Meta Fights 'Monster' Proposed $1.1B CIPA Judgment

By Rae Ann Varona

Meta has urged a California federal judge not to grant a partial final judgment of more than $1.1 billion against it for unlawfully obtaining sensitive data from users of the menstrual tracking app Flo, saying the judgment it criticized as "Frankenstein's monster" violates its due process rights.

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Biz Groups Urge 5th Circ. To Back Texas Derivative-Suits Limit

By Mike Curley

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Texas Association of Business on Wednesday urged the Fifth Circuit to uphold the dismissal of a Southwest Airlines shareholder's derivative suit, saying Texas law properly blocks such suits for those who hold less than 3% of shares.

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Judge OKs Transamerica Policy Cost Hike Deal Worth $73M

By Danielle Ferguson

An Iowa federal judge Tuesday gave final approval to a settlement worth $73 million to resolve a policyholder class action alleging Transamerica Life Insurance Co. improperly increased monthly costs for certain universal life insurance policies.

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Paramount Gets OK On Deal With State AGs Over Merger

By Rachel Riley

A California federal judge gave the green light Wednesday to a settlement to end a group of state enforcers' challenge of Paramount Skydance's planned $110 billion purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery, saying the resolution reflects a "good faith approach" to alleviate concerns that the merger will stifle entertainment industry competition.

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Norfolk Southern Investors Certified In Derailment Suit

By Sydney Price

Norfolk Southern investors can proceed as a class in a suit accusing the company of making misleading statements regarding its safety operations before a fiery train derailment in Ohio in 2023, though a Georgia federal judge did adopt the company's suggestion to narrow the class period.

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3rd Circ. Topples Materiality Rule For Securities Suits

By Carla Baranauckas

The Third Circuit on Wednesday revived a securities fraud class action against pharmaceutical company Ocugen Inc., scrapping a decades-old circuit rule that treated a stock price's failure to move after a corrective disclosure as conclusive proof that an alleged misstatement was immaterial.

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7th Circ. Backs Truckers In Union Pacific BIPA Suit

By Craig Clough

A Seventh Circuit panel on Wednesday affirmed that fingerprint scans at Union Pacific's Illinois facilities violated a state privacy law, rejecting the company's stance that a government contractor exception applies anytime the contract is active.

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Cognizant Inks $2.8M Deal To End 401(k) Fees Suit

By George Woolston

Information technology company Cognizant Technology Solutions U.S. Corp. will pay $2.8 million to resolve former employees' claims that it saddled its 401(k) plan with poor investment options and high fees, according to a filing in New Jersey federal court.

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Brief

Boeing Worker Drops OT Suit After Arbitration Pact Surfaces

By MJ Koo

A Washington state Boeing worker has voluntarily dismissed his proposed class action alleging that the aerospace giant failed to include bonuses and other incentive pay in overtime and sick leave calculations, after the company produced an arbitration agreement that barred him from pursuing class claims in court.

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Delta Concealed Noncompetes, Wash. Class Action Claims

By Ben Adlin

Delta Air Lines Inc. broke Washington state law by failing to disclose the terms of its noncompetition restrictions to job applicants before they accepted employment, a worker has claimed in a proposed class action filed in King County Superior Court.

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'Bikini Barista' Owner Asks Judge To Trim $1.8M Award

By Benjamin Morse

The owner of Beehive Espresso, which operates Seattle-area kiosks known as bikini barista coffee stands, asked a state judge to rethink a $1.86 million judgment for baristas, arguing that the court imposed uniform assumptions about unpaid work and employee cash contributions without showing those figures reliably applied across the class.

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Ga. Delivery Co. Wraps Up Former Driver's OT Suit

By David Aaro

An Atlanta-area FedEx delivery contractor and a former worker have resolved a proposed collective action in Georgia federal court that accused the company of paying drivers a flat wage and withholding overtime pay.

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Health Co. Wins Initial Toss Of Retirement Forfeiture Suit

By Kellie Mejdrich

An Oregon federal judge agreed Wednesday to toss a proposed class action alleging a health company misspent forfeitures from two employee retirement plans by putting assets toward employer-side contribution obligations instead of lowering administrative costs, holding that allegations failed to state a claim for violating federal benefits law.

