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Mealey's California Section 17200

  • September 05, 2025

    Judge Dismisses ‘Fanciful’ Misrepresentation Suit Over ‘Brewed In USA’ Tea

    LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge dismissed a consumer’s putative class action against the manufacturers of a bottled tea product the consumer had alleged was unlawfully labeled in a manner that conveyed that the product originated in the United States when it in fact does not, writing that the plaintiff’s alleged reading of the product’s label “strains credulity.”

  • September 04, 2025

    U.K. Plaintiffs Amend Class Deception Claims Against Coupon Finder

    SAN FRANCISCO — Citizens of the United Kingdom filed an amended putative class action against a company that operates a discount-finding browser extension and its parent company for alleged violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) on behalf of all U.K. users of the browser extension who were not provided the best discounts available for certain products they purchased online, after a judge dismissed a prior complaint for lack of a connection to California.

  • September 02, 2025

    Driver Amends Suit Against Tesla For ‘Self-Driving’ Claims After Class Certified

    SAN FRANCISCO — A Tesla driver on Aug. 29 filed an amended complaint in California federal court accusing Tesla Inc. and affiliated entities of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by misrepresenting the capabilities of Tesla vehicles’ “self-driving” technology, two weeks after a judge granted the driver’s motion for class certification.

  • September 02, 2025

    Retailers’ Bid To Arbitrate False Discount Claims Properly Denied, Panel Says

    LOS ANGELES — A California appellate panel affirmed a court’s refusal to compel arbitration of a consumer’s claims that a retail chain deceptively listed normal prices as discounts in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL), finding that the consumer only agreed to place an order online and did not agree to enter into an arbitration agreement.

  • August 29, 2025

    $8.5M Settlement OK’d In Worker’s Suit Alleging Calif. Wage-And-Hour Violations

    LOS ANGELES — A federal judge in California granted final approval of an $8.5 million class and representative settlement, ending wage-and-hour claims brought by one employee under California law against an engineering conglomerate accused of failing to provide meal and rest breaks, overtime and minimum wages and expenses.

  • August 28, 2025

    App Makers Unfairly Tried To Force Players Into Arbitration, 9th Circuit Says

    SAN FRANCISCO — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Aug. 27 affirmed a lower court’s ruling barring a mobile gaming app developer’s attempt to enforce an “unconscionable” arbitration agreement with players who alleged that they were tricked into paying to play against bots instead of real people in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL).

  • August 28, 2025

    Injunction Issued Against Website User Accused Of Posting Fake Google Reviews

    SAN JOSE, Calif. — After granting in part Google LLC’s motion for default judgment, a California federal judge issued a permanent injunction to prevent a man and his agents from creating reviews on services owned by Google LLC in Google’s suit against the man and unnamed parties alleging violations of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) for the defendants’ purported participation in a “scheme” through their website to sell and post fake reviews for business listings on Google’s services.

  • August 28, 2025

    Parents Claim Intentional ChatGPT Design Choices Led To Son’s Suicide

    SAN FRANCISCO — OpenAI entities intentionally designed ChatGPT to emotionally engage with users but without implementing sufficient safeguards, leading the AI to encourage a teenager to isolate from his family and commit suicide, his parents say in a California lawsuit alleging strict liability, negligence, wrongful death and violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL).

  • August 27, 2025

    9th Circuit Affirms Motion To Compel Denial In Online Retail Class Arbitration Row

    PASADENA, Calif. — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s order denying a motion to compel arbitration by Lands’ End Inc. in a consumer’s putative class suit alleging violations of multiple California consumer protection laws regarding Lands’ End’s purported false advertising about pricing on its website, finding that contrary to Lands’ End’s  claims that its website’s terms of use, including an arbitration provision, bar the suit, the District Court did not err in its determination “that the hyperlink to the Terms of Use was broken” at the time of the plaintiff’s purchase.

  • August 25, 2025

    Microplastic Leaching Suit Against Ziploc Maker Voluntarily Dismissed

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge entered an order dismissing with prejudice the claims of a consumer who filed a putative class action accusing the manufacturer of Ziploc bags of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by allegedly concealing the risk that its products can leach microplastics into consumers’ food.

  • August 25, 2025

    Plaintiffs Suing Therapy App For Privacy Violations May Proceed Anonymously

    SAN FRANCISCO — The anonymity of putative class plaintiffs accusing online therapy company BetterHelp Inc. of violating privacy laws by selling their personal data to third parties in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) does not require dismissal, a California federal judge ruled in denying the company’s motion to dismiss, citing the nature of the plaintiffs’ privacy protection claims.

  • August 22, 2025

    Breach Of Contract, Bad Faith Claims Will Proceed Against Homeowners Insurers

    SAN DIEGO — An insured’s breach of contract and bad faith claims will proceed against homeowners insurers in a putative class action suit filed by a homeowner who claims that her insurer wrongfully refused to renew her homeowners policy because the insured sufficiently alleged facts in support of the claims, a California federal judge said.

