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled, reversing only as to two workers who sufficiently alleged that they resigned after their requests were denied but before the hospital reversed its decision.
March 21, 2024
$125M PACER Settlement, Including Challenged Attorney Fees, Granted Final Approval

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A $125 million class settlement in a case by individuals and entities who alleged that they paid excessive fees to obtain court records via the Public Access to Court Electronic Records system (PACER) was granted final approval on March 20 by a federal judge in the District of Columbia despite the United States’ challenge of the inclusion of more than $23 million in attorney fees and costs and objections challenging several aspects of the agreement, including the scope.
March 21, 2024
Verdict For Ford In Performance Suit Returned On Class Claims From 4 States

MIAMI — A federal jury in Florida returned a verdict on March 20 for Ford Motor Co. on claims by classes of consumers in Florida, New York, Washington and Missouri and an individual in Missouri that the car maker falsely advertised the performance capabilities of certain models of Shelby GT350 Mustangs.
March 21, 2024
University Worker Asks U.S. High Court To Decide COVID-19 Vaccine Question

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Supreme Court justices should decide whether Jacobson v. Massachusetts requires that a governmental action like a vaccine mandate is “subject to heightened scrutiny” and whether such a mandate by Michigan State University (MSU) failed that test, an MSU worker argues in her petition for a writ of certiorari.
March 21, 2024
Petitioners: Cornell Case Is Best To Resolve ERISA Prohibited Transaction Split

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Petitioners told the U.S. Supreme Court that of two 2023 U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decisions that amplified a “preexisting circuit split” over Employee Retirement Income Security Act pleading standards for prohibited-transaction claims, the ruling against them “is the superior vehicle for review.”
March 21, 2024
$2M Settlement Gets Final Approval In ERISA Suit Over Alleged Imprudence

PHOENIX — A $2 million class settlement has been granted final approval in Arizona federal court in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act case where the plaintiffs alleged mismanagement of their retirement plan and challenge certain funds and fees.
March 19, 2024
‘Flushable’ Wipes Settlement Valued At Up To $17.5M Granted Final Approval

DALLAS — A federal judge in Texas granted final approval of a settlement valued between $10 million and $17.5 million in a case by consumers accusing Kimberly-Clark Corp. of making and selling wipes touted as “flushable” that actually cause personal and economic harm.
March 19, 2024
MosaicML AI Model Comes Under Fire In Authors’ Lawsuit

SAN FRANCISCO — A trio of authors sued MosaicML, the provider of tools facilitating the training of artificial intelligence, and its parent company, claiming that they benefitted from the improper copying of potentially hundreds of thousands of copyrighted works.
March 19, 2024
Class Definitions In RESPA, FCRA Suit Deemed Not So Deficient To Require Striking

PHILADELPHIA — Calling class definitions “‘more of an art than a science,’” a federal judge in Pennsylvania denied a mortgage servicer’s motion to strike class allegations in a lawsuit accusing it of ignoring Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) requests and providing inaccurate information to credit reporting agencies (CRAs) after determining that two classes proposed by the borrower bringing the claims are “not so clearly deficient that no class could ever be certified.”
March 19, 2024
U.S. Supreme Court Denies McDonald’s Petition In No-Poach Appeal

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on March 18 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by McDonald’s USA LLC and McDonald’s Corp. (together, McDonald’s) after a Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held that the no longer enforced no-hire agreement between the fast food franchisor and its franchisees might violate antitrust laws.
March 18, 2024
Investors Seek Approval Of $490M Settlement With Apple Inc. Over Sales Claims

OAKLAND, Calif. — Apple Inc. and certain of its executives have agreed to pay $490 million to settle class claims brought by investors that the company’s CEO issued misleading statements about Apple’s sales of iPhones in China, according to a March 15 motion seeking preliminary approval of the proposed settlement filed in a California federal court by the lead plaintiff.
March 18, 2024
E-Cig MDL Judge Issues Order Granting Final Approval Of $45M Altria Settlement

SAN FRANCISCO — The California federal judge overseeing multidistrict litigation against e-cigarette maker Juul Labs Inc. (JLI) and tobacco company Altria Group Inc. and its subsidiaries issued written final approval of a $45 million settlement to resolve economic loss claims brought by class members who purchased JLI products in reliance upon misleading information about its addictiveness and health risks.
March 18, 2024
6th Circuit Affirms Denial Of Intervention In Now Settled Vaccine Mandate Dispute

CINCINNATI — A trial court did not abuse its discretion when it denied a motion to intervene filed by one of more than 4,000 potential class members in a since settled case by employees over a health care provider’s mandatory COVID-19 vaccine policy, a Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled.
March 18, 2024
GM, OnStar, Lexis Sued For Collecting, Sharing Drivers’ Data

