Mealey's Class Actions : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Class Actions

May 06, 2025
Plaintiffs: Class Claims In 4th Amended Complaint Against Fracking Firm Are Valid

CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — Plaintiffs have filed a brief in West Virginia federal court contending that it should deny a motion by a hydraulic fracturing operator seeking to strike class allegations from the fourth amended complaint in the parties’ dispute of mineral rights and allegations of breach of contract. The plaintiffs insist that contrary to the fracking company’s argument, there is no factual or legal basis to strike class allegations and there is no basis to dismiss the complaint under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6).
May 06, 2025
ERISA, Breach Of Contract Claims Fail In Row Over ‘Pre-Separation Programs’

CHICAGO — Dismissing a putative class action over United Airlines Inc. early retirement programs with leave to amend but expressing skepticism “that the plaintiffs can cure the problems with the complaint,” an Illinois federal judge ruled in part that a policy the airline announced in 2017 “does not constitute an . . . employee welfare benefit plan” that is governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
May 06, 2025
Class Suit Filed Against Google, LinkedIn Over Marketplace ‘Interceptions’

OAKLAND, Calif. — A California resident filed a putative class complaint against LinkedIn Corp. and Google LLC alleging violations of California and federal privacy laws when LinkedIn and Google purportedly intercepted communications without consent when she and other class members were completing health information forms on the Covered California website, California’s health insurance marketplace.
May 05, 2025
Judge OKs $20M Settlement, $5M Attorney Fees In Apple Watch Swelling Case

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted final approval to a $20 million settlement between Apple Inc. and plaintiffs who sought damages due to a battery swelling defect with early-model Apple Watches that in some cases caused watch screens to detach or shatter and also granted the plaintiffs’ motion for $5 million in attorney fees and nearly a half-million dollars in litigation expenses.
May 05, 2025
Class Largely Prevails On Summary Judgment In ERISA Early Retirement Row

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — An Employee Retirement Income Security Act class action is headed toward a bench trial on just a few remaining claims after a Kansas federal judge resolved exclusion and partial summary judgment motions, ruling in part that the plan at issue “does not permit Defendants to deny early retirement benefits regardless of the type of work the participants perform for Covered Employers.”
May 05, 2025
After $38.76M Jury Verdict, Deal Is Reported In ERISA Fees Challenge

NEW YORK — Just over a week after a federal jury returned a $38,760,232 verdict in favor of a class of retirement plan participants who challenged the record-keeping and administration fees of a multiple employer retirement plan (MEP), a New York federal judge on May 2 stayed all deadlines in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act case on a report of “a settlement in principle.”
May 02, 2025
Appellant Urges 9th Circuit To Revive Putative Class ERISA Forfeiture Case

SAN FRANCISCO — A much-watched attempt to revive a putative class Employee Retirement Income Security Act lawsuit over use of forfeited nonvested matching retirement contributions has commenced, with the appellant filing his opening brief in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on May 1.
May 02, 2025
ERISA ‘Excessive Fee’ Settlements, Proposals Under $5M

Class settlements below $5 million have been finalized or proposed in 25 “excessive fee” Employee Retirement Income Security Act cases between late January and late April.
May 02, 2025
Federal Judge Certifies Immigrant Removal Class, Bars Alien Enemies Act Use

BROWNSVILLE, Texas — A federal judge in Texas on May 1 certified a class of noncitizens in custody in the Southern District of Texas who are subject to removal from the country under a presidential proclamation invoking the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) and issued a permanent injunction prohibiting the federal government “from detaining transferring, or removing” the class members under the AEA.
May 02, 2025
Investment Firm Says Shale Producers Conspired To Fix Oil Prices, Violated Laws

CHICAGO — An investment firm has filed a putative class action against multiple oil companies in Illinois federal court alleging that they violated antitrust law and the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) by engaging in a conspiracy to coordinate, and ultimately constrain, domestic shale oil production through fixing the price of oil and crude oil futures contracts.
May 02, 2025
Judge Dismisses Channel-Stuffing Suit Against Driver Safety Technology Provider

NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York dismissed a putative securities class action brought by investors alleging that an advanced driver-assistance systems technology company and its executives made misleading statements about the company’s minimum-order contracts that the investors claimed artificially inflated the price of the company’s stock, finding that the investors failed to allege that the company made any material misstatements that would support scheme liability.
May 02, 2025
11th Circuit Sets Argument In Appeal Involving ERISA Exhaustion Precedent

ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has set oral argument for May 13 in a dispute where appellants seek the overturn of longstanding circuit precedent concerning exhaustion of administrative remedies in Employee Retirement Income Security Act lawsuits.
May 01, 2025
Deal Reported In ERISA Forfeiture Case That Survived Dismissal

