Google Users Seek $147M In Atty Fees After $425M Trial Win

By Bonnie Eslinger

Counsel for Google users who won a $425 million class action trial over claims the company unlawfully collected their information have urged a California federal judge to give them nearly $147 million in legal fees, even as both sides filed motions seeking to unwind aspects of the verdict.

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Boeing Must Face Trimmed 737 Max Securities Fraud Suit

By Linda Chiem

An Illinois federal judge said equity funds alleging Boeing defrauded investors by downplaying the 737 Max jets' safety flaws can pursue claims related to certain statements made after two deadly crashes in 2018 and 2019, but not claims tied to a separate door-plug blowout in 2024.

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Arbitration Association Must Face Suit Over Consumer Monopoly

By Caroline Simson

An Arizona federal judge ruled Tuesday that the American Arbitration Association must face a proposed class action accusing it of monopolizing the consumer arbitration services market, saying the suit provided sufficient allegations to "plausibly infer" that the institution engages in anticompetitive conduct.

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AGs Put $10M Price Tag On Beating Kroger-Albertsons Merger

By Jared Foretek

The nine attorneys general who successfully sued to block Kroger's failed $24.6 billion acquisition of Albertsons requested over $10 million in attorney fees and litigation expenses Tuesday, arguing that the scale of the litigation and the more than $1 billion the grocery chains spent fighting it justified the amount.

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Texas Judge Dismisses Southwest Holiday Outage Claims

By Spencer Brewer

A Texas federal judge dismissed claims brought by Southwest Airlines investors that the airline caused a disastrous 2022 holiday travel season with outdated technology and a unique flight route structure, but left room for the investors to refile.

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Twitter Investors Win Class Cert. In Elon Musk Fraud Suit

By Emilie Ruscoe

Investors in X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, have been granted class certification in litigation alleging tech billionaire Elon Musk secretly amassed a significant stake in the company while its stock traded at artificially depressed prices.

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Timber Co., State Street Win Initial Toss Of $1.5B Pension Suit

By Kellie Mejdrich

A timber company and its independent fiduciary won dismissal of a proposed class action from pensioners who said the companies' choice of annuity provider for a $1.5 billion pension transfer put their retirements at unnecessary risk, after a Washington federal judge ruled that allegations failed to state a claim.

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9th Circ. Revives Aya Health Arbitrations In Nurses' Wage Suit

By Ben Adlin

A Ninth Circuit panel Wednesday reversed a district court ruling that voided arbitration agreements between Aya Healthcare Services Inc. and more than 250 employees, ruling that the lower court erred when it used the individual findings of two arbitrators to nix the agreements entirely.

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Salvation Army Enrollees Not Employees, Ill. Court Says

By Benjamin Morse

A Salvation Army rehabilitation program's participants are not employees despite working at least 40 hours per week supporting its thrift stores, an Illinois federal judge ruled, finding they did not expect to be paid and were not economically dependent on the nonprofit.

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Wage Class Attys Get $254K Fee For Post, Smucker's Deal

By P.J. D'Annunzio

A Pennsylvania federal judge has signed off on a just over $254,000 fee request for Winebrake & Santillo LLC attorneys representing employees of Post Consumer Brands LLC and The J.M. Smucker Co. who alleged they were stiffed on overtime wages at a Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, manufacturing facility.

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Ex-Chick-Fil-A Workers Say Taco Eatery Owes Them Jobs

By Matthew Santoni

Three former Chick-fil-A employees at Philadelphia International Airport say in a proposed class action in Pennsylvania state court that the airport's food services operator and the restaurant that replaced theirs failed to follow a local ordinance requiring that they be offered employment at the new establishment.

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Sentara Health Strikes $1.5M Deal In Stable Value Fund Suit

By Patrick Hoff

Virginia-based healthcare system Sentara Health will pay $1.5 million to settle a class action claiming it failed to remove an underperforming investment fund from its employee retirement plan, according to federal court filings.

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Amazon Beats NY Warehouse Workers' Screening Time Suit

By MJ Koo

A New York federal court has tossed wage claims brought by Amazon warehouse workers who alleged they were not paid for time spent undergoing mandatory security screenings before and after their shifts, finding the state's labor law mirrors federal standards that exempt such activities from compensation.

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NJ Hospital Workers Win Collective Cert. In OT, Break Suit

By Irene Spezzamonte

A New Jersey healthcare network must face overtime claims on a collective basis, a federal judge ruled, saying a former employee adequately backed up allegations that the network had companywide policies under which it automatically deducted time for meal breaks that weren't taken and left bonuses out of overtime calculations.

