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Class Action
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May 14, 2013
'Kids For Cash' Plaintiffs Win Class Cert.
A Pennsylvania federal judge on Tuesday granted certification to the classes and subclasses of juveniles who were allegedly harmed or sent to private prisons in Pennsylvania’s notorious “kids for cash” judge kickback scheme.
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May 14, 2013
Power-One Investor Says $1B ABB Offer Is Too Low
Solar energy firm Power-One Inc. and its executives were hit with a shareholder class action Tuesday claiming that its proposed $1 billion sale to Swiss conglomerate ABB Ltd. undervalues Power-One with the renewable energy market set to explode over the next decade.
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May 14, 2013
Sears Says High Court’s Comcast Ruling Dooms Washer Class
Sears Roebuck & Co. told the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday that its recent Comcast Corp. v. Behrend decision should wipe out a Seventh Circuit ruling in support of class certification in a washing machine defect action.
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May 14, 2013
$250M Toyota Defect Deal Falls Short, Class Members Say
Several class members on Monday objected to Toyota Motor Corp.'s proposed $250 million settlement that would compensate consumers for the loss in vehicle value allegedly caused by an acceleration defect, saying the deal interferes with other litigation and doesn't adequately compensate certain class members.
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May 14, 2013
2nd Circ. Affirms Cut-Rate Atty Fees In Gerson Settlement
The Second Circuit on Tuesday refused to overturn a judgment scaling back the attorneys' fees and axing the enhancement payments from a class action settlement between consulting firm Gerson Lehrman Group Inc. and its research associates.
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May 14, 2013
Genzyme Investors Urge 1st Circ. To Revive Fraud Action
A group of Genzyme Corp. investors on Monday urged the First Circuit to revive a putative consolidated class action accusing the company of lying about contamination at a key production plant, arguing a federal judge had wrongly ignored discounted evidence backing their securities fraud claims.
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May 13, 2013
Barclays Beats Investors' Libor Manipulation Claims
A New York federal judge on Monday dismissed a putative investor class action alleging U.K.-based Barclays PLC manipulated the London and Euro interbank offered rates and covered it up through misstatements, saying the plaintiffs failed to connect Barclays’ Libor submissions to their alleged losses.
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May 13, 2013
Docs' Prior Blue Cross Deal May Kill Bid To Join Antitrust Suit
A Florida federal judge on Monday told three doctors suing Blue Cross and Blue Shield health plans that a previous settlement's release would be a “tough hurdle” to overcome in their efforts to join a putative antitrust class action against the insurer in Alabama.
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May 13, 2013
Judge Tosses Atty Dispute Over Bayer MDL Settlement Fund
A Missouri federal judge on Monday dismissed a dispute between several groups of plaintiffs' attorneys over payments into a common benefit fund in a multidistrict litigation related to crop contamination by Bayer AG's genetically modified rice, ruling the court lacked jurisdiction over the suit.
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May 13, 2013
Farms Settle EEOC's Sexual Exploitation Suits
An Oregon farm operator agreed Monday to pay $150,000 to dodge U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claims that a supervisor sexually harassed a female employee and encouraged her co-worker husband to kill her, one week after the commission settled a similar suit against another farm for $650,000.
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May 13, 2013
Tech Workers Renew Class Bid In Anti-Poaching Case
Former software engineers at Apple Inc., Google Inc. and other technology giants moved to pare down their bid for class certification Friday after a recent ruling that they lacked evidence showing an alleged plot to fix employee pay affected all salaried workers.
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May 13, 2013
Ex-Morgan Stanley Unit Can't Duck Mortgage Modification Suit
A Pennsylvania federal judge on Thursday refused to dismiss a putative class action alleging a former Morgan Stanley subsidiary refused to permanently execute mortgage modification plans, ruling there was sufficient evidence that the company failed to follow a federal mortgage relief program's guidelines.
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May 13, 2013
Skechers Wins OK For $45M Settlement Over Toning Sneakers
Skechers USA Inc. on Monday won final approval for its $45 million settlement to resolve class action claims that the fitness footwear maker falsely advertised the calorie-busting and other health benefits of its toning shoes without demonstrating enough proof of any such benefits.
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May 13, 2013
Starbucks Reaches $3M Settlement In Wage Class Action
Starbucks Corp. agreed to pay $3 million to resolve a class action filed by workers in California alleging the company denied them required meal breaks and issued inaccurate wage statements, according to documents filed in California federal court Friday.
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May 13, 2013
Wells Fargo, QBE Reach $19M Force-Placed Insurance Deal
Wells Fargo Bank NA, QBE Specialty Insurance Co. and a class of Florida homeowners have reached a settlement over allegations the companies pushed overpriced property insurance and received kickbacks, agreeing to pay up to $19.25 million to class members, according to court documents filed Monday.
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May 13, 2013
AEX Driver Employment Status A Jury Matter, Judge Suggests
A case alleging American Eagle Express Inc. illegally denied overtime pay to drivers it misclassified as independent contractors may be headed for trial in July after a Pennsylvania federal judge expressed skepticism Monday that claims in the case were clear-cut enough for summary judgment.
