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

Mealey's Class Actions

October 09, 2025
Women Alleging Embryo Tests Were Faulty Say Clinic’s Dismissal Motion Fails

DENVER — A fertility clinic company that moved to dismiss a complaint filed by a putative class of women who say the company made false and misleading representations to consumers about its preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy (PGT-A) mischaracterized the “straightforward consumer fraud case” as a medical malpractice action, the women say in opposing the motion.
October 08, 2025
5th Circuit: Conflict Over Securities Class Certification Adequately Addressed

NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a district court’s interlocutory order that partially granted and partially denied class certification in a case brought by investors in an offshore development company that allegedly made misstatements in connection with a merger that caused the company’s stock to artificially increase, finding the lower court adequately addressed an intraclass conflict by dividing the class into two subclasses.
October 08, 2025
Judge Tentatively Orders Sanctions For Disclosures To U.S. Labor Department

OAKLAND, Calif. — Days after granting the plaintiffs’ third motion for class certification in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit over alleged underpayment for out-of-network behavioral health treatment, a California federal judge issued a tentative order on Oct. 7 for a law firm representing the plaintiffs to pay $50,000 for disclosures to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) that she found constituted “a knowing and intentional breach of” a stipulated protective order in the case.
October 08, 2025
Valuation, Attorney Fee Issues Lead To Preliminary Denial Of Privacy Settlement

PHOENIX — An Arizona federal judge denied preliminary approval of a proposed class settlement to resolve claims over a mental health provider’s alleged use of Meta’s Pixel to share patient data, holding that the agreement lacked evidence to establish its overall value and contained an attorney fee structure that was disproportionate to class recovery.
October 06, 2025
Key ERISA Claims Survive Dismissal In Yet Another Tobacco Surcharge Challenge

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The tally of challenges to health plan tobacco surcharges that have at least partly survived dismissal continues to grow, with a Tennessee federal judge letting key claims continue in a putative class action that is part of a recent wave of similar lawsuits.
October 06, 2025
U.S. High Court Won’t Decide Live Nation, Ticketmaster’s FAA Reach Questions

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 6 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by Live Nation Entertainment Inc. and Ticketmaster LLC asking whether the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) protects all or only certain arbitration agreements and whether the federal act preempts California’s severability doctrine.
October 06, 2025
Federal Circuit Affirms That Monetary Obligations Are Not Compensable Takings

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a Court of Federal Claims ruling, holding that contributions to the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) Transitional Reinsurance Program (TRP) are a statutory obligation to pay money rather than a compensable taking under the Fifth Amendment, and that two self-insured group health plan trusts failed to show that the U.S. government appropriated their property.
October 06, 2025
U.S. High Court Won’t Decide Nissan’s Question Regarding Class Members’ Standing

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 6 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by Nissan North America Inc. that asked the justices to decide a question left open in TransUnion LLC v. Ramirez regarding when class members must show standing and whether a Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(3) class may still be certified if “no one in the class has suffered or will suffer an Article III [of the U.S. Constitution] injury,”
October 06, 2025
Judge: Retirees In PRT Challenge Have Standing But Didn’t State Claims

BOSTON — Overruling objections from each party in a putative class action that is part of a wave of challenges to pension risk transfers (PRTs), a Massachusetts federal judge granted dismissal motions upon concluding that the plaintiff retirees narrowly have standing because of allegations that they “received an inferior financial benefit than that to which they were entitled” — but failed to state their claims.
October 06, 2025
Partial Dismissal Granted To LinkedIn Over Claims Of Data Gathering, Sharing

SAN JOSE, Calif. — LinkedIn Corp. partially succeeded in its motion to dismiss claims that it used a tracking pixel to intercept and share users’ personal data with third-party advertisers, with a California federal judge disposing of one claim under the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA) and dismissing one of four putative class complaints in its entirety.
October 06, 2025
Defendants Win Dismissal In 4 More ERISA Cases Over Use Of Forfeitures

Case law continues to accumulate in the wave of putative Employee Retirement Income Security Act class suits challenging a common use of forfeited nonvested matching retirement contributions, with four recent additions to the majority of rulings granting dismissal motions.
October 03, 2025
Judge Dismisses Case That Challenged ESOP’s Use Of Low-Earning Cash Buffer

STATESVILLE, N.C. — Declining to adopt the reasoning of a contrary Employee Retirement Income Security Act ruling issued in a different district, a North Carolina federal judge granted dismissal of a putative class action that challenged the use of a cash buffer by an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP).
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 03, 2025
Some Subclasses Certified In Accellion Privacy Suit; Some Expert Opinions Struck