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Union, Employer Group Beat NJ Contractor's Benefits Suit

By Emily Brill

A union and a contractors association have beaten back allegations that they coerce employers into making excessive contributions to a union benefit fund, with a New Jersey federal judge tossing a proposed class action filed by a contractor last year.

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Nike Beats Bulk Of Investor Fraud Claims Over Biz Strategy

By Katryna Perera

An Oregon federal judge has dismissed nearly all the claims in a securities class action against Nike over what investors say was a failed business strategy, finding that most of the suit's challenged statements are nonactionable corporate optimism, but she allowed one alleged misstatement about Nike's innovation pipeline to proceed.

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Peloton Escapes Investors' Suit Over Recalled Bikes

By Katryna Perera

Peloton has extinguished a second attempt by investors to hold the company and its top brass liable for how Peloton handled a recall of its defective bicycle seats, with a New York federal judge finding that the company did not make any material misstatements or omissions to investors.

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Quantum Corp. Seeks Exit From Investor Fraud Suit

By Rachel Konieczny

Data storage company Quantum Corp. asked a Colorado federal judge to throw out a proposed class action against it, claiming the investor did not show that the company or its executives acted with actual knowledge of the alleged securities fraud or deliberate recklessness.

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Ill. Judge Clears Card Shuffler Antitrust Claims For Trial

By Celeste Bott

An Illinois federal judge largely denied cross motions for summary judgment in a suit alleging a gambling product company used sham patent litigation to shove competitors out of the automatic card shuffler market, and certified a class of casinos and other buyers claiming they suffered antitrust injuries as a result.

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Rocket Mortgage Seeks Toss Of Homebuyers' Antitrust Case

By Isaac Monterose

Rocket Companies Inc., subsidiary Rocket Mortgage LLC and other Rocket subsidiaries are urging a Michigan federal court to toss a proposed antitrust class action from homebuyers who claim the Rocket companies illegally provide business leads to real estate agents who tell homebuyers to pick Rocket to finance home purchases despite competing services that are better.

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NAR Ducks Another Membership Rules Antitrust Suit

By Matthew Perlman

A Michigan federal court tossed a case challenging rules requiring brokers to be members of the National Association of Realtors and its local affiliates in order to access multiple listing services, saying courts have been reaching the same result in similar cases for over 40 years.

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Ill. Judge Tosses 'Half-Baked' Nestle Chocolate Labeling Suit

By Lauraann Wood

A Nestle consumer cannot pursue false labeling accusations over the "100% real chocolate" claim on the company's chocolate chip bags because her complaint is "half-baked" and contradicts the widespread understanding that chocolate is made from more than cacao bean-based ingredients, an Illinois federal judge said Tuesday.

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7th Circ. Says Ill. BIPA Amendment Applies Retroactively

By Hailey Konnath

The Seventh Circuit held Wednesday that a liability-limiting amendment to Illinois' biometric privacy law applies to every lawsuit pending at the time the amendment took effect, ruling that the amendment is only a procedural change to the law and, therefore, must be applied retroactively.

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Amazon Shakes Bulk Of Alexa Users' Secret Recordings Suit

By Allison Grande

A Washington federal judge significantly narrowed a lawsuit accusing Amazon of surreptitiously recording Alexa device users' personal conversations, finding that the company had clearly disclosed the possibility of accidental device activations and that only some unregistered users had adequately asserted individual wiretap claims. 

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Facebook Users Lose Cert. Bid In Tax-Data Collection Fight

By Dorothy Atkins

A California federal judge has refused to certify proposed classes of consumers accusing Meta Platforms Inc. of illegally collecting sensitive financial data from tax preparation websites, finding that the currently proposed classes are "significantly" broad and would likely invite statute-of-limitations defenses that would require "extensive individual inquiries" into each class member.

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Perplexity AI Hands User Info To Google And Meta, Suit Says

By Gina Kim

Perplexity shares users of its AI machine's most personal questions and conversational dialogues — which could include mental and physical health issues and legal advice — with Meta and Google, which exploit the information for profit and targeted advertising purposes, alleges a proposed class action filed Monday in California federal court. 

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Brief

3rd Ex-Staples Employee Sues Over Alleged Data Hack

By Carolyn Muyskens

Staples Inc. was hit Tuesday with its third lawsuit in two weeks over a reported cyberattack by ransomware group CoinbaseCartel that may have exposed employee data.

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US Bank Beats 'Highly Offensive' Meta Pixel Tracking Suit

By Sydney Price

U.S. Bancorp escaped a suit calling its use of Meta's Pixel a "highly offensive" intrusion that shares bank website user information with Meta without users' consent, with a Minnesota federal judge ruling the plaintiff does not specify what information he shared with the bank or how it was used.

