Overall
Key cases
Industries
Intellectual Property
Labor & Employment
Corporate
Practice Areas
Class Action
Follow Class Action Law360
-
March 7, 2014
Tom's Toothpaste Hit With Class Action Over 'Natural' Claims
Personal care products manufacturer Tom's of Maine Inc. was hit with a proposed class action in Florida federal court Friday by a consumer who claims the company falsely represents that its toothpaste is "natural" when it actually contains heavily processed ingredients.
-
March 7, 2014
Kinder Morgan Accused Of Shady Expense Accounting In Suit
Kinder Morgan Inc. was hit with a suit in Texas court Thursday by a shareholder who says the midstream giant mischaracterized capital expenses incurred by its pipeline unit in order to draw billions in cash distributions.
-
March 7, 2014
Abbott, Shareholders Agree To Settle Depakote Marketing Suit
Abbott Laboratories shareholders asked an Illinois federal judge on Thursday to bless a settlement resolving a derivative suit that alleged Abbott's directors cost the company $1.6 billion because they did nothing to stop the marketing of its anti-seizure drug Depakote for off-label uses.
-
March 7, 2014
Verizon Fights Retiree Suit Over $7.4B Pension Transfer
Verizon Communications Inc. on Friday asked a Texas federal judge to dismiss again claims from a class of retirees who allege their savings were put at risk when the company transferred $7.4 billion in pension obligations to Prudential Insurance Co. of America.
-
March 7, 2014
Comcast Doesn't Doom Nurse Wage-Fixing Suit, Judge Says
A Michigan federal judge on Friday reinstated his certification of a class of nurses who allege Detroit-area hospitals conspired to keep their wages low, rejecting an argument that the class shouldn’t be joined following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Comcast Corp. v. Behrend.
-
March 7, 2014
Sugar Labeling Case Dismissed In Fla. Over Jurisdiction
A Florida federal judge on Friday dismissed a proposed class action against convenience food maker Amy's Kitchen Inc. — which was accused of misleading consumers by labeling sugar as evaporated cane juice — due to lack of subject matter jurisdiction.
-
March 7, 2014
US Tells High Court To Nix Fifth Third's ERISA Appeal
Fifth Third Bancorp's argument that ex-workers who said the company's stock was too risky for their retirement plan had to claim Fifth Third faced dire circumstances — such as impending collapse — to keep a proposed Employee Retirement Income Security Act class action in court is bunk, the U.S. solicitor general told the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
-
March 7, 2014
Stanford Track Star Drops Concussion Suit Against NCAA
A Stanford University track and field star who had been the first active Division I-A athlete to sue the NCAA over its handling of concussions dropped her proposed class action in Illinois federal court Friday over concerns about her role as class representative.
-
March 7, 2014
Judge Mulls Revival Of Nexium Pay-For-Delay Row
A Massachusetts federal judge on Friday requested further briefing on whether he should reconsider portions of an order that granted victories to drugmakers Ranbaxy Inc. and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. in a pay-for-delay class action involving the heartburn drug Nexium.
-
March 7, 2014
Class Cert. Urged In Caribbean Cruise Line Robocall Row
Plaintiffs urged an Illinois federal judge on Friday to certify a class of potentially millions of consumers allegedly targeted in a massive unsolicited robocall campaign by Caribbean Cruise Line Inc. and others, but the judge said he would need more evidence before making his decision.
-
March 7, 2014
Google Sued Over App Purchases Aimed At Kids
Google Inc. was hit with a putative class action Friday in California federal court claiming that its app marketplace exploits children by incentivizing them to spend large amounts of money on free or low-priced games without requiring them to get their parents’ permission for every purchase.
-
March 7, 2014
5th Circ.'s BP Ruling Holds Cos. To Tainted Settlements
By ruling that BP PLC must continue dispensing payments from its $9.2 billion Deepwater Horizon deal to businesses that may not have been harmed by the spill, the Fifth Circuit sent a warning to companies negotiating large-scale settlement agreements: If you sign it, you're stuck with it.
-
March 7, 2014
Zyprexa Fines Irrelevant In Actos Trial, Eli Lilly Says
Eli Lilly & Co. argued Thursday that the first federal bellwether trial over the bladder cancer risks of diabetes drug Actos should exclude evidence about its fines for marketing the antipsychotic drug Zyprexa, saying it’s not relevant to negligent marketing claims over Actos.
-
March 7, 2014
Sonic Drive-In's Ala. Franchisee Hit With FLSA Suit
A Sonic Drive-In franchisee operating Alabama locations was hit with a proposed class action in federal court on Thursday alleging that it has violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by forcing off-the-clock work and wrongfully paying a lower tipped wage to some employees.
-
March 7, 2014
Zale Investor Sues To Stop $690M Signet Merger
A Zale Corp. shareholder filed a class action Thursday in Delaware Chancery Court, accusing the private equity-backed jeweler of breaching its fiduciary duty by letting Signet Jewelers Ltd. acquire it for only $690 million.
-
March 7, 2014
Ritz-Carlton To Pay $1.8M To Settle Gratuities Suit
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. LLC will pay $1.8 million to settle claims that it skimmed the tips of its food and beverage service employees at its Kapalua, Maui, hotel, according to documents filed Thursday in Hawaii federal court.
