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

Mealey's Class Actions

July 28, 2025
Judge Trims Claims In Suit Over Mortgage Company’s Ransomware Incident

DALLAS — A consolidated putative class action over a 2023 data breach and ransomware attack experienced by Mr. Cooper Group Inc. will proceed with fewer claims after a Texas federal judge partly granted the firm’s motion to dismiss, disposing of contractual and privacy claims.
July 28, 2025
Judge Gives Final Approval To $3.57M Similasan Eye Product Class Settlement

DENVER — A federal judge in Colorado has granted final approval to a $3.57 million settlement between the maker of nonprescription health care products and plaintiffs who claim that it sold products without approval from U.S. Food and Drug Administration, noting that nearly 100,000 claim forms have been filed.
July 25, 2025
10th Circuit Asked To Reverse Dismissal Of Donation Misuse MDL Against Mormon Church

DENVER — Donors have asked 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reverse a trial court’s dismissal of a consolidated multidistrict litigation accusing the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints of misusing donations, arguing that the lower court erred in finding that their claims were time-barred.
July 25, 2025
9th Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of Class Suit Alleging Wrongful Adjustment Denial

SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a district court’s order dismissing a woman’s putative class suit alleging that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) wrongfully denied her application for adjustment of status of her U visa, finding that pursuant to federal law, a district court lacks jurisdiction to review the denial of adjustment of status.
July 24, 2025
$5.9M Settlement Of Class Action Against Former ESOP Trustee Gets Final OK

CHICAGO — An Illinois federal judge granted final approval to a $5.9 million class settlement resolving an Employee Retirement Income Security Act against the former trustee of an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP); according to the named plaintiff, the net settlement averages more than $2,000 per class member.
July 24, 2025
9th Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of Breach Of Contract Suit Against Apple Over Cloud

SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on July 23 affirmed a lower court’s order dismissing a woman’s putative class action suit against Apple Inc., alleging breach of contract and violations of California consumer protection laws for Apple’s purported deceptive representations regarding its iCloud data storage, finding that the woman failed to show that Apple’s statements would deceive a reasonable consumer and that she failed to allege breach of contract.
July 24, 2025
D.C. Circuit Dismisses Class Certification Appeal, Finds Individual Claim Moot

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals dismissed for lack of jurisdiction a plaintiff’s appeal of the dismissal of her putative class action against the FBI and affirmed the dismissal of her individual claim against the bureau as moot as the bureau returned the $40,200 at issue in her forfeiture complaint.
July 23, 2025
Class Suit Alleges U.S. Immigration Policies, Court Arrests Flout Federal Law

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Policies that authorize courthouse arrests, permit the dismissal of removal proceedings without notice and expand removal requisites violate federal law, a dozen noncitizens and two organizations allege in a putative class complaint filed in a federal court in the District of Columbia against federal agencies that oversee immigration proceedings.
July 23, 2025
VPPA Suit Against Stock Video Site Dismissed For Failure To State A Claim

NEW YORK — Although two plaintiffs alleged that a video-viewing website shared their viewing information with Meta Platforms Inc. via its pixel tracking tool, a New York federal judge found that they did not establish that the website shared any personal information that would permit an “ordinary person” to identify them from this viewing data, granting the site operator’s motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim.
July 23, 2025
$27.5M Settlement Approved, Ending Shareholders’ Suit Over Pharmaceutical Merger

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California granted final approval to a $27.5 million settlement among a pharmaceutical company, its former chief executive and shareholders who alleged that the company entered into a merger and sale to its largest shareholder significantly lower than its fair value, in violation of federal securities law.
July 23, 2025
Privacy Suit Against Data Broker Mostly Survives Dismissal Motion

OAKLAND, Calif. — A putative class action suit accusing a data broker of compiling a massive database including details on nearly every adult in the United States will largely proceed, with a California judge granting the broker’s dismissal motion only related to a claim for declaratory judgment, which he found did not qualify as a stand-alone claim.
July 23, 2025
Judge Issues Judgment Of More Than $1.54M In Camp Lejeune Phone Call Case

WHEELING, W.Va. — A federal judge in West Virginia on July 22 granted in part and denied in part a motion for a default judgment award of $1,540,500 in a lawsuit over alleged illegal phone calls soliciting clients for mass tort cases relating to toxic waterexposure at Camp Lejeune, ruling that while there were violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), there is no evidence that notice was provided to the class members regarding the lead plaintiff’s motion for attorney fees and costs.
July 23, 2025
Interlocutory Appeal Certified On Standing In PRT Case That Survived Dismissal

GREENBELT, Md. — Part of a key ruling in a putative class lawsuit that is part of a much-watched recent string of Employee Retirement Income Security Act cases challenging pension risk transfers (PRTs) is headed to the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals after a Maryland federal judge on July 22 granted an opposed motion to certify for interlocutory appeal.
July 23, 2025
Judge Approves $71M In Settlements To End Interest Rate Swaps Antitrust Suit

NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York approved two class action settlements between pension funds and large financial institutions that acted as dealers in the trading of interest rate swaps (IRS), who the pension funds alleged engaged in a conspiracy to protect their position as dealers in the IRS market.
July 22, 2025
Mineral Rights Owners Seek Approval Of Class Settlement Worth More Than $22.08M

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Mineral rights holders on July 21 filed an unopposed motion in Ohio federal court for preliminary approval of a class action settlement in a long-running and complex dispute with a drilling company and hydraulic fracturing operators over royalty payments, proposing a settlement fund worth $22,086,769.31.
July 22, 2025
Judge Denies Preliminary Approval Of $7.8M Settlement In Video Games Antitrust Case

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge denied a plaintiff’s motion for preliminary approval of a $7.8 million settlement to resolve claims against Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC for violating antitrust laws and California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by monopolizing sales of PlayStation 5 (PS5) video games through its online store, citing “glaring shortcomings” in the motion.
July 22, 2025
State, Federal Suits Over Health Care Firm’s Data Breach Settle For $6.5 Million

ST. LOUIS — A Missouri state court judge granted final approval to an agreement that settles lawsuits against a health management services firm from two state courts and a federal court with a settlement fund of $6.5 million and attorney fees of $2 million.
July 22, 2025
Judge Approves Injunctive Relief-Only Settlement Of CareFirst Data Breach Suit

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal judge granted final approval to a settlement that resolved the lone remaining claim against CareFirst Inc. in a decade-old class action over a 2014 data breach, deeming the agreement, which provides only injunctive relief for the consolidated class, “fair, reasonable, and adequate.”
July 22, 2025
Suit Over Allegedly Outdated Pension Assumptions Mostly Survives Summary Judgment

SAN FRANCISCO — A putative class action challenging the use of allegedly outdated assumptions to calculate annuities for married pension plan participants is proceeding toward a bench trial after a California federal judge mostly denied the defendants’ motion for summary judgment and denied their motion to exclude the plaintiffs’ expert.
July 21, 2025
Judge Dismisses Privacy Suits By FBI Agents Who Worked On Trump Cases

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Federal Bureau of Investigation agents and a nonprofit organization who in two complaints seek to stop the publication or dissemination of a list allegedly being compiled of FBI employees who were involved in investigating two events involving President Donald J. Trump have made claims that “are too speculative,” a federal judge in the District of Columbia ruled, granting a motion to dismiss filed by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the United States.
July 21, 2025
Fact Discovery Closed After Judge Refuses To Certify IPhone Data Class Action

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A California federal judge on July 18 entered a stipulated order closing fact discovery in a class action against Apple Inc. after denying in an earlier order the plaintiff’s motion for class certification on claims that Apple wastes iPhone users’ cellular data even when their phones were set to reduce the consumption of data, in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL), and denying as moot opposing motions to exclude expert witnesses.
July 21, 2025
8th Circuit Partly Reverses Arbitration Denial In Pharmacy Benefit Class Action

ST. LOUIS — The Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has partially reversed a trial court ruling that denied a motion to compel arbitration in a class action by an Arkansas pharmacy against pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) OptumRx Inc., saying that the pharmacy’s new citation to a provider network agreement and a provider manual triggered an arbitration clause in the documents.
July 21, 2025
Nonprofits Seek Remand After Indicative Class Ruling In Birthright Citizenship Case

RICHMOND, Va. — Two nonprofits and individuals suing President Donald J. Trump and federal government officials over the January executive order (EO) that purportedly ends birthright citizenship filed a motion in the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals for limited remand after a federal judge issued an indicative ruling that classwide preliminary injunctive relief would be issued should the appellate court remand for a ruling on the pending motion.
July 18, 2025
‘Blanket’ Protective Order In Farmworkers’ Suit Found Restrictive By 9th Circuit

SEATTLE — A protective order issued by a trial court in a forced labor class action is overly restrictive, a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled, because of the “presumptively public” nature of discovery and the lack of good cause to prevent the plaintiffs’ counsel from using the discovered items in similar worker advocacy matters.
July 18, 2025
Judge Certifies AI Class, Wants Response To Fair Use Appeal Motion

SAN FRANCISCO — In a pair of developments, a California federal judge on July 17 granted a class certification motion in an artificial intelligence copyright suit involving pirated works, saying “It will be straightforward to prove the classwide wrong done” and the case is the exact type that benefits from representative litigation. In an earlier ruling the judge asked for a response to Anthropic PBC’s motion for reconsideration or an interlocutory appeal of a ruling on the company’s fair use arguments.