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Privacy
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June 1, 2012
Sirius XM Gets Robocall Claims Moved To Arbitration
Sirius XM Radio Inc. on Thursday beat a putative class action accusing it of violating federal consumer protection law by making unsolicited calls to customers’ cellphones, with a California federal judge ruling the company’s service agreement requires arbitration.
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June 1, 2012
Palm, Sprint Settlement Over Phone Data Loss OK'd At Last
Sprint Spectrum LP and Hewlett-Packard Co.-owned Palm Inc. finally received approval Thursday in California for a $640,000 settlement resolving claims in a proposed class action alleging the cellphone companies violated contracts and caused customers to suffer "catastrophic data loss.”
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May 31, 2012
SunTrust Mortgage Pays $21M Over Race Bias Claims
SunTrust Mortgage Inc. has reached a $21 million deal with the federal government to settle allegations that the mortgage lender racially discriminated against 20,000 borrowers, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday.
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May 31, 2012
Comcast Can't Nix Suit Over Allegedly Undisclosed Fees
A California federal judge rejected a bid from Comcast Corp. on Thursday to throw out a putative class action brought by a customer who said he was charged additional, unexpected fees after signing up for the company's "Triple Play" bundled services package.
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May 30, 2012
Wells Fargo's $7.5M Deal Ends Discriminatory Lending Suit
Wells Fargo Bank NA on Wednesday announced that the city of Memphis and Shelby County, Tenn., dropped their lawsuit accusing the bank of improper lending practices in its minority neighborhoods after the parties reached a $7.5 million agreement.
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May 30, 2012
Trade Group Shakes Suit Over 'Mandatory' Annual Dues
A Washington federal judge Wednesday nixed a proposed class action accusing the American Psychological Association of fooling its members into paying millions of dollars in special fees, but preserved an opportunity for mental health practitioners to reformulate their allegations.
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May 30, 2012
Minn. High Court Stubs Out Philip Morris 'Lights' Row
The Minnesota Supreme Court on Wednesday extinguished a decadelong class action against Philip Morris Inc. that had sought refunds for its Marlboro Lights cigarettes, finding a 1998 settlement agreement between the cigarette maker and the state’s attorney general bars such claims.
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May 30, 2012
Verizon To Pay $10M To Settle Consumers' Late-Fee Suit
Consumers who said Verizon Wireless ran afoul of California law by slapping them and other customers with late fees asked a federal judge Tuesday to grant preliminary approval to a $10 million class action settlement aimed at wrapping up the nearly 5-year-old case.
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May 25, 2012
U Of Ill. FOIA Suit Belongs In State Court, 7th Circ. Says
The Seventh Circuit ruled Thursday that state court is the proper venue for the Tribune Co.'s attempt to force the University of Illinois to reply to its state Freedom of Information Act request regarding the school's admissions scandal, a request the school argues is barred by federal privacy law.
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May 25, 2012
FTC's Credit Report Notices Covered By FCRA, Judge Says
A Washington federal judge has found that the Federal Trade Commission's enforcement of credit score disclosure requirements was within its authority under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, despite the National Automobile Dealers Association's challenge to the rules, the government said Thursday.
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May 25, 2012
3rd Circ. Snubs Appeal in Arizona 'All Natural' Drink Suit
The Third Circuit on Thursday blocked a move to appeal a New Jersey federal judge's order denying certification to a class of consumers seeking to stop Arizona Beverage Co. and others from touting that nearly 30 Arizona brand beverages are "all natural."
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May 24, 2012
RealNetworks Pays $2.4M To End 'Deceptive' Free Trial Suit
RealNetworks Inc. agreed Thursday to pay $2.4 million to settle a suit brought by the state of Washington that alleged the digital media company duped consumers into paying for subscriptions to premium services after they agreed to a free trial.
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May 24, 2012
High Court Refuses To Expand RESPA In Mortgage Fee Row
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday declined to broaden the scope of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act to allow a potential class of mortgage borrowers to recover allegedly unearned closing fees that Quicken Loans Inc. collected but didn't share with another party.
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May 24, 2012
Judge Refuses To Let Insurer Exit FTC Health Marketing Suit
A federal judge on Wednesday declined to dismiss claims made by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission against Guarantee Trust Life Insurance Co. and executives from health care nonprofit Consumer Health Benefits Association for deceptive marketing of a medical discount plan.
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May 23, 2012
Crate & Barrel Hammers Out Deal Ending ZIP Code Suits
Crate & Barrel has tentatively resolved seven proposed class actions over its collection of customers' ZIP codes and a related coverage dispute with Hartford Fire Insurance Co. in Illinois federal court.
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May 23, 2012
Sony Ends PSN Data Breach Coverage Fight In Calif.
Sony Corp. said Monday that it will drop a California suit seeking coverage for a slew of lawsuits it faces after hackers plundered its PlayStation Network for customer information, and will instead litigate the issues in a New York suit brought by one of its insurers.
