Mealey's California Section 17200

  • September 25, 2026

    Woman Amends Class Complaint Involving ‘Nature’s Ozempic’ After Dismissal Motion

    LOS ANGELES — A woman seeking to represent nationwide and California classes of purchasers on Sept. 24 amended her complaint against Veracity Wellness Inc. that alleges that the company deceptively markets its Metabolism Ignite dietary supplement as “Nature’s Ozempic” and as a natural alternative to prescription weight-loss drugs, asserting claims for violation of California’s unfair competition law and other laws.

  • September 24, 2026

    9th Circuit Denies Attorneys’ Challenge To Attorney Fee Sanction In Avocado Oil Suit

    PASADENA, Calif. — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel denied two attorneys’ petition for a writ of mandamus challenging a judge’s sanction ordering them to pay Walmart Inc. more than $623,000 in attorney fees it incurred litigating a consumer’s class action suit regarding the labeling of its avocado oil, writing that the dispute does not warrant an order of mandamus and that the attorneys can appeal the sanctions order after the litigation concludes.

  • September 23, 2026

    Amended Complaint Filed Alleging Insurers Failed To Pay Claims For COVID Tests

    SAN DIEGO — A diagnostic lab filed an amended complaint in California federal court, alleging that health care plans and their administrators failed to pay and process claims for diagnostic tests for COVID-19 provided by the lab to individuals with benefit plans governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) or with Medicare Advantage (MA) plans.

  • September 22, 2026

    Newspaper, Class Representative Oppose Petition Challenging Incentive Payment

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The New York Times and the class representative in a settled case over an alleged illegal “automatic renewal” scheme filed separate opposition briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court opposing a class member’s petition seeking review of class representative payments.

  • September 22, 2026

    Breach Of Contract, Bad Faith Claims Move Forward Against Insurer’s Parent Company

    LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge determined that breach of contract and bad faith claims alleged against the parent company of an insurer can proceed in a wildfire coverage damage suit because the insureds alleged sufficient facts to show that the insurer and its parent company share a unity of interest and ownership.

  • September 21, 2026

    $5M Class Action Settlement Given Final OK In Case Arising From Data Breach

    CINCINNATI — An Ohio federal judge on Sept. 18 granted final approval to a class action settlement under which one of the largest vision benefits companies in the U.S. agreed to establish a $5 million nonreversionary common fund after a company email account was breached in 2020 and hackers were able to obtain current and former clients’ protected health information (PHI) and personally identifying information (PII).

  • September 16, 2026

    Ford Defends ‘Fraudulent’ Attorney Fees Suit Against Firm’s Bid For Dismissal

    LOS ANGELES — Ford Motor Co. filed a brief in California federal court opposing a law firm’s motion to dismiss and strike Ford’s complaint accusing the firm of violating the state’s unfair competition law (UCL) by allegedly fraudulently billing Ford for more than $25 million in allegedly “fabricated” attorney fees accumulated through multiple lawsuits brought against it under California’s Lemon Law, which the firm says is an impermissible “retaliatory” suit.

  • September 14, 2026

    2 Questions Certified To California High Court In Military Insurance Class Case

    SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals certified two questions to the California Supreme Court concerning rates for lower-ranking military service members who allege in a class lawsuit that they were improperly denied the same rates provided to higher-ranking officers pursuant to the California Insurance Code.

  • September 14, 2026

    Allegedly Deceptive ‘Organic’ Fertilizer Class Action Dismissed By Judge

    SAN DIEGO — A California federal judge on Sept. 11 granted a fertilizer company’s motion to dismiss a class action brought against it by two plaintiffs who claim that it violated California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by marketing its fertilizer product as “organic” when it allegedly contains so-called forever chemicals but granted the plaintiffs leave to amend.

  • September 11, 2026

    ‘Perpetual Discount’ Class Action Dismissed With Prejudice By Judge

    LOS ANGELES — A furniture company on Sept. 10 lodged a proposed judgment in California federal court dismissing a putative class action against it with prejudice after a judge granted its motion to dismiss a suit accusing it of deceptively listing its prices as discounted in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other California laws, finding the company’s terms of use do not apply and none of the plaintiffs are from California or bought products in California.

  • September 11, 2026

    Judge Won’t Dismiss New Plaintiff’s Claims Against Ford Over ‘E-Latch’ Doors

    LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge on Sept. 10 denied Ford Motor Co.’s motion to dismiss a third amended complaint accusing it of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by concealing an alleged defect with electronic door handles in certain car models that could leave the doors locked and unable to be opened when the vehicles lose power, writing that its arguments were previously raised and rejected before a new plaintiff was substituted.

  • September 11, 2026

    PayPal Tracks And Shares Private Venmo Data, Users Say In Class Suit

    SAN JOSE, Calif. — Four plaintiffs filed a putative class action complaint in California federal court alleging that PayPal Inc., d/b/a Venmo, is tracking the details of users’ financial transactions on its Venmo payment-processing app and sharing them with third parties even when users set their accounts to private, in violation of privacy laws and California’s unfair competition law (UCL).

  • September 11, 2026

    Class Counsel Gets $146.8M; Google’s Challenge To $425M Privacy Verdict Rejected

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge awarded $146.78 million in attorney fees and service awards totaling $135,000 in a privacy class action over Google LLC’s collection of mobile-app data, while in a separate posttrial order the judge denied the plaintiffs a new trial on their California Comprehensive Computer Data Access and Fraud Act (CDAFA) claim and rejected Google’s bid to overturn a $425.65 million privacy verdict.

