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Mealey's California Section 17200

  • October 28, 2025

    Consumer, Weight Loss Companies In Bankruptcy Resolve Suit After Stay Lifted

    LOS ANGELES — A consumer filed a joint stipulation in California federal court with two bankrupt companies that manufactured weight loss supplements and their founder and CEO, asking the court to dismiss the consumer’s putative class action claiming that the benefits of the supplements were misrepresented in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL), on the same day that a judge lifted a bankruptcy-related stay so the consumer could pursue injunctive relief.

  • October 28, 2025

    E-Cig Companies Defend ‘Carbon-Neutral’ Claims Against ‘Greenwashing’ Suit

    SAN FRANCISCO — R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co. (RJRV) and its affiliates moved in California federal court to dismiss a putative class complaint brought against them by e-cigarette consumers for allegedly violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by representing their e-cigarette products to consumers as “carbon-neutral,” writing that such claims were permissible, independently certified and would not deceive reasonable consumers.

  • October 27, 2025

    Judge Joins Cases Against Otter.ai Related To Notetaker App Privacy Concerns

    SAN FRANCISCO — A judge in California federal court has consolidated litigation brought by individuals who argue that Otter.ai Inc. does not obtain prior consent of all participants in a virtual meeting before its Notetaker transcription app is engaged to record a conversation, ruling that claims brought by multiple plaintiffs involve substantially similar allegations and claims.

  • October 23, 2025

    Judge Affirms Dismissal Of Hospital Operator’s Suit Against Insurer For ER Fees

    LOS ANGELES — A California appellate panel affirmed the dismissal of several hospitals’ lawsuit against an insurer for violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) in relation to its alleged failure to pay reasonable reimbursement to the hospitals, which are out-of-network, for emergency room services provided to its insureds, finding that the claims were premised on a hypothetical duty that does not exist in the state Insurance Code.

  • October 23, 2025

    Woman Says Glucose Monitoring Devices Were Defective, Seeks To Represent Class

    LOS ANGELES — Dexcom Inc. misled users of its glucose monitoring systems by representing the device to be safe and accurate while it knew that the devices were defective and prone to dangerous alert failures, a woman alleges in a putative class action complaint filed in a California federal court.

  • October 22, 2025

    Bank Of Canton’s $300,000 Settlement Approved In MOVEit Data Breach MDL

    BOSTON — A federal judge in Massachusetts on Oct. 21 granted final approval to a $300,000 class settlement to be paid by The Bank of Canton, ending claims against it related to a security incident due in part to a vulnerability in the MOVEit Transfer application; the settlement is one of several reached in the multidistrict litigation over a 2023 ransomware attack that affected users of the MOVEit file-transfer app.

  • October 20, 2025

    3rd-Party Developer Of Gambling App Using ‘Robux’ Files Appeal

    SAN FRANCISCO — A developer filed a notice of appeal in California federal court after the court denied his motion to dismiss claims brought against him by the parents of minor users of Roblox Corp.’s gaming platform for illegally causing minors to lose money gambling with the digital currency “Robux” through a website called “BloxFlip” that Roblox says in a cross-complaint infringed its trademark.

  • October 20, 2025

    California Attorney General Sues Plastic Bag Makers Over False Recycling Claims

    SAN FRANCISCO — The California Attorney General’s Office on Oct. 17 filed a complaint in state court against three plastic bag makers accused of violating state environmental laws and California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by falsely labeling their carryout bags as recyclable, and separately sought entry of consent judgment against four other bag makers who settled similar claims and agreed to collectively pay $1.7 million.

  • October 17, 2025

    Calif. Federal Judge Partly Dismisses Toddler Drink Deceptive Label Suit

    LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge on Oct. 16 after a hearing adopted his tentative ruling and granted in part a grocery retailer’s motion to dismiss a putative class action in which a consumer accuses it of failing to disclose the presence of citric acid in products it manufacturers, dismissing the consumer’s nationwide class claims while denying dismissal of other claims, including violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL).

  • October 15, 2025

    Online Merchant Gets More Time To Oppose Rehearing Of 9th Circuit Remand Ruling

    PASADENA, Calif. — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel granted an extension to an online collectibles seller for more time to oppose a petition filed by a consumer seeking rehearing of the Ninth Circuit’s ruling that district courts may remand cases to state court for lack of equitable jurisdiction to avoid a “perpetual removal-dismissal loop” only after courts give defendants an opportunity to keep the case in federal court.

  • October 15, 2025

    Plaintiff Must Provide Discovery Showing Audible Subscription Was Unwanted

    SEATTLE — A Washington federal judge on Oct. 14 granted a motion by Amazon.com Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiary Audible Inc. to compel responses by a putative class action plaintiff to interrogatories supporting “her central legal theory” that the defendants violated California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by enrolling her in an Audible subscription and charging renewal fees without consent.

  • October 15, 2025

    Class Complaint Alleges Popular Running Shoes Come With Unwanted Squeak

    PORTLAND, Ore. — Running shoes that cost nearly $200 per pair are defective as technology intended to provide cushioned support causes “a noisy and embarrassing squeak with each and every step,” two consumers allege in a putative class complaint filed in a federal court in Oregon.

  • October 14, 2025

    Microsoft Accused Of Harming Competition With OpenAI Partnership

    SAN FRANCISCO — A group of ChatGPT Plus subscribers on Oct. 13 filed a putative class action in California federal court against Microsoft Corp., seeking treble damages and injunctive relief — including “the divestiture or segregation of Microsoft’s Generative AI” business — based on allegations that Microsoft limited OpenAI’s access to computational power and drove up ChatGPT prices while promoting its own chatbot in competition with OpenAI.