-
March 7, 2014
11th Circ. Boots RICO Wage Suit Against Sanderson Farms
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a putative class action alleging Sanderson Farms Inc. violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act by depressing workers' wages, saying Friday that the plaintiffs didn't sufficiently show their injury was caused by racketeering.
-
March 7, 2014
Female Powerbrokers Q&A: Edwards Wildman's Brown
A male in-house counsel once told me I had not been "nice" to him when I approached him about a business opportunity and would therefore not get the business. To add insult to injury, one of my male partners told me I should be flattered by the interest paid to me by the in-house counsel, says Paulette Brown, chief diversity officer at Edwards Wildman Palmer LLP.
-
March 7, 2014
Female Powerbrokers Q&A: Greenberg Traurig's Mitchell
Several people have told me that they had a lot of trepidation when they found out they would be working for a woman. To be effective, you need to be able to eliminate or address the conscious or unconscious bias colleagues may have about having a female boss, says Nancy Mitchell, chairwoman of Greenberg Traurig LLP's New York business reorganization and financial restructuring practice.
-
March 7, 2014
Ann Taylor Settles ZIP Code Suit, To Offer Vouchers
Ann Taylor Inc. has settled a consumer class action accusing it of illegally collecting ZIP codes during credit card purchases, agreeing to hand out vouchers to affected customers, according to a Thursday filing in Massachusetts federal court.
Expert Analysis
-
Class Action Payment Methods: Building The Best Process
In the class action settlement administration industry, the payment method chosen by counsel can have a great impact on budgets, timelines and administrative burdens. While checks remain the dominant form of payment in the U.S., the landscape is changing, and offering alternative payment methods can reduce the amount of uncashed checks to ensure class members get their award in a convenient manner, says Tice O'Sullivan of Epiq Systems Inc.
-
How To Avoid Discovery Problems While Using The Cloud
Cloud users must know how to use the cloud responsibly to prevent later difficulties with document production. When negotiating a cloud service agreement, users should look for certain services that will prove useful when responding to discovery requests, such as comprehensive search options, instant suspension of the auto-delete function, and preservation of metadata and embedded data, say attorneys with Sidley Austin LLP.
-
Comcast Turns 1: Trends In Class Certification
In the year since the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Comcast Corp. v. Behrend, nearly 200 cases have cited the ruling, but the only consensus reached is that its significance for class actions is unsettled. However, notwithstanding the lower courts’ inconsistent application of Comcast's “rigorous analysis” of damages model evidence, a few guiding principles have emerged, say Erik Snapp and Quinn Shean of Dechert LLP.
-
Important Conflict Being Overlooked In Omnicare Case
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review the Sixth Circuit’s decision in Indiana State District Council of Laborers v. Omnicare Inc., which parts ways with the Second, Third and Ninth circuits and holds that “subjective falsity” is not required for opinion-based Section 11 claims. Although the circuit split is hogging all the attention, everyone seems to be overlooking the fact that the Sixth Circuit in Omnicare ignored its own precedent, says Drew Dropkin of King & Spalding LLP.
-
Halliburton Case Could Affect Consumer Class Actions
On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Halliburton v. Erica P. John Fund and will soon decide on "injury presumed" reasoning applied in the context of securities class actions. If the court eliminates the only federal construct for presuming injury and reliance in class actions, it will be difficult to argue that similar presumptions accurately reflect transactions in the markets for everyday consumer goods, say Andrew Tuck and Kristen Bromberek of Alston & Bird LLP.
-
Where Point-Of-Sale Data Collection Litigation Is Headed
Litigation under state laws that restrict the collection of personal information at the point of sale is increasing, following consumer-friendly decisions from the California and Massachusetts high courts. But several issues and potential defenses — such as the potentially broad "special purpose" exception included in some statutes — have not yet been fully addressed by courts, says Andrew Hoffman of InfoLawGroup LLP.
-
Cy Pres Trends In Class Action Settlements
A number of recent appellate cy pres decisions teach us that charitable organizations should be selected carefully, with attention to the relationship between the purpose and the allegations framing the plaintiff class’s chief complaints. Just because an institution supports a worthy cause does not make the institution a worthy recipient in every case, say Mark Rapazzini and Elizabeth King of Heffler Claims Group LLC.
-
DOJ Focuses On ADA Compliance In The Digital Age
Beyond the recent slew of class actions alleging that debit card readers used by many retailers violate the Americans with Disabilities Act, other lawsuits allege that various consumer-facing websites also violate the law. As the U.S. Department of Justice continues to push for a broader interpretation of the ADA for companies with websites and consumer-facing devices, we are likely to see more class actions, say Gonzalo Mon and Crystal Skelton of Kelley Drye & Warren LLP.
-
Strategic Issues In Derivative Litigation Representation
There is widespread belief that the next big wave of shareholder litigation will be derivative cases, and one key issue that has not been analyzed enough is representation. For example, should the securities class action defense counsel represent the company, or its directors and officers? The right approach is a judgment call, says Douglas Greene of Lane Powell PC.
-
Risk Analysis Is A Valid, Valuable Tool For Litigators
In a recent Law360 guest column, Judge Wayne D. Brazil of JAMS shares the products of his research into decision analysis and gives several reasons why it is not a reliable tool for assessing the discounted settlement value of civil cases. Without question, however, his research has misinformed him, says Marc Victor, president of Litigation Risk Analysis Inc.