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A Florida man, who claims that his driving data was collected and shared without his knowledge or consent brings putative class claims under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), as well as Florida consumer and privacy law, asserting that the inaccurate information negatively impacted his ability to obtain car insurance.
March 18, 2024
Patients Seek To Centralize Data Breach Suits Against Health Care Firm In Tennessee

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Four plaintiffs who separately filed putative negligence class actions against a health care provider that recently experienced a data breach filed a motion to transfer and consolidate their suits along with others filed against the same defendant in Tennessee federal court.
March 14, 2024
Pepperdine Seeks Summary Judgment Reconsideration In Pandemic Closure Class Case

LOS ANGELES — Pepperdine University filed a motion on March 13 for reconsideration of its summary judgment motion that was partially granted and partially denied just over a year ago in a class action by students seeking partial refunds for tuition fees and room and board after the school transitioned to online learning in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic; the school argues that Berlanga et al. v. University of San Francisco clarified the standard of review to be used in such a case.
March 14, 2024
ATM Operators, Others Tell U.S. High Court Common Issues Predominate In Fees Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Certification of three classes in an antitrust case against network operators over access fee rules they impose on automated teller machine (ATM) operators was appropriate as common issues predominate and there is no circuit conflict for the U.S. Supreme Court to resolve, the classes argue in a respondent brief filed March 13, opposing a petition for a writ of certiorari by Visa and Mastercard.
March 14, 2024
2 Complaints Alleging Infections From Detergent Consolidated For Discovery

NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York consolidated, “at least for purposes of discovery,” two complaints, one of which is a consolidated putative class action, accusing the maker of luxury cleaning and laundry products of continuing to sell products after learning that they were contaminated with several types of bacteria, including one that is antibiotic-resistant.
March 13, 2024
Widener University Student Files Class Suit Seeking Prorated Pandemic Refunds

PHILADELPHIA — Widener University breached its contracts with students and was unjustly enriched when it failed to provide prorated refunds for tuition and fees after the school shuttered on-campus teaching, services and amenities and transitioned to remote teaching in March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, a student alleges in her putative class complaint filed in a federal court in Pennsylvania.
March 13, 2024
Hair Relaxer Plaintiffs Say Claims Against Revlon Are Proper Despite Bankruptcy

CHICAGO — On March 12, plaintiffs in a suit against cosmetics companies over alleged injuries related to hair relaxer products filed a brief in Illinois federal court arguing that it should deny a motion by Revlon Inc., Revlon Consumer Products Corp. and Revlon Group Holdings LLC (collectively, Revlon) to strike class allegations from the lawsuit because Revlon is in bankruptcy. The plaintiffs say certain claimants may have proper claims against Revlon despite the bankruptcy.
March 13, 2024
Judge Strikes Expert Testimony, Denies Class Certification In Suit Against GEICO

CHICAGO — An Illinois federal judge on March 12 granted insurers’ motion to strike the insureds’ expert testimony and denied the insureds’ motion for certification of two classes in their lawsuit alleging that the insurers violated the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act by charging “excessive” premiums during the COVID-19 pandemic that failed to account for a dramatic reduction in driving, finding that the insureds failed to establish predominance to warrant class certification.
March 13, 2024
Appeals Court: Calif. Restaurants’ Pandemic Alcohol License Fee Class Claims Fail

LOS ANGELES — Class claims by California restaurants against the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) for its failure to refund fees paid during the COVID-19 pandemic when the use of restaurants’ licenses was limited do not constitute petitions for a writ of mandate that an appellate court would have jurisdiction over and are not claims over which a trial court has jurisdiction, a California appellate panel ruled in an unpublished opinion, affirming dismissal by the trial court.
March 13, 2024
Judge Certifies Settlement Class Over Alleged Fraud, Won’t Approve $195,000 Deal

SANTA ANA, Calif. — Citing reasons including “serious concerns about the scope of recovery,” a California federal judge granted preliminary certification of a settlement class in a suit over alleged fraud involving captive reinsurance but denied preliminary approval of the proposed $195,000 settlement.
March 13, 2024
AT&T Retirees File Putative Class ERISA Suit Over Pension Risk Transfer Deal

BOSTON — Asserting in part that “reinsurance of ‘Pension Risk Transfer’ liabilities in Bermuda poses unique risks to pensioners,” four AT&T Inc. retirees who participated in a defined-benefit pension plan filed a class complaint in Massachusetts federal court challenging a “de-risking” transaction under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.