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

Mealey's Class Actions

October 01, 2025
Property Owners Affected By Hurricanes Allege Scheme By Attorneys, Law Firms

NEW ORLEANS — A complaint requesting class action status was brought against attorneys, law firms and a professional liability insurer in a Louisiana federal court, alleging that the attorneys committed legal malpractice and breach of contract by setting “up a scheme in an attempt to quickly settle thousands” of Hurricane Laura, Delta, Zeta and/or Ida cases and “collect an exorbitant fee” that they would all share.
September 30, 2025
Unaccompanied Alien Children Class Certified, Injunction Granted In Removal Suit

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A class of unaccompanied alien children from Guatemala was granted certification and a preliminary injunction halting their removal by a federal judge in the District of Columbia who required the class to post a $1 nominal bond.
September 30, 2025
$49.25M Settlement OK’d In College Baseball Coaches’ Conspiracy To Deny Pay Suit

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A federal judge in California granted final approval of a $49.25 million settlement for a class of college “volunteer” baseball coaches who accused the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and its member schools of conspiring to ensure they were paid nothing for what they said were full-time jobs.
September 30, 2025
$350,000 Incentive Award Granted To 3rd Plaintiff In Decades-Long Bias Suit

NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York agreed to a $350,000 incentive award for the final named plaintiff in a nearly three-decade-long race bias suit over teacher licensing requirements in New York City; the plaintiff had requested a $2.9 million award.
September 30, 2025
New York Federal Judge Deepens Standing Split In Series Of PRT Challenges

NEW YORK — Days after a different New York federal judge dismissed a similar pension risk transfer (PRT) complaint for lack of standing, a New York federal judge on Sept. 29 largely declined to dismiss a putative class case, ruling that retirees have standing because they sufficiently alleged that the PRT “created a substantial risk that Plaintiffs will not receive their benefits” and “diminished the value of Plaintiffs’ benefits.”
September 30, 2025
Judge: Investors Failed To Link Stock Drop To Biotech Company’s Misstatements

SAN DIEGO — A federal judge in California granted a biotechnology company and its subsidiary’s motion to dismiss a securities fraud class action brought by investors alleging that the companies provided misleading information during the company’s acquisition of the subsidiary, finding that the investors did not establish loss causation because they did not link any of the companies’ corrective disclosures to a prior misstatement.
September 30, 2025
Privacy Suit Over Zillow’s Watched Videos Disclosure Dismissed At Parties’ Request

SAN DIEGO — A federal judge in California dismissed without prejudice a putative privacy class action against Zillow Group Inc. for purportedly sharing the video-viewing history of users of its app and website after the plaintiffs and online real estate platform operator filed a joint motion and stipulation to dismiss.
September 30, 2025
Bench Trial Set To Determine Settlement Amount In ‘Free Trial Scam’ Class Suit

SAN DIEGO — A federal magistrate judge in California determined that a bench trial will commence on Oct. 20 to determine the amount of a class settlement between consumers and a group of defendants referred to as the “Konnektive defendants” alleged to have provided software and other services used in a “free trial scam.”
September 30, 2025
Judge Partly Dismisses Illinois Woman’s Privacy Suit Over Hospital’s Website

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — A putative class action over a hospital’s purported sharing of the private information of its website’s users was partially dismissed, with an Illinois federal judge disposing of breach of contract, bailment, eavesdropping and computer fraud claims, with leave to amend.
September 29, 2025
Counsel Committed Fraud In Reaching $600M Train Settlement, Plaintiffs Say

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Some class members who opted in to the $600 million class settlement pertaining to the derailment of a Norfolk Southern train in East Palestine, Ohio, have moved in Ohio federal court for relief from the final approval order on grounds that newly discovered evidence reveals that class counsel made “material misrepresentations” to the court and to class members. The class members also say class counsel “concealed critical expert findings about health risks, and violated their fiduciary duties to the class.”
September 29, 2025
Government Files 2 High Court Petitions In Birthright Citizenship Cases

WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Donald J. Trump and other federal government parties filed two petitions for a writ of certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court on Sept. 26 asking the justices to decide whether a January 2025 birthright citizenship executive order (EO) complies with the 14th amendment to the U.S. Constitution’s citizenship clause and 8 U.S. Code Section 1401(a).
September 29, 2025
Judge Denies Motion To Dismiss Class Claims Against Protein Shake Makers

LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge, after a hearing, denied a motion to dismiss a consumer’s putative class action lawsuit accusing a protein shake maker and its parent company of misrepresenting the amounts of protein, sugar and carbohydrates in their protein shakes in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL), writing that defense arguments about products the consumer did not purchase can be addressed at the class certification stage.
September 26, 2025
Judge OKs Additional Attorney Fees In Settlement Between City, Protesters

NEW YORK — A New York federal judge has approved a stipulation under which New York City will pay an additional $750,000 in class counsel fees and costs as part of a previously approved $13.73 million settlement between the city and a class of approximately 1,380 individuals who were arrested or arrested and subjected to force by the New York City Police Department (NYPD) during protests in 2020 following the murder of George Floyd.
September 26, 2025
Immigration Detainee Sues, Seeks Injunction, Alleging Systematic Misclassification