  • October 13, 2025

    Supplement Labeling Suit Preempted By Federal Law, 9th Circuit Says

    PASADENA, Calif. — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a district court’s dismissal of a putative class action lawsuit accusing a dietary supplement maker of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) after finding the suit preempted because it is based on alleged violations of the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA), while a concurring judge questioned if circuit court precedents on such claims can be reconciled.

  • October 13, 2025

    Los Angeles’ Biggest Vape Seller Will Pay $350K To Settle Suit For Selling Flavors

    LOS ANGELES — A California state judge entered a consent judgment resolving an action brought by the Los Angeles city attorney against a business owner and his two tobacco retail businesses, collectively described as “the largest exclusive tobacco retailer” in Los Angeles, with the defendants agreeing to pay $350,000 to resolve claims they violated California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by selling flavored e-cigarette products in violation of a statewide ban on flavored tobacco.

  • October 10, 2025

    9th Circuit Tosses Appeal As Lacking Jurisdiction In Anti-SLAPP Online Review Row

    SAN FRANCISCO — An en banc Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Oct. 9 dismissed for lack of jurisdiction an interlocutory appeal by a digital marketing agency and its owner of a lower court order denying a motion to strike under the California anti-SLAPP statute related to counterclaims for defamation and libel for online reviews in a suit alleging violations of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) related to a dispute over parking spaces, finding no jurisdiction because the order denying the motion to strike was not a final appealable order.

  • October 10, 2025

    Past Settlement Of Kombucha Mislabeling Suit Dooms New Class Claims, Judge Says

    LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge dismissed four plaintiffs with prejudice from their class action accusing a kombucha maker of misleading consumers as to its beverage’s alcohol and sugar content in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) because they are members of a class that previously won a settlement against the same defendant for similar claims, but allowed putative class claims by other plaintiffs who didn’t start drinking kombucha until after the previous settlement.

  • October 09, 2025

    Man Files Class Action, Alleges Sleeping Supplement Contained Addictive Sedative

    ATLANTA — A recovering addict who unknowingly consumed a psychoactive sedative while taking a dietary supplement for sleep has filed a putative class action in a Georgia federal court, alleging that the label failed to list the sedative, which is banned in the United States; he also seeks to represent a subclass of California consumers alleging violation of the state’s unfair competition law (UCL) (Jason McCool v. Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals, Inc., No. 25-5668, N.D. Ga.).

  • October 07, 2025

    U.S. Supreme Court Denies Google Stay Request In Epic Games Antitrust Suit

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — For an application presented to Justice Elena Kagan that she referred to the court, the U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 6 denied Google LLC and related entities’ request for a partial stay of a permanent injunction that Google says “completely” overhauls its app store, the Google Play Store (Play), pending disposition of Google’s petition for a writ of certiorari in an antitrust suit filed against it by Epic Games Inc. over Google’s removal of Epic’s Fortnite game from the Google Play Store.

  • October 06, 2025

    High Court Won’t Review California Bar Of Arbitration In Coinbase Hacking Dispute

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 6 denied cryptocurrency exchange operators’ petition for a writ of certiorari seeking review of a California state court ruling barring enforcement of its arbitration agreement with customers because the customers seek public injunctive relief under California’s unfair competition law (UCL), which the crypto company claimed undermined the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA).

  • October 03, 2025

    Split Panel Says California Interest Law Not Preempted After High Court Vacatur

    SAN FRANCISCO — A split Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Oct. 2 said that it cannot overrule its own precedent holding that the National Bank Act (NBA) does not preempt a California state law requiring a minimum 2% interest on certain mortgage escrow accounts and affirmed a more than $9 million judgment in favor of a class of borrowers, while a dissenting judge said the precedent at issue was “‘effectively overruled’” by the U.S. Supreme Court.

  • October 02, 2025

    N.Y. Plaintiffs Dismissed From False Discount Pricing Suit Against Ralph Lauren

    NEW YORK — A New York federal judge granted in part two clothing companies’ motion to dismiss a putative class action lawsuit against them for deceptively advertising their products with false discounts, finding that state law claims on behalf of New York consumers were inadequately pleaded but denying the motion as to claims on behalf of Oregon and California consumers, including for violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL).

  • October 02, 2025

    $2M Settlement Of California Federal Wage-And-Hour Class Action Gets Final OK

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A federal magistrate judge in California granted final approval to a $2 million class action settlement to resolve long-running claims that the owners of facilities that supply forage products violated the California Labor Code and the California unfair competition law (UCL) by, among other things, failing to pay nonexempt employees minimum and overtime wages and failing to comply with rest and meal period requirements.

  • September 30, 2025

    $49.25M Settlement OK’d In College Baseball Coaches’ Conspiracy To Deny Pay Suit

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A federal judge in California granted final approval of a $49.25 million settlement for a class of college “volunteer” baseball coaches who accused the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and its member schools of conspiring to ensure they were paid nothing for what they said were full-time jobs.

  • September 30, 2025

    Bench Trial Set To Determine Settlement Amount In ‘Free Trial Scam’ Class Suit

    SAN DIEGO — A federal magistrate judge in California determined that a bench trial will commence on Oct. 20 to determine the amount of a class settlement between consumers and a group of defendants referred to as the “Konnektive defendants” alleged to have provided software and other services used in a “free trial scam.”