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Law360 (April 30, 2020, 6:57 PM EDT) -- President Donald Trump's administration faces litigation over the alleged denial of relief checks to the spouses of immigrants without Social Security numbers, California college students say they're entitled to refunds of campus fees in light of coronavirus campus closures and a Texas dance instructor claims Zoom's alleged security shortcomings have allowed "uninvited men" to crash her virtual pole-dancing classes.
While courts across the country are altering procedures, restricting access and postponing certain cases to stem the spread of the coronavirus, the outbreak has also prompted a wave of new litigation across the country.
Here's a breakdown of some of the COVID-19-related cases from the past week.
Consumer Protection
New York federal prosecutors on Tuesday continued their dragnet against individuals allegedly engaged in price gouging and hoarding personal protective equipment, bringing charges under the Defense Production Act against a California attorney and an Arizona businessman for seeking to profiteer off of a deal for 1 million protective masks.
The cases are part of an effort by U.S. Attorney General William Barr to crack down on COVID-19 fraud, hoarding or price gouging.
3M, the country's largest producer of N95 masks, is also widening its own price gouging litigation war against companies that it claims are reselling N95 masks at drastically increased prices, filing a federal trademark lawsuit in Wisconsin on Tuesday against a "deplorable pandemic profiteer" it claims tried to sell 250,000 masks to the state of Wisconsin at between two and three times the actual price.
And students at University of California and California State University schools on Monday accused the university systems of withholding campus fees refunds in the wake of COVID-19-related campus closures, lodging a pair of proposed class actions that look to represent a combined 700,000 total students.
According to the complaints filed in California federal court, the university systems have profited from the coronavirus pandemic by refusing to reimburse students for services they're no longer receiving as the world battles COVID-19. The students say the universities should've refunded prorated portions of their campus fees, particularly in light of the UC system's $21 billion endowment and CSU system's $2 billion endowment.
Mergers & Acquisitions
Real estate services company Realogy launched a suit in Delaware Chancery Court on Monday seeking to enforce a $400 million sale of its corporate relocation business to a Madison Dearborn Partners portfolio company, claiming the buyer is trying to bolt because of coronavirus-related economic woes.
Realogy Holdings Corp. wants the court to compel SIRVA Worldwide Inc., a portfolio company of private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners LLC, to close the previously announced deal.
The complaint, filed under seal, came with a supplement that indicates Realogy is also asserting a breach of contract claim against certain MDP affiliated funds, SIRVA and affiliate North American Van Lines Inc.
Cybersecurity & Privacy
Zoom Video Communications Inc., the video conference service and de facto platform for digital communication during the COVID-19 pandemic, has faced multiple privacy lawsuits in the wake of the pandemic, the latest filed in Texas by a dance instructor who claims Zoom's purported security flaws have allowed "uninvited men" to crash her virtual burlesque and pole-dancing classes.
Dance instructor Stacey Simins says Zoom users expect that their conversations will only be heard and seen by those people to whom they are speaking, but "uninvited men" have been joining some of her classes and have started intimidating and harassing her clients.
More than once, Simins said she was forced to cancel a session as a result of the intrusions, causing her to lose business.
Insurance
A Florida beauty salon and a Los Angeles-based Holocaust awareness organization are among the latest to claim their respective insurers wrongly denied coverage for business interruptions related to the coronavirus pandemic.
Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Holocaust awareness organization's film arm sued Chubb on Wednesday in California federal court, saying that the insurance company has refused to pay out despite a "civil authority" provision in its policy that provides for coverage in situations where public officials order closures, as Los Angeles county has done with a "safer at home" order meant to curb the spread of the virus.
Atma Beauty, a full-service salon and spa in Miami Beach, said the losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic should be covered under its property insurance policy with HDI Global, which includes business interruption coverage. The salon has been shuttered since the March 19 order from Miami-Dade County that forced all nonessential businesses, including salons, to close in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus, according to the proposed class action it filed on Monday.
Meanwhile, a Pittsburgh restaurant suing Erie Insurance Exchange over its coronavirus-related closure is taking its bid for coverage to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, asking the state's high court Wednesday to step in and speed up "hundreds, if not thousands" of similar cases stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Securities
A Chinese co-living company operating under the Danke and Dream Apartment brands has been sued in New York federal court for allegedly misleading investors about its risks, including the threat it faced from the novel coronavirus, when the company launched its initial public offering earlier this year.
Investor Katherine Wandel launched a proposed class action accusing Phoenix Tree Holdings Ltd., its executives and underwriters of misleading her and others about the risks the company faced from the deadly COVID-19 pandemic. Wandel also alleges Phoenix Tree failed to mention disputes from tenants accusing the company of enrolling them in loans without their knowledge, using the proceeds to run its business and having customers pay down the balance.
The suit targets Phoenix Tree, CEO Jing Gao and other executives, as well as its underwriters — including Citigroup Global Markets Inc., J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC — for the company's roughly $130 million IPO in January.
Public Policy
The Trump administration was hit with multiple lawsuits this week brought by Americans who lost out on their federal stimulus checks because they are married to immigrants without Social Security numbers.
On Tuesday, a group of U.S. citizens married to immigrants, represented by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, accused the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the IRS of unconstitutionally discriminating against them by sending $1,200 relief checks to some married couples but not others.
A similar lawsuit filed in Illinois federal court says President Donald Trump violated civil rights laws by withholding COVID-19 stimulus checks from taxpaying Americans married to immigrants without Social Security numbers.
Media & Entertainment
After South by Southwest was canceled this year due to the spread of the deadly coronavirus, disgruntled ticket holders filed suit in Texas federal court saying the festival's organizers won't refund would-be attendees' ticket money.
Instead of refunding people's tickets, SXSW LLC and SXSW Holdings Inc., the organizers of the Austin-based festival, are only offering to allow ticket holders to use their festival credentials to gain admission to one of the next three South by Southwest festivals, according to the class action complaint filed by Maria Bromley and Kleber Pauta.
The suit, which includes claims of breach of contract and unjust enrichment, is looking to get refunds and damages for anyone in the U.S. who bought tickets to this year's festival.
--Additional reporting by Hailey Konnath, Bill Donahue, Stewart Bishop, Rose Krebs, Lauren Berg, Mike LaSusa, Carolina Bolando, Matthew Santoni, Suzanne Monyak, Hannah Albarazi, McCord Pagan and Grace Dixon. Editing by Emily Kokoll.
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