BOSTON — A man who has lived in Massachusetts for more than a decade and is currently being held in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) filed a putative class complaint and a motion for a preliminary injunction, telling the federal court in his state that he and others are “facing prolonged no-bond detention” due to systemic misclassification of “detainees in order to deny them bond hearings.”
September 26, 2025
Consumers’ Attorney Fees Theory Doesn’t Create Jurisdiction, 9th Circuit Says

SAN FRANCISCO — Writing that consumers would need to incur $4.3 billion in attorney fees to meet the jurisdictional amount in controversy requirement, a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel vacated a lower court’s dismissal on the merits of the consumers’ putative class action against the maker of Kleenex-brand “Wet Wipes” for violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and on remand directed dismissal for lack of jurisdiction.
September 26, 2025
Lincoln University Settles Pandemic Tuition, Fees Class Suit For $169,500

PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania university will pay $169,500 to end a student’s class suit alleging that the school was unjustly enriched after it failed to issue prorated refunds for tuition and fees after the campus closed during the coronavirus pandemic.
September 26, 2025
$8.25M Class Deal Ends ERISA Recordkeeping Case After Release Adjustments

BOSTON — Following last-minute adjustments suggested by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and an independent fiduciary, a Massachusetts federal judge on Sept. 25 granted final approval to an $8.25 million class settlement that resolved an Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit over a retirement plan’s allegedly excessive recordkeeping fees.
September 25, 2025
Reese’s ‘Pumpkin’ Class Action Dismissed For Lack Of Article III Standing

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A Florida federal judge has dismissed without prejudice a putative class action complaint alleging that Reese’s Halloween-themed peanut butter cups are misleading because the candies don’t have the carved “eyes” and “teeth” that the package depicted, finding that the plaintiffs failed to allege a concrete injury.
September 25, 2025
A 2nd Pension Risk Transfer Case Is Dismissed For Lack Of Standing

ALBANY, N.Y. — Nearly six months after the first two rulings on dismissal motions in a much-watched recent set of putative class actions challenging pension risk transfers (PRTs) that retirees allege increase the possibility that they won’t get all of their promised benefits because of factors including offshore captive reinsurance, a New York federal judge issued the third ruling on Sept. 24, granting dismissal without prejudice for failure “to plausibly allege any injury-in-fact sufficient to establish standing.”
September 25, 2025
Florida Health System Granted Sovereign Immunity In Class Suit Over Data Sharing

FORT MYERS, Fla. — A Florida health care provider that is a political subdivision of the state is entitled to sovereign immunity from putative class claims by a patient who alleged that patients’ privacy rights were violated when their medical information was transmitted to Facebook, a federal judge in Florida ruled Sept. 24.
September 25, 2025
ERISA Complaints Target Health Plans For Offering Allegedly ‘Dominated’ Option

Two sets of plaintiffs represented by the same counsel have filed similar putative Employee Retirement Income Security Act class complaints against sponsors and administrators of self-funded health plans set up on a preferred provider organization (PPO) basis, alleging in part that they “have breached their fiduciary duty of prudence by assembling a menu of PPO options where there is no financial benefit to selecting” one option.
September 25, 2025
Judge Finds Pension Fund Didn’t Allege Stock-Drop Losses Caused By Misstatements

SAN DIEGO — A federal judge in California dismissed a pension fund’s class action complaint against a biopharmaceutical company and certain of its executives after the company’s stock price dropped when a collaborating company ended their collaboration agreement, finding that while it alleged sufficient facts to satisfy falsity and scienter requirements under Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the pension fund did not sufficiently allege that its losses were caused by the company’s alleged misstatements.
September 24, 2025
Stay Granted For Mediation Of Class Suit Over Aerospace Parts Maker Explosion

PHILADELPHIA — A federal judge in Pennsylvania on Sept. 23 granted a joint motion to stay pending mediation multiple putative class cases by individuals and businesses who allege that they were negatively impacted by a February 2025 fire and explosion at a suburban Philadelphia aerospace parts plant.
September 24, 2025
Claims Over Website’s Sharing ED Data With Google, Meta Lack Support, Judge Finds

SAN FRANCISCO — Three men who claimed that an erectile dysfunction (ED) treatment website improperly shared their protected health information (PHI) with Google LLC and Meta Platforms Inc. failed to demonstrate that they did not consent to this sharing by agreeing to terms in the operative version of the website operator’s privacy policy, a California federal judge ruled Sept. 23.
September 24, 2025
U.S. As Amicus Argues Derivative Sovereign Immunity Is Defense, Not Immunity

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The United States filed a motion to participate in oral argument and an amicus curiae brief in the U.S. Supreme Court supporting a detainee class which argues GEO Group Inc. has failed to show that a ruling against it when it sought to assert a defense under Yearsley v. W.A. Ross Construction Co. is immediately appealable.