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The parties in a putative class case in which key Employee Retirement Income Security Act claims regarding the use of forfeited nonvested retirement plan contributions to offset the plan sponsor’s required contributions survived dismissal have notified a California federal court that they have reached an unspecified proposed settlement.
May 01, 2025
Wash. Noncitizen Resident Granted Preliminary Injunction In Bond Denial Class Case

TACOMA, Wash. — The lead plaintiff in a putative class lawsuit accusing federal officials of denying bond requests by him and others being held at the Northwest Immigration and Customs Enforcement Processing Center (NWIPC) was granted a preliminary injunction by a federal judge in Washington who directed that the man be provided a bond hearing within 14 days, ordered that the hearing be recorded and enjoined the defendants “from denying bond . . . on the basis that he is detained pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2).”
May 01, 2025
Judge: Student-Athletes’ NIL Sherman Act Class Suit Is Untimely, Barred

NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York dismissed with prejudice a names, images and likenesses (NIL) putative class complaint filed by 16 former student-athletes who accused the National Collegiate Athletic Association, its conferences and a partner of profiting off the players without obtaining their consent and without compensating them in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act.
April 30, 2025
Class Certification Granted In Stock Loss Suit Over ‘Sham’ Wells Fargo Interviews

OAKLAND, Calif. — A federal judge in California granted class certification to a group of shareholders in their suit against Wells Fargo & Co. and certain of its executives after news of the company’s practice of using fake interviews to give the impression of complying with internal diversity hiring practices led to a drop in stock value, finding that the shareholders satisfied Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23’s class certification requirements.
April 30, 2025
Citing Wit, Judge Adds Subclass In ERISA Suit Seeking Reprocessing

SAN FRANCISCO — In an amended order repeatedly citing an August 2023 Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling in a similar case, a California federal judge modified the class definition to add a subclass in a case seeking reprocessing of mental health and substance use disorder treatmentclaims, denying a competing motion for decertification.
April 30, 2025
News Organization, Workers Agree To $4.5M WARN Act Class Settlement

NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York granted preliminary approval of a $4.5 million settlement to end a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act class case brought by workers against JAF Communications Inc. after they were terminated by a now-defunct news organization, The Messenger.
April 30, 2025
U.S. High Court Justices Hear Arguments On Potentially Uninjured Class Members

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Attorneys representing Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (Labcorp), a class of visually impaired consumers and the United States as amicus curiae supporting neither party debated before the U.S. Supreme Court on April 29 whether class certification is appropriate where the class contains members who may have no injury under Article III of the U.S. Constitution.
April 29, 2025
Class Suit Over Passport Gender Policy Amended After Stay Partially Granted

BOSTON — An amended class complaint challenging a January executive order (EO) and its implementation that removed the option to designate “X” on passports for those individuals who do not identify as female or male or who wish to keep a specified gender off their passport was filed in a federal court in Massachusetts one week after a judge in that court partially granted a motion to stay agency action and for preliminary injunction.
April 29, 2025
$2.4 Million Settlement Of Anesthesia Firms’ Data Breach Gets Final Approval

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — The same day that a New York federal judge presided over a fairness hearing for a $2.4 million settlement of a data breach suit against an anesthesia provider management company, he granted final approval of the agreement, disposing of putative class negligence and consumer protection violation claims against the firm and its affiliates in an April 28 order.
April 29, 2025
Wedding Planning Website Accused Of Selling Vendors Deceptive ‘Leads’

LOS ANGELES — A group of vendors that provide wedding-related services on April 28 filed a putative class complaint in California federal court against the operator of wedding planning website “The Knot,” accusing it of fraudulent inducement and violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) for deceiving them into paying thousands of dollars for access to its “lead-generating” service, which either did not produce leads or generated mostly fake leads.
April 29, 2025
Plastic Microwave, Freezer Bags Leach Plastics Into Food, Consumer Says

SAN FRANCISCO — A consumer filed a putative class action in California federal court accusing the manufacturer of “Ziploc” bags of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by deceptively marketing its products for use with food heating and storage as safe when they in fact can leach microplastics into the food of users.
April 29, 2025
Government Seeks Stay Of Injunction In Class Suit Over Parole Grant Terminations

BOSTON — A federal judge’s preliminary injunction in a class case over the federal government’s en masse rescission of temporary parole grants for individuals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela seeking humanitarian relief “improperly overrode” the secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) “exercise of discretionary authority,” the federal government argues in a reply in support of an emergency motion for stay filed April 28 in the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
April 29, 2025
As 6th Circuit Mulls Rehearing 1 VPPA Suit, High Court Extends Briefing In Another

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court granted a 60-day extension for a man to submit his response to a petition for certiorari pertaining to the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) in light of his pending rehearing motion in a very similar VPPA lawsuit on appeal in the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.