John Deere Inks $99M Deal In Farmers' Right-To-Repair Suit

By Celeste Bott

John Deere has agreed to pay $99 million to a putative class of farmers to resolve claims that it limits competition for farm equipment repairs by preventing unaffiliated shops from acquiring the necessary tools, and will also provide injunctive relief that would allow those independent repair providers to be able to diagnose and fix John Deere-brand agricultural equipment.

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Delaware Chancery OKs $190M Meta Privacy Settlement

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court on Tuesday approved a $190 million settlement resolving long-running stockholder claims that Meta Platforms Inc. mishandled user privacy and board oversight in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, closing out a case that had stretched more than seven years and reached the second day of trial.

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Ohio Derailment Class Attys Fight Morgan & Morgan Fee Probe

By Matthew Santoni

Co-counsel for plaintiffs in litigation over a Norfolk Southern train derailment urged a federal court to reject Morgan & Morgan's bid to investigate the allocation of attorney fees stemming from a $600 million class settlement, arguing that it was unnecessary to revisit the issue and that the firm may have even gotten more than it deserved.

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Uber Says Atty Ads To Rider Admissible In NC Bellwether Trial

By Hayley Fowler

Uber wants to introduce evidence at an upcoming bellwether trial in multidistrict litigation for alleged passenger sexual assaults that a North Carolina plaintiff was exposed to advertisements from attorneys before she sued, saying the evidence goes to her credibility.

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Microsoft, Others Tell Court To Reject Epic-Google Deal

By Bryan Koenig

Microsoft, advocacy groups and economists pushed back on the revised settlement between Epic Games and Google that would open up the Play Store to competition, vouching instead for at least parts of the injunction Epic won in California federal court but is now looking to replace.

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Data Breach Counsel Chided For Flouting NC Court Rules

By Abigail Harrison

Two attorneys looking to temporarily helm a series of putative data breach class actions targeting a radiology firm have failed to become interim co-lead class counsel, as a North Carolina Business Court judge chided them for not following rules and filing a procedurally deficient motion.

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Wash. Panel Nixes Insurer's Gordon Rees Malpractice Claims

By Rachel Riley

A Washington Court of Appeals panel said a Great American insurance unit can't inherit an equipment manufacturer's legal malpractice claims against Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP and Sinars Slowikowski LLC because of "potential conflict" between the insurer and manufacturer in the underlying dispute over a climber's fall.

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Firstrust Savings Bank Can't Nix 401(k) Mismanagement Suit

By Kellie Mejdrich

A former Firstrust Savings Bank worker adequately supported his claims that employees lost millions because they had to invest a portion of their savings in the bank's underperforming proprietary fund, a Pennsylvania federal judge ruled, denying the bank's motion to dismiss the proposed Employee Retirement Income Security Act class action.

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Sushi Chef Fights Restaurant's Bid For Quick Win In OT Suit

By Benjamin Morse

A sushi chef pushed back against a restaurant's contention that he is a "serial filer" of "baseless" wage suits whose experience in the restaurant industry precludes his wage claims, telling a Connecticut federal court that overtime liability turns on whether an employee performed uncompensated work, not prior experience.

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Chipotle Worker In Seattle Alleges Scheduling Law Violations

By Ben Adlin

Restaurant chain Chipotle violated two Seattle employment laws by failing to provide workers with adequate notice of scheduling adjustments and withholding additional pay owed to those affected by late scheduling changes, according to a proposed class action in Washington state court.

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Hormel Foods Faces Class Cert. Bid In Retirement Fund Suit

By Sydney Price

An ex-worker for Hormel Foods Corp. asked a Minnesota federal judge to certify a class in his federal benefits lawsuit alleging the company failed to remove high-cost investment options with poor return rates from its $1.2 billion in employee retirement plans.

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Auto Insurance Co. Escapes Retirement Fund Suit

By Patrick Hoff

An auto insurance company defeated a proposed class action claiming its employee retirement plan was unlawfully overinvested in a conservative default investment option, with a Michigan federal judge saying Tuesday that the suit lacked information about participants who voluntarily put money in the fund.

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Law Profs Back Boeing In 7th Circ. Bid To Void 737 Max Class

By Linda Chiem

Law professors have told the Seventh Circuit that an Illinois district court improperly certified a class of investors alleging Boeing misrepresented the 737 Max 8 jets' safety after two deadly crashes in 2018 and 2019, saying there's been a "troubling" pattern of courts blessing classwide damages theories backed by zero evidence.

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Biogen, Investors Reach Deal In Alzheimer's Drug Litigation

By Carolyn Muyskens

A class of investors has reached a deal with Biogen Inc. to avoid a trial and resolve a suit over statements executives made as they launched an Alzheimer's drug, according to a Tuesday filing in Massachusetts federal court.