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The plaintiffs in a consolidated class action over the hacking of software created by Accellion Inc. saw some of their expert’s testimony stricken for his lack of experience by a California federal judge who also partly granted the plaintiffs’ motion to certify several subclasses related to Accellion’s customers who were affected by the data breach incidents.
October 02, 2025
After Bench Trial, Judge Rules For 401(k) Plan Fiduciaries In Management Dispute

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Saying the Employee Retirement Income Security Act “demands prudence, not perfection,” a Tennessee federal judge entered judgment in favor of AutoZone Inc. and related defendants following a bench trial in the class action that was filed over several aspects of their management of a 401(k) plan.
October 02, 2025
Ga. Federal Judge Grants, Denies Class Certification In Drinking Water PFAS Case

ROME, Ga. — A federal judge in Georgia granted class certification to a group of Summerville, Ga., water and sewer subscribers and ratepayers as part of a proposed “Damages Class” for past rate increases caused by toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in their groundwater but denied certification for future increases and denied certification of a proposed “Injunction Class” in a lawsuit seeking damages for several chemical manufacturers’ involvement in the contamination.
October 02, 2025
Deadlines Partially Stayed After Summary Judgment In Detainee Bond Denial Case

TACOMA, Wash. — A federal judge in Washington issued a minute order on Oct. 1 partially granting a motion to stay deadlines in a class suit accusing federal officials of denying bond requests by the lead plaintiff and others being held at the Northwest Immigration and Customs Enforcement Processing Center (NWIPC) due to the federal government shutdown; the minute order was filed one day after a motion for partial summary judgment by one of the two detainee classes was granted.
October 02, 2025
Split 5th Circuit Grants Rehearing En Banc In Challenging AEA Removals

NEW ORLEANS — A divided Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals granted the federal government’s petition for rehearing en banc after a divided panel blocked the federal government’s removal from the United States under the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) of three named individuals and the putative class they seek to represent who are all alleged by the government to be Venezuelan nationals who are members of Tren de Aragua.
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.
October 01, 2025
Judge Nixes PFAS Carpet Case Against 3M, DuPont, Says Allegations Not ‘Adequate’

MINNEAPOLIS — A federal judge in Minnesota on Sept. 30 dismissed a class action against the 3M Co., E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. and DuPont affiliates, ruling that the complaint “does not include adequate factual allegations” that the plaintiffs’ injuries were connected to the defendants’ alleged awareness of the health risks posed by stain-repellent products containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that the companies made and sold to carpet manufacturers and others.
October 01, 2025
$15M Deal In Pipeline Securities Fraud Case Endorsed ‘Overwhelmingly,’ Class Says

PHILADELPHIA — The lead plaintiffs in a long and winding securities fraud class action related to the construction of a hydraulic fracturing pipeline on Sept. 30 filed a reply brief in Pennsylvania federal court seeking final approval of a class action settlement for a cash payment of $15 million on grounds that the agreement has been “overwhelmingly endorsed by the Class.”
October 01, 2025
Judgment Without Monetary Relief Wraps ERISA Suit Involving ESG Efforts

FORT WORTH, Texas — Wrapping up a class action over environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations and the purported proxy voting activism of nonparty investment management firms, a Texas federal judge issued a Sept. 30 judgment denying monetary damages but awarding “equitable relief to ensure that Defendants and their investment managers act solely for the pecuniary benefit of the Plan and implement compliance measures to ensure fidelity to” Employee Retirement Income Security Act fiduciary standards.
October 01, 2025
YouTube Settles Trump 1st Amendment ‘Censorship’ Suit For $24.5 Million

OAKLAND, Calif. — Parties agreed to a $24.5 million settlement in a putative class action filed in 2021 by President Donald J. Trump, individuals and putative class members against YouTube LLC and Sundar Pichai, CEO of its parent company, alleging that the plaintiffs were “de-platformed or censored” by having their content removed from YouTube.
October 01, 2025
Amazon Workers Who Sued Over Off-The-Clock Work Fail To Disqualify Counsel

DENVER — Amazon.com Services LLC workers who brought a class complaint in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic alleging that they were wrongly denied pay for off-the-clock work before and after shifts, including long wait times for health screenings due to the pandemic, failed to show that Amazon’s counsel should be disqualified or that Amazon should be sanctioned, a federal judge in Colorado ruled.
October 01, 2025
Class Suit Accuses Federal Government Of Unlawfully Pooling Citizens’ Data

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Federal government agencies and their heads are violating U.S. citizens’ privacy rights and opening millions to “massive cybersecurity risks” by creating centralized records systems at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, a Sept. 30 putative class complaint filed by the League of Women Voters (LWV) and others alleges.