  • September 10, 2026

    Judge Denies Arbitration, Dismisses Suit Against Parking Payment App Companies

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge denied a motion by two companies that operate a parking payment app to compel arbitration of putative class claims against them for violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by misleading customers into paying more for less parking than they receive after finding that users did not properly assent to arbitration, but granted the companies’ motion to dismiss for failure to plead deception and injury.

  • September 10, 2026

    Calif. Federal Judge Trims Lilly’s Conspiracy Claims In Compounded Tirzepatide Suit

    SAN FRANCISCO — Eli Lilly and Co. may proceed with a civil conspiracy theory against a pharmacy involved in providing compounded tirzepatide based on alleged violations of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) but cannot proceed with claims that the pharmacy and telehealth providers conspired to violate the Lanham Act, a California federal judge ruled in partially granting the defendants’ motion to dismiss.

  • September 10, 2026

    Sephora Unfairly Markets Adult Products To Youths, Plaintiffs Say In Class Suit

    SAN FRANCISCO — A parent and a 13-year-old girl filed a putative nationwide class action in California federal court against Sephora USA Inc. alleging it is violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by marketing skincare and beauty products to minors that the plaintiffs say Sephora knows contain chemicals that are not suitable for use by young people and may cause them to develop harmful skin conditions.

  • September 09, 2026

    Defendant In Murder Case Says Law Enforcement Unfairly Using Flock Surveillance

    ALAMEDA, Calif. — A man facing murder charges filed a civil complaint in California state court accusing Flock Group Inc., which operates automated license plate recognition (ALPR) technology and AI software, and two law enforcement officials of withholding relevant Flock data from the court where the prosecution is taking place, allegedly in violation of his due process rights and California’s unfair competition law (UCL).

  • September 08, 2026

    Split 9th Circuit Panel Says Roblox Waived Bid To Arbitrate Child Safety Suit

    PASADENA, Calif. — A split Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled that a California federal judge properly denied online video game developer Roblox Corp.’s renewed motion to compel arbitration of claims brought against it for violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by marketing itself as safe for kids when it allegedly is not because Roblox participated in litigation on the merits before invoking its arbitration clause.

  • September 08, 2026

    Arbitration Properly Denied In Headrest Class Action, Plaintiff Tells High Court

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The plaintiff bringing class claims against a car manufacturer over an alleged headrest defect on Sept. 4 filed a response brief with the U.S. Supreme Court urging it to deny a car manufacturer’s petition for a writ of certiorari over the enforceability of delegation clauses in arbitration agreements by nonsignatories, denying that there is a circuit split over the issue and writing that the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals properly denied arbitration.

  • September 02, 2026

    3 California Coverage Suits Arising From Wildfires Brought Against State Farm

    LOS ANGELES — Three lawsuits were filed in a California court against State Farm General Insurance Co. within a span of three weeks, all alleging breach of contract and accusing the insurer of mishandling insurance claims arising from the Palisades and Eaton wildfires.

  • September 01, 2026

    Child Support Recipient Defends $7.6M Class Judgment For Customer Service Fees

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A child support recipient says in an appellee brief to the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that a federal court properly ordered three companies that process state-issued child support payments to pay $7.6 million in restitution for violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by charging child support recipients a 50-cent service fee for customer service phone calls, arguing it is “undisputed” that the practices at issue are unfair.

  • September 01, 2026

    People Of California Say Insurers Willfully Violated Consumer Protection Laws

    LOS ANGELES — The people of California on Aug. 31 filed a civil enforcement action against insurers in a state court to address the insurers’ alleged “systematic, willful and widespread violations” of state consumer protection laws related to their advertising and sale of homeowners insurance policies and their handling of claims arising from the Jan. 7, 2025, Eaton and Palisades wildfires in Los Angeles County.

  • September 01, 2026

    Judge Partly Stays Swifties’ Suit Over Online Ticket Presale Claims

    LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge adopted as final his tentative ruling partially staying a complaint by 357 Taylor Swift fans against online ticket seller Ticketmaster LLC, its parent company Live Nation Entertainment Inc. and stadium owner StadCo LA LLC pending the outcome of an earlier-filed suit against Live Nation for similar antitrust and California unfair competition law (UCL) claims and denied the fans’ motion to consolidate the two suits.

  • September 01, 2026

    Anthropic: Claude Usage Advertising Isn’t Deceptive; UCL, Other Claims Fail

    SAN FRANCISCO — The terms of subscription plans clearly referred to additional per-session use of the Claude artificial intelligence and would not have misled a reasonable consumer, and the “impermissible leaps” required to conclude otherwise doom a man’s California unfair competition law claims as well, Anthropic PBC told a federal judge in California in urging dismissal of a lawsuit with prejudice.

  • August 31, 2026

    Data Breach Claims Dismissed For Failure To Show Injury, Traceability

    BALTIMORE — A Maryland federal judge dismissed without prejudice a consolidated class action brought by individuals whose personal information was allegedly compromised in a July 2025 cyberattack on health care technology provider Healthcare Interactive Inc., finding that the plaintiffs lacked Article III standing because, although six of the 17 named plaintiffs alleged more specific harms, none provided sufficient detail tying those harms to information the company possessed or to the breach itself, while the remaining plaintiffs relied on generalized or conclusory allegations of injury.