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May 13, 2013
PNC Can't Dodge Suit Over 'Banker's Interest' Calculation
A California magistrate judge on Friday kept alive a putative class action brought by an apartment building owner alleging PNC Bank NA used an unfair calculation of the so-called banker's interest rate it charged borrowers that wrongfully hiked rates on commercial loans.
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May 13, 2013
BMW Roadster’s Alloy Wheels Crack Early, Suit Says
BMW of North America LLC was targeted in a putative class action in California federal court Friday alleging that the alloy wheels it used in in its BMW Z4 sports cars from model years 2007 to 2012 are prone to cracking and create a safety hazard.
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May 13, 2013
Vitamin C Classes Blast Bid To Nix $153M Antitrust Verdict
The class alleging North China Pharmaceutical Group Corp. and its vitamin C unit fixed prices pushed back Friday against NCPG’s bid to dismiss the suit in New York federal court and toss a recent $153 million damages award, saying China didn’t compel the companies’ illegal conduct.
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May 13, 2013
General Mills Can't Shake 'Natural' Snack Labeling Suit
A California federal judge on Friday refused to let General Mills Inc. escape a putative class action accusing the company of falsely labeling their snack products as "natural," ruling that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not have primary jurisdiction to address the allegations.
Expert Analysis
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How To Solve The Flawed Confidential Witness Issue
The recurring and pervasive problem of flawed confidential witness allegations tops the list of key issues in securities class action litigation. Not just notorious situations such as those in the Lockheed, SunTrust and Boeing securities class actions. but also the garden-variety inaccuracies present in many cases. Three specific reforms would make all securities class action complaints more factually accurate, says Douglas Greene of Lane Powell PC.
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Another Look At Amgen
More than a month has passed since the U.S. Supreme Court opinion in Amgen Inc. v. Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds. With some distance from the immediate commentary by esteemed securities counsel, it is time to take another look, says Fred Isquith of Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP.
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Class Action Legal Noticing: Plain Language Revisited
Class action legal notices need to both motivate class members to review the notice and help them understand their rights. The challenge lies in designing notices that convey significant legal concepts and information, while remaining visually appealing and possible for class members to understand, say Cameron Azari and Stephanie Fiereck of Hilsoft Notifications.
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The Economic Underpinnings Of Comcast V. Behrend
The implications of the U.S. Supreme Court’s most recent antitrust ruling in Comcast Corp. v. Behrend suggest a stronger emphasis going forward on the role of rigorous empirical testing in the class certification phase related to both impact and damages analyses, say Laila Haider and John Johnson of Edgeworth Economics LLC.
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NCAA Win Will Impact Future Antitrust Claims Against NCAA
The NCAA recently obtained dismissal of a claim that certain rules governing athletic grants-in-aid violated the antitrust laws. The Indiana federal judge's ruling is of key interest as it highlights the issue of permissible market categorizations of student-athletes in future antitrust claims, say Robert Kidwell and Tyrone Thomas of Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo PC.
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Standard Fire Will Uniquely Impact Antitrust Class Actions
Although Standard Fire Insurance Co. v. Knowles was not an antitrust case, the U.S. Supreme Court's decision will affect antitrust class action cases because the removal of state law claims to federal court for coordinated proceedings in a single court is critical to an antitrust defendant’s ability to avoid duplicative damage awards and to reduce the notoriously high costs of antitrust discovery, say Paula Render and Jeffrey LeVee of Jones Day.
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How Lawyers Benefit From Early Neutral Evaluation
Early neutral evaluation usually asks a retired judge to consider one party’s case, as if preparing to rule on summary judgment or presiding over a bench trial. Effective evaluation can supply a reality check on a case — it gives the lawyer the gift of seeing the case as others see it, says James Rosenbaum, a panelist with JAMS and former U.S. district judge for the District of Minnesota.
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The FLSA's New 'Clothes'
While the U.S. Supreme Court decision — expected in 2014 — on the definition of "clothes" under the Fair Labor Standards Act might have some impact on the general question of whether time spent donning and doffing work clothes is compensable, the ruling will be most significant to employers who rely on FLSA section 203(o) and collective bargaining agreements to exclude donning and doffing activities from compensable time, says Elizabeth Arce of Liebert Cassidy Whitmore.
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The Fact Pattern Behind The Boeing Class Action Grounding
Defense counsel no doubt will be emboldened by the Seventh Circuit’s affirmation of the dismissal of a securities class action against Boeing in light of baseless confidential witness allegations. Simple themes emerge from this and similar cases, says Bryan House of Foley & Lardner LLP.
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Difficult Path To Certification Of Data Breach Classes
A Maine federal court's recent decision in In re Hannaford Brothers Company Data Security Breach Litigation demonstrates the difficulty of certifying a class in the data breach context, and signals that in order for data breach plaintiffs to meet their burden as to predominance, they must first obtain a supporting opinion from an expert, say Mark Szpak and Daniel Routh of Ropes & Gray LLP.