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Visa, Mastercard Get ATM Fee Antitrust Case Tossed

By Lauren Berg

A Washington, D.C., federal judge handed a win to Visa and Mastercard on Wednesday, dismissing a long-running class action accusing the credit card giants of running afoul of antitrust laws with ATM fee rules that hurt machine owners.

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Ex-Verint Directors Sued Over Allegedly Undervalued Sale

By Sydney Price

A former shareholder of customer service software company Verint Systems Inc. has accused several of the company's former directors of allowing shareholders to approve an undervalued sale of the company to private equity firm Thoma Bravo last year.

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Google Looks To Toss 'Implausible' Amended AI Spying Action

By Taylor Bowie

Google is seeking to permanently end the third iteration of a proposed action alleging its "Smart Features" unlawfully give Gemini AI access to users' private correspondence, asserting Google's privacy policy allows it to automatically collect such communication data.

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Crypto Project Argentina Pres. Promoted Ducks RICO Claims

By Katryna Perera

A New York federal judge has permanently dismissed a proposed class action against the operators and promoters of a cryptocurrency project touted by Argentinian President Javier Milei, finding the investors failed to plausibly plead that the defendants conspired to defraud them.

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Goldman, JPMorgan Beat CDS Rigging Suit For Now

By Katryna Perera

A New Mexico federal court has tossed older claims from a proposed class action accusing JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and other large banks of conspiring to rig credit default swap auctions, after a New York court ruled on a claims release issue involving a settlement in a related decade-old antitrust case.

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Valve Order Allows 15K Antitrust Arbitrations To Be Closed

By Ben Adlin

A federal judge in Seattle refused Wednesday to issue a preliminary injunction to curb the closure of nearly 15,000 gamers' antitrust arbitrations against entertainment giant Valve Corp., finding that plaintiff Jeffrey Smith failed to show that closing the arbitrations would cause irreparable harm.

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Aetna Escapes Zelis Repricing Tool Antitrust Case

By Craig Clough

A Massachusetts federal judge granted Aetna's bid Wednesday to dismiss claims against it in consolidated antitrust litigation accusing insurance companies of using Zelis Healthcare's repricing tools to reduce reimbursements paid to healthcare providers, finding an amended complaint failed to plausibly allege that Aetna used the tools.

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PR Rebar Cos. Can't Duck Price-Fixing Claims

By Bryan Koenig

A Puerto Rico federal judge refused Wednesday to let steel rebar companies and one of their executives duck price-fixing claims from construction companies and consumers, citing instant messages discussing the alleged scheme and rejecting arguments that the island hasn't expressly allowed antitrust allegations from indirect buyers.

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DOJ Calls Meat Plant Workers' Wage-Fixing Deals 'Inadequate'

By Bryan Koenig

The U.S. Department of Justice intervened Tuesday in Colorado federal court antitrust litigation accusing the country's largest meat producers of fixing wages at their beef and pork processing plants, arguing that the class action settlements resolving the case are insufficient because they do nothing to block future wage-fixing.

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States Back AGs' 6th Circ. Bid To Keep RealPage Rent Claims

By Matthew Perlman

A contingent of 25 states is backing a Sixth Circuit appeal from several other state-level enforcers challenging settlements in private litigation that could block them from seeking damages over claims that landlords used RealPage's software to collude on residential rental rates.

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NJ Co. Says PPE Stockpiling Was Chinese Sovereign Activity

By Carolina Bolado

A New Jersey company accused of helping China hoard personal protective equipment to create a monopoly at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic told the Eleventh Circuit that a lower court erred in finding that the allegations fall within the commercial activity exception to sovereign immunity.

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NYC Tenants Claim PE Firm Illegally Overcharged Rent

By Isaac Monterose

A proposed class of New York City rent-stabilized tenants alleged Wednesday that they were illegally overcharged for rent while living in 19 Manhattan and Brooklyn residential properties operated by real estate private equity firm PH Realty Capital LLC.

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DuPont Lead Exposure Plaintiffs Get One Class Certified

By Mike Curley

An Indiana federal judge has certified a medical monitoring class in a suit led by a group of minors alleