'Cheap' Judge OKs $19.5M Snap Deal Fees But 'No Bentleys'

By Craig Clough

After warning counsel who negotiated a $65 million securities settlement with Snap that he is "notoriously cheap," and in a tentative order gave a "haircut" to their $19.5 million fee request, a California federal judge talked himself out of the trim at a hearing Thursday but quipped, "No Bentleys."

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Meta, 4 Food Banks Have Upper Hand In Privacy Suit, For Now

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge indicated on Thursday she will dismiss a proposed class action against Meta Platforms Inc. and four California food banks alleging the tech giant collected personal information about visitors to food assistance websites, but said she would let the plaintiffs amend the suit and try again.

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Enovix Investors Denied Class Cert. Under Goldman Standard

By Emilie Ruscoe

A proposed class of investors in lithium battery manufacturer Enovix Corp. can't be certified, a California federal judge has determined, finding the suit doesn't show how declines in trading price cited in the complaint were caused by the sole remaining alleged misrepresentation in the matter.

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Convenience Store Co. Sets $5.1M Deal On Tobacco Fee Suit

By Grace Elletson

Casey's General Stores Inc. agreed to pay $5.1 million to end a suit alleging it illegally charged workers an extra fee in their health plan for using tobacco without giving them an opportunity to escape the added cost, according to a filing in Iowa federal court.

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NC Judge Denies Class, Collective In Yearslong Wage Dispute

By Benjamin Morse

A North Carolina federal judge refused to certify a new round of collective and class claims against an auto parts manufacturer, finding that workers challenging off-the-clock work failed to show their claims could be efficiently resolved on a group basis after several years of litigation.

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Meijer Escapes Most Claims In Tobacco Fee ERISA Suit

By Grace Elletson

A Michigan federal judge significantly narrowed a proposed class action that accused Meijer Inc. of charging employees an illegal health plan fee for using tobacco, ruling Thursday that the shopping center company complied with federal benefits law by giving workers a six-month window to dodge the full charge.

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SC County Beats EMT's OT Suit With Firefighter Exemption

By Benjamin Morse

A federal jury sided with a South Carolina county in a lawsuit accusing the county of failing to pay overtime wages to an emergency medical worker, finding that she qualified for a firefighter exemption under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

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Worker Says H&M Shorted OT For Preshift Setup

By MJ Koo

H&M has been hit with a proposed collective and class action in Illinois federal court alleging that the fashion retailer denied overtime pay to customer service workers who were required to complete computer setup tasks before clocking in each day.

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Brief

Ex-Emory Healthcare Nurse Takes Race Bias Suit To 11th Circ.

By Kelcey Caulder

A Black travel nurse claiming Emory Healthcare fired her for complaining that she got less training than white colleagues is turning to the Eleventh Circuit after losing her lawsuit, according to a notice filed in Georgia federal court.

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Home Improvement Co. Nailed With Misclassification Suit

By Benjamin Morse

A home improvement company's nationwide sales model is built on a misclassification scheme that shortchanged workers, a group of former sales representatives said in a proposed collective and class action filed in Colorado federal court.

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Colo. Court Mulls JBS' Bid To Toss Haitian Workers' Bias Suit

By Rachel Konieczny

A Colorado federal judge declined Thursday to rule on meatpacking giant JBS USA Food Co.'s bids to dismiss a suit and strike class allegations that Haitian workers suffered race-based discrimination and labor violations while working at the facility.  

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Scotts Miracle-Gro Gets Sales Channel 'Stuffing' Suit Trimmed

By Katryna Perera

An Ohio federal judge has trimmed claims from a securities class action against Scotts Miracle-Gro and several of its executives claiming they misled investors about the lawn and garden care company's inventory levels, debt covenant compliance and financials.

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Robinhood Investors Warn Of Nvidia Redux Before High Court

By Jessica Corso

Robinhood Markets Inc. investors urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday not to hear a dispute revolving around the trading platform's $2.1 billion initial public offering, arguing that the case the company presents is "in the same mold" as those that the justices threw out against Meta and Nvidia two years ago.