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May 23, 2012
3rd Circ. OKs Wal-Mart’s Appeal Of Cert. For Warranty Class
The Third Circuit gave Wal-Mart Stores Inc. a green light Wednesday to challenge the certification of a class of consumers who were allegedly sold worthless extended warranties for ineligible “as-is” merchandise, despite the plaintiff's insistence that the lower court's analysis was sound.
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May 23, 2012
Dexatrim Maker Says Suit Doesn't Show Harm From Carcinogen
Drugmaker Chattem Inc. asked a California federal judge Monday to toss a proposed class action accusing it of concealing the presence of a carcinogen in its Dexatrim weight loss capsules, saying the consumer doesn’t argue she was harmed by the supplement.
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May 21, 2012
Pom Juice Ads Were Misleading, FTC Judge Says
A Federal Trade Commission administrative judge said Monday that Pom Wonderful LLC had made false and misleading claims that its pomegranate drinks could fight diseases, but refused to force the company to seek government preapproval for future ads.
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May 18, 2012
Pepsi Exits False Ad Suit Over SoBe 'All Natural' Labels
South Beach Beverage Co. Inc., maker of SoBe drinks, and its parent PepsiCo Inc. on Friday won the dismissal of a California putative class action alleging they falsely claim that SoBe's 0 Calories Lifewater drinks are "all natural."
Expert Analysis
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Big Social Media Initiatives, Big Legal Questions
The new, innovative social media initiatives recently launched by American Express Co. and Walgreen Co. merit attention not only for their business impact but for the legal issues they raise by guaranteeing compensation for every participant, says Jonathan Ezor of Olshan Grundman Frome Rosenzweig & Wolosky LLP.
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Case Study: US V. Kernell
The Sixth Circuit's recent decision in United States v. Kernell addresses important legal issues posed by the obstruction of justice offense added by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and suggests that exposure to such charges can begin virtually simultaneously with the underlying offense, says Gary Shockley of Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC
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Ongoing Challenges To Arbitration Clauses
The US. Supreme Court has, in several cases, reiterated the strong federal policy in favor of arbitration. However, challenges to the enforceability of arbitration provisions continue, and many are looking toward the new Consumer Financial Services Protection Bureau to exercise its power to preclude mandatory arbitration clauses in many financial services contracts, says Michael Leffel of Foley & Lardner LLP.
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Why Communications Is Key To Merger And Lateral Success
The value of communications — and marketing, more generally — to attorney recruiting has traditionally been overlooked. The fact is that smart communications initiatives can pay large dividends both in attracting and retaining lateral talent, says John Hellerman of Hellerman Baretz Communications LLC.
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Case Study: Townsel V. Dish
According to the Seventh Circuit's decision in Townsel v. Dish Network LLC, paying obligations with a debit card linked to an account funded with Social Security benefits is not an unenforceable assignment of a Social Security benefit. The opinion benefits merchants, creditors and consumers alike, and provides common sense guidance on a sometimes confusing topic, says Michael Lueder of Foley & Lardner LLP.
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The Latest Step In Federal Transition To The Cloud
Although the recently released best practices guide on the effective procurement of cloud computing services is geared toward providing federal agencies a list of criteria to consider when drafting cloud requirements, it also provides cloud service providers with a preview of the features that will likely be present in future federal contracts, say attorneys with McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP.
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Inside China’s Data Privacy Rules
An omnibus privacy law in China continues to be elusive, but various government authorities in China — both at the central level and in some localities — are gradually putting in place laws and regulations in an attempt to address the protection of personal information in light of new technologies and services, say Paul McKenzie and Jingxiao Fang of Morrison & Foerster LLP.
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Keeping An Eye On Overdraft Protection
The issues raised in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's review of overdraft programs underscore a natural tension between the CFPB and federal banking agencies that institutions will have to deal with as the CFPB reviews existing consumer financial protections and explores new regulations, say Kevin Petrasic and Michael Hertzberg of Paul Hastings LLP.
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Eliminating A Standing Requirement Under Calif. UCL, FAL
The California Supreme Court's recent decisions in Kwikset Corp. v. Superior Court and Clayworth v. Pfizer Inc. establish that ineligibility for restitution is not a basis for denying standing under California’s Unfair Competition Law and False Advertising Law, rejecting the formerly held statutory interpretation, say Daniel Silverman and Schuyler Sorosky of Venable LLP.
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Google — Empowering The 'Tawdry' Side Of Capitalism
The debate on consumer harm from Google Inc.’s increasing dominance of the online advertising world and its related violations of user privacy often misses the real problem — how Google's online profiling based on user data allows seedier companies to target the most vulnerable potential consumers, facilitating price discrimination and increasing economic inequality, says Nathan Newman of Tech-Progress.org.