  • August 20, 2025

    Man Says Otter Notetaker Records, Saves Conversations Without Consent

    SAN JOSE, Calif. — A California man alleges 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, leveling claims of computer fraud, invasion of privacy and unfair competition against the artificial intelligence (AI) technology firm in California federal court.

  • August 18, 2025

    Judge Dismisses UCL Claim From Class Suits Over Lead In Tampons

    SAN DIEGO — A California federal judge issued two substantially similar rulings largely denying two tampon-makers’ motions to dismiss two putative class actions accusing them of concealing the presence of lead in their tampons in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL), but granted dismissal with prejudice as to the plaintiffs’ UCL claims under the unfair prong.

  • August 15, 2025

    Windows 10 User Says Microsoft Stopping Tech Support To Boost Its AI

    SAN DIEGO — A consumer filed a suit in California state court against Microsoft Corp. over its plans to cease offering technical support for its Windows 10 operating system (OS) in October 2025, claiming that it wants to drive users onto newer Microsoft products that use artificial intelligence so it can “monopolize the generative AI market” and failed to disclose that Windows 10 licenses were temporary in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL).

  • August 14, 2025

    Musk Must Mount Fight Against UCL Counterclaims In OpenAI Suit, Judge Says

    SAN FRANCISCO — Elon Musk must face California unfair competition law (UCL) counterclaims stemming from his media interactions touting his attempts to buy OpenAI Inc. assets because the conduct is sufficiently divorced from courthouse advocacy to fall outside litigation privilege protections, a federal judge in California said, while also dismissing his breach of implied covenant and Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act claims.

  • August 13, 2025

    UPS To Pay $1.7M, Enact Compliance Programs In Calif. Hazardous Waste Settlement

    STOCKTON, Calif. —  United Parcel Service Inc. and a group of its subsidiaries agreed to pay more than $1.7 million in civil penalties and other costs and implement a series of programs to settle state code violations alleged by the people of California for improper disposal, hauling and reporting of hazardous waste materials during routine operations.

  • August 12, 2025

    App Developers Accuse Apple Of Monopolizing App Sales Market

    OAKLAND, Calif. — Seven plaintiffs filed an amended class action against Apple Inc. in California federal court accusing the company of monopolizing the market for apps and harming their companies by forcing them to pay “supra-competitive commissions” to keep their products available on the Apple App Store, allegedly in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL), antitrust law and Korean and Japanese anti-monopoly laws.

  • August 11, 2025

    $3.5M Class Settlement OK’d In Assisted Living Facilities Misrepresentation Suit

    LOS ANGELES — A federal judge in California approved a $3.5 million class action settlement and injunction between the operator of assisted living communities and a resident resolving claims that the operator misrepresented to residents its capability of adequately providing care services.

  • August 11, 2025

    Judge Partly Grants Motion To Certify Class In Misleading Crypto Promotions Suit

    LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge granted in part and denied in part a motion by cryptocurrency investors to certify a class against a cryptocurrency developer, the developers’ executives and celebrities such as Kim Kardashian and Floyd Mayweather Jr. who promoted the crypto coin as a reliable investment, allegedly in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other state laws.

  • August 07, 2025

    Rehearing Sought After 9th Circuit Says UCL Claim Against Credit Union Preempted

    PASADENA, Calif. — A checking-account holder filed a motion asking the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals for an extension of time to file his petition for rehearing en banc after a panel affirmed the dismissal of his claims that a federal credit union violated California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by fining him for its failure to properly deposit his check because such claims are expressly preempted.

  • August 07, 2025

    False Advertising Suit Against IVF Embryo-Testing Company Dismissed

    OAKLAND, Calif. — A California federal judge dismissed a putative class action filed by two women against a company that advertises itself as testing embryos obtained through in vitro fertilization (IVF) for abnormalities before implantation, finding that the plaintiffs’ claims that the company misrepresented the accuracy of its tests in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws were not pleaded with sufficient specificity.

  • August 05, 2025

    9th Circuit Stays Injunction In Epic Games Antitrust Suit Over Google Play Store

    SAN FRANCISCO — Without providing explanation, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals granted Google LLC’s emergency motion for a stay of a district court’s permanent injunction against Google 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.

  • August 04, 2025

    9th Circuit Reverses Dismissal Of Negligence Claim In Child Porn Row With Twitter

    SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Aug. 1 affirmed in part and reversed and remanded in part a lower court’s dismissal of a suit by two John Does’ asserting claims against Twitter Inc. (now known as X Corp.) for violations of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA), negligence per se and product liability for allowing purported child pornography to stay on the social media platform, finding that while Twitter is immune pursuant to Section 230 to the federal law claims and some product liability claims, negligence and defective reporting-infrastructure design claims are not barred by Section 230.

  • August 04, 2025

    Judge Gives Preliminary OK To $4.7M Settlement Of Deceptive Discount Claims

    LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge granted preliminary approval of a $4.7 million settlement of class action claims accusing an underwear and apparel company of deceiving online customers with “fake timers that countdown fake limited time sales” in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws, with the amount of attorney fees sought by plaintiffs’ counsel not yet specified.