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Stride Says Glitchy Tech Rollout Undercuts Investor Suit

By Emilie Ruscoe

Education technology company Stride Inc. seeks to shed proposed investor class action accusations it inflated its rolls with "ghost students" to secure funding, arguing it didn't defraud anyone after it saw enrollment numbers fall following tech upgrade issues.

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Car Parts Co.'s Acquisition Integration Failed, Investors Say

By Sydney Price

Auto parts distributor LKQ Corp. has been hit with a proposed class action in Tennessee federal court accusing it of concealing that a 2023 acquisition harmed LKQ's ability to meet its financial growth goals.

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FTC Cuts Deal To End Anesthesia Group Rollup Case

By Matthew Perlman

The Federal Trade Commission reached an agreement Thursday to settle its case accusing U.S. Anesthesia Partners Inc. of monopolizing the Texas anesthesia services market by purchasing most of the competing anesthesia practices in the state.

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Meta Defends Toss Of Consumer Antitrust Case At 9th Circ.

By Matthew Perlman

Meta told the Ninth Circuit a lower court was right to find no support for an expert's theory that Facebook would have paid users $5 a month for using the service if it didn't misrepresent its privacy and data practices.

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Bosch And Other HVAC Leaders Accused Of Price-Fixing

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

Bosch Inc. and six other leading heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment businesses are facing a proposed antitrust class action in Michigan federal court alleging they conspired to fix the prices of HVAC equipment.

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2nd Circ. Backs NBCUniversal In Suit Over Video Data Sharing

By Allison Grande

The Second Circuit on Thursday refused to revive a proposed class action accusing NBCUniversal of violating the Video Privacy Protection Act, finding that the dispute was "materially indistinguishable" from a separate precedential panel ruling that set the standard for what qualifies as personally identifiable information under the federal law.

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BofA, EY Strike $2.5M Deal To Settle MOVEit Breach Claims

By Sydney Price

Bank of America and EY have agreed to pay $2.5 million to nearly 200,000 people to settle claims in multidistrict litigation over the May 2023 breach of file transfer application MOVEit, according to a motion for settlement.

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Bitcoin Depot Data Breach Suit Can't Proceed, Judge Rules

By Chart Riggall

A Georgia federal judge freed Bitcoin Depot on Thursday from a proposed class action over a 2024 data breach that affected tens of thousands of customers after ruling that the speculative risk of identity theft on its own could not support the suit.

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Alaska Air Credit Union Left Members' Info Exposed, Suit Says

By Ben Adlin

A Las Vegas woman has lodged a proposed class action against a Washington-based credit union that provides services to Alaska Airlines employees and their families, claiming the financial institution failed to use reasonable security measures to protect members' personal data that was exposed in a cyberattack.

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JetBlue Charges You More Based On Your Data, Suit Says

By Nadia Dreid

JetBlue could be charging travelers more if they have a funeral to attend, according to a new lawsuit that was filed after one of the airline's social media accounts offered a customer tips on how to get a cheaper flight that included clearing their cache and booking with an incognito browser.

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11th Circ. Partly Revives State Farm Unearned Premium Suit

By Hope Patti

Two State Farm units don't belong in a Florida couple's suit over reimbursement for unearned premiums following a total loss, the Eleventh Circuit found, while reviving the couple's breach of contract claim against the insurer's Florida-based subsidiary pending a new jurisdictional analysis.

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No Class Cert. Redo In United Healthcare Breast Surgery Fight

By Gianna Ferrarin

A New Jersey federal judge said a policy change by United Healthcare was not enough to make her rethink her denial of certification to a proposed class of patients who were allegedly systematically shut out of coverage for postmastectomy breast reconstruction.

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Mich. Brokers Appeal Tossed Antitrust Claims Over NAR Rules

By Nate Beck

A group of Michigan real estate brokers and agents on Thursday said they would ask the Sixth Circuit to review a March decision rejecting the proposed antitrust class action over rules set by the National Association of Realtors and its local affiliates for accessing online home listing services.