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Investor Says Nuclear Waste Co. Botched Vote, Curbed Rights

By Jarek Rutz

A nuclear and radiological waste management company stockholder has filed an amended class action in the Delaware Chancery Court accusing the company's board of miscounting votes on a key equity proposal and later adopting bylaws that unlawfully restrict shareholder rights.

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Upstart Misled Investors On AI Model's Accuracy, Suit Alleges

By Katryna Perera

An investor of cloud-based artificial intelligence lending platform Upstart Holdings Inc. hit the company and its top brass with a proposed class action Tuesday, alleging they misrepresented the accuracy of the company's AI model and how it was affecting Upstart's revenues and growth.

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Mich. AG Says PBMs Can't Stall Discovery In Drug-Pricing Suit

By Melanie Dorsey

Michigan's attorney general is urging a federal court to reject a renewed bid by pharmacy benefit managers to pause discovery in an antitrust case accusing them of price-fixing reimbursement rates, claiming the companies are relying on exaggerated burden claims and an ordinary motion to dismiss that is unlikely to succeed.

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Mercedes Says Shatter-Prone Sunroof Claims Lack Evidence

By Kelcey Caulder

Mercedes-Benz customers offered no evidence that vehicles were sold with defects that caused sunroofs to spontaneously shatter, the automaker told a Georgia federal court, arguing it should be granted an early win in the customers' suit.

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Recalled Wagner Steamers Still Pose Burn Risk, Suit Says

By Corey Rothauser

A recalled Wagner power steamer still poses serious burn risks because the repair kit sent to consumers is "a literal band-aid" that conceals the defect that prompted last month's recall of 700,000 units after users got scalded with hot water, according to a proposed class action filed in Minnesota federal court.

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USA Today Escapes Website User Tracking Suit, For Now

By Allison Grande

A California judge has shut down a proposed class action accusing USA Today of deploying tracking technology that illegally transmits information about website visitors' browsing activities to third parties, finding that the plaintiffs had failed to allege the type of concrete injury necessary to sustain their claims, while leaving the door open for their pleadings to be amended.

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LinkedIn Users Sue Over Secret Browser Extension Tracking

By Lauren Berg

LinkedIn is facing two proposed class actions in California federal court alleging the networking platform has touted its anti-fraud and anti-data scraping efforts as cover for its surreptitious scanning of users' browser extensions, which often contain sensitive information, before sharing that data with third parties.

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Brief

Chipotle Settles Suit Over Pandemic Change Shortfalls

By Carla Baranauckas

Chipotle Mexican Grill has reached a settlement with a customer who accused the chain of shortchanging cash‑paying patrons during the 2020 COVID‑19 coin shortage, according to a joint status report filed in Pennsylvania federal court.

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Brief

$1.4M Chicago Tow Notice Settlement To Receive Initial OK

By Lauraann Wood

An Illinois federal judge signaled Tuesday he'll greenlight a $1.4 million settlement to end litigation over claims the city of Chicago tows vehicles it deems abandoned without properly notifying their owners.

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Angi Argues TCPA Suit Falls Short Of What Law Requires

By MJ Koo

Home services platform Angi Inc. is asking a Colorado federal judge to toss a proposed class action alleging it violated federal robocall law by contacting a woman whose number was on the national do-not-call registry, arguing she failed to show she is a "residential telephone subscriber" protected under the statute.

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Keurig's K-Cup Pods Are Largely Unrecyclable, Suit Says

By Gina Kim

Keurig Dr Pepper was hit with a proposed class action in California federal court Tuesday alleging that it misleads consumers into believing that its single-serve plastic coffee pods are recyclable despite the fact that most recycling centers in the country don't accept them due to their size, irregular shape and other characteristics.

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Musk Wants Altman Out, Not To Boost 'Himself Personally'

By Hailey Konnath

Elon Musk said Tuesday he wants OpenAI CEO Sam Altman stripped of his title and "all equity and other personal financial benefits" to be awarded to OpenAI's nonprofit if Musk wins his case claiming OpenAI duped him, saying he isn't after "a remedy directed to benefiting himself personally."

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Fishermen, Seafood Sellers Sue LOOP Over La. Oil Spill

By Mike Curley

A group of fishermen and seafood companies is suing the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, or LOOP LLC, over a February oil spill that saw 31,500 gallons of heavy Venezuelan crude oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico, saying LOOP's slow-walking of cleanup puts their livelihoods and the local ecosystem in danger.

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Timeshare Exit Co.'s Insurer Can't Appeal To 9th Circ. Yet

By Jennifer Mandato

A Washington federal judge rejected an insurer's request to reconsider a summary judgment ruling that the carrier breached its duty to defend a now-defunct timeshare exit company, stating that the carrier failed to prove an indisputable error in the ruling.