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Home Depot Narrows, But Can't Sink, Deceptive Pricing Suit

By Kelcey Caulder

Home Depot knocked a Georgia law claim out of a proposed class action accusing the retailer of tricking buyers into purchasing items online by advertising false original prices and discounts that created the illusion of short-lived bargains, but a federal judge ruled the bulk of the suit could proceed. 

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Veterans Say Synchrony Arbitration Order Defies MLA

By Sydney Price

Synchrony Bank customers said a North Carolina federal judge erred when directing them to arbitrate claims accusing the bank of promoting a misleading 0% interest rate for veterans, arguing the order contains several misinterpretations of the Military Lending Act.

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VIN Etching Class Bid Fails For Now In Suit Against Dealer

By Brian Steele

A Connecticut state court judge has denied a car buyer's attempt to certify a class of more than 3,100 customers who were allegedly overcharged for a theft-deterrent service known as VIN etching, but left open the possibility that he could partly change his mind.

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ICE Says Immigrants Can't Meddle With GEO Contract Terms

By Madeline Lyskawa

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement told a California federal judge that immigrants at a detention facility in the Mojave Desert are looking to rewrite the agency's contract with GEO Group Inc. by requesting an injunction to rectify the facility's "intolerable conditions."

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Rutgers University Sued Over Big Ten Taxpayer Squeeze

By Alex Lawson

A Rutgers University graduate has filed a class action against the school, alleging that the athletic department has left New Jersey taxpayers out to dry by accumulating a half-billion-dollar deficit since joining the Big Ten Conference in 2014.

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11th Circ. Backs Order To Fix Fla. System For Disabled Kids

By David Minsky

The Eleventh Circuit upheld an injunction finding Florida's institutionalization of children with complex medical conditions violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, ruling in a split opinion that a lower court mostly didn't abuse its discretion with ordering reforms. 

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Bondi Out As Attorney General After Contentious Time At DOJ

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump announced on Thursday Attorney General Pam Bondi will be leaving her post. 

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Goldstein Allowed To Move Out After Marriage Falls Apart

By Jared Foretek

A Maryland federal judge on Thursday allowed SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein to relocate for the duration of his home confinement, after Goldstein's attorneys said his marriage had fallen apart and it no longer "makes sense" for Goldstein and his wife to share a residence.

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Raskin Blasts DOJ Bid To Shield Attys From State Bar Probes

By Courtney Bublé

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, said Thursday the U.S. Department of Justice's endeavor to preempt state bar investigations of department attorneys is a "get out of jail free" card.

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DLA Piper, Vax Refuser Reach Deal To End Religious Bias Suit

By Patrick Hoff

DLA Piper has struck a deal to wrap up a Christian former employee's lawsuit claiming he was fired for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine because of his religious beliefs, an Illinois federal judge said Thursday.

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Feds Say Habeas Ruling Could Spur More 'Illegal Orders'

By Jared Foretek

The Trump administration has asked the Fourth Circuit to reverse a district ruling that upheld a standing order from Maryland federal judges barring immediate removal or transfer of immigrant detainees, arguing the ruling sets a dangerous precedent for district court standing orders.

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Schneider Wallace Fights Uphill For Bigger Cut Of $75M Fees

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal magistrate judge appeared skeptical Thursday about Schneider Wallace Cottrell Kim LLP's bid to increase its cut of a $75.4 million fee award for representing plaintiffs in a $228.5 million Sutter Health antitrust deal, saying lead counsel Constantine Cannon LLP's allocation of $1.4 million to Schneider Wallace seems fair.

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Puerto Rico Bankruptcy Stymies Paul Weiss, ACLU Fee Bids

By Carolyn Muyskens

American Civil Liberties Union and Paul Weiss attorneys who successfully eased restrictions on voting by mail in Puerto Rico during the COVID-19 pandemic cannot collect fees for their work because they were discharged in Puerto Rico's bankruptcy proceeding, the First Circuit has ruled.

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Process Server ABC Legal Inks $2.5M Deal Over Cyber Breach

By Ben Adlin

Seattle-based ABC Legal Services LLC, which bills itself as the nation's largest network of legal process servers, would pay $2.5 million under a tentative deal to settle workers' putative class action claiming a 2024 cyberattack exposed their personal information, the plaintiffs told a Washington federal court Wednesday.

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Roundup

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

By Laura Stewart Liberty

The past week in London has seen data giant Sportrader face action from software company Altenar over alleged market abuse, Mexican billionaire Ricardo Pliego sue a man who allegedly defrauded him out of $415 million, and Warner Bros. bring a copyright claim against a YouTuber who leaked set footage of the upcoming Harry Potter series. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K. 

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