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Homebuyers Ask Fla. Court To Block Ill. Broker Fee Settlement

By Isaac Monterose

Homebuyers in a proposed class action accusing real estate brokerages of conspiring to hike up their fees asked a Florida federal court to block the companies from settling similar antitrust claims in an Illinois lawsuit.

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Robinhood Hit With Class Action Over Illegal Sports Betting

By Tom Lotshaw

A proposed class action California, Michigan, New Jersey and New York residents filed against Robinhood Markets Inc. accuses the company of deceptively running an unlicensed sports gambling operation and seeks to recover billions of dollars in lost wagers and damages.

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PFAS Study Is Wake-Up Call For Pet Food Companies

As standards around per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances continue to evolve, a new study revealing that PFAS have found their way into many brands of pet food is a warning to the industry to reexamine the contents and marketing of their products in the face of increasing regulatory and litigation exposure, say attorneys at MG+M.

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Series

Officiating Football Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Though they may seem to have little in common, officiating football has sharpened many of the same skills that define effective lawyering in management-side labor and employment: preparation, judgment, composure, credibility and ability to make difficult decisions in real time, says Josh Nadreau at Fisher Phillips.

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DLA Piper Clears Vote To End Verein, Unify Leadership

By Tracey Read

DLA Piper announced Friday that firm partners on both sides of the Atlantic have "overwhelmingly approved" a plan to dissolve its Swiss verein structure effective May 1.

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Exclusive

Judge Albright Reflects On 8 Years Shaping Patent Law

By Dani Kass

U.S. District Judge Alan Albright will be walking away from the Western District of Texas at the end of the summer, ready to head back into patent litigation work. He talked with Law360 on Friday about the rockier elements of his judgeship and lessons he'll take into private practice.

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Commerce Department's General Counsel Departs

By Christine DeRosa

The U.S. Department of Commerce's general counsel has left the agency after just over a year, the agency confirmed on Friday.

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

In what may be a first, a federal judge has ordered BJ's Wholesale Club to put an investor's climate-related proxy proposal up for a vote of the shareholders at the company's annual meeting. And a new study shows that more in-house counsel are staying in place despite pay increases slowing amid less competition for talent.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Consovoy McCarthy PLLC, Butler Prather LLP, Bowen Painter LLC and Cannella Snyder LLC lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Fluor Corp. can be held liable for a veteran's state-based injury claims stemming from a 2016 suicide bombing in Afghanistan.

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UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Laura Stewart Liberty

The past week in London has seen a Hong Kong company sue the government and a COVID-19 PPE company linked to Tory peer Michelle Mone, an oligarch bring a fresh claim against a rival in a long-running feud, a rugby league club sue over a canceled mass dance event, and Visa and Mastercard hit with legal action from H&M, Eurostar, and Bang & Olufsen. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

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Oregon Lawyer Ordered To Pay Attorney Fees For Use Of AI

By Matt Perez

An Oregon attorney was sanctioned by a state appellate court for filing a brief containing a fabricated list of authorities because she used generative artificial intelligence, marking the first case in the jurisdiction to present the option of awarding attorney fees as a sanction as opposed to fines payable to the court.

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Akin Can't 'Recast' Appeal As Good-Faith Effort, 9th Circ. Told

By Lauren Berg

A European winemaker slammed attempts by a U.S. importer and its Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP attorneys to "recast a frivolous appeal as a good-faith effort," saying they should have to pay monetary sanctions for pursuing what the Ninth Circuit called a "self-indulgent" appeal of a valid arbitration award.

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Atty, Brother Say Father's Last Will Altered In Secret

By Emily Sawicki

A Blank Rome LLP attorney and his brother have sued the attorney who executed their father's will in New Jersey federal court, alleging the lawyer preyed on their ailing father toward the end of his life to alter his beneficiaries through undue influence, forgery and fraud.

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In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

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