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11th Circ. Urged To Revive Fla. Suit Over Prepaid College Plan

By David Minsky

Florida parents who paid for their kids' university educations in advance through a state-administered program urged the Eleventh Circuit to revive their proposed class claiming they were deprived of their full benefits, arguing Tuesday that the officials who implemented an additional fee aren't immune from the complaint.

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DC Court Says Haitians' Title 42 Due Process Claim Is Still Viable

By Ganesh Setty

A D.C. federal court has clarified that Haitian nationals deported by the Biden administration can still pursue their claim that the administration violated their due process rights, saying it fails only with respect to their inability to seek asylum before removal.

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MLB Players, DraftKings Settle Suit Over Use Of Player Images

By Tom Lotshaw

A Major League Baseball Players Association subsidiary and DraftKings Inc. have settled a suit that accused the sports betting company of using athletes' images without permission to promote its gambling platform, according to a Pennsylvania federal judge's order dismissing the case.

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NCAA Asks 9th Circ. To Revive 5-Year Eligibility Cap On Player

By Dorothy Atkins

The NCAA urged a Ninth Circuit panel Tuesday to reverse an injunction that allowed a college baseball player to pitch beyond the five-year window the organization normally limits players to, saying his antitrust suit doesn't establish a relevant market or explain any anticompetitive effects of the five-year rule.

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BakerHostetler Adds Davis Wright Privacy Pro In LA

By Gina Kim

BakerHostetler announced Tuesday it has welcomed data privacy litigator Spencer Persson from Davis Wright Tremaine to its digital assets and data management practice group as partner, bringing in years of experience handling high-stakes privacy matters that will beef up the firm's privacy and digital risk class action and litigation team. 

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AI Recruiting Suit Shows Old Laws May Implicate New Tools

The Fair Credit Reporting Act allegations recently filed in Kistler v. Eightfold AI, are the latest example of broad definitional language in legacy statutes proving far more dangerous to companies deploying artificial intelligence – particularly in hiring – than any purpose-built artificial intelligence regulation, say attorneys at Ogletree.

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Pregnant DLA Piper Atty Recounts Firing: 'This Feels Wrong'

By Pete Brush

A former associate who claims DLA Piper unlawfully fired her after she announced she was pregnant told a Manhattan federal jury Tuesday that she got positive feedback as she worked with large corporate clients and was "shocked" when she was terminated.

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Blanche Says Only Trump Knows Why Bondi's Leaving DOJ

By Courtney Bublé

Todd Blanche said on Tuesday he is now acting attorney general and no one, beyond the president, knows why Pam Bondi is out and he is in.

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Calif. Lawmakers Advance Bill To Curtail PE Role In Litigation

By Emily Sawicki

A California bill to ban corporate investors from influencing litigation strategy is heading to the state Senate, backed by bipartisan support from the Assembly.

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Top DOJ Immigration Atty Faces Ethics Complaint

By Jack Karp

The head of the U.S. Department of Justice's immigration litigation office has lied to judges, disobeyed court orders and failed to stop attorneys he supervises from engaging in misconduct in high-profile immigration cases, according to an ethics complaint filed Tuesday.

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Analysis

Habeas Orders Sharpen As Due Process Concerns Mount

By Britain Eakin

Federal judges are issuing increasingly detailed, critical and decisive orders for habeas relief in immigration cases, stepping in as what immigration experts say is a last resort check on a system viewed as having crumbling due process safeguards.

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DOJ Pushes To End Former Immigration Judge's Bias Suit

By Jake Maher

The U.S. Department of Justice moved to dismiss a former Ohio immigration judge's discrimination suit in D.C. federal court this week, calling the complaint "heavy on conclusory statements and speculation and light on allegations of fact."

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Calif. Atty Apologizes, Blames OpenCase For False Citations

By Matt Perez

A California attorney has filed a response to an order for potential sanctions over his alleged use of artificial intelligence, which resulted in false citations, saying the hallucinations appeared in a later draft after using OpenCase to perform a cite check.

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Audio

Approach The Bench: Judge Robinson On Community Court

By Cara Bayles and Steven Trader

Judge Devin Robinson's courtroom at the Red Hook Community Justice Center in Brooklyn looks and feels very different from the courthouse archetype.

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States, DC Back NY AG James In DOJ Probe Appeal

By Emily Sawicki

Backed by amici including the attorneys general of 20 states and the District of Columbia, New York Attorney General Letitia James is fighting the U.S. Department of Justice's bid to reopen an investigation into her office launched by a federal prosecutor found to have been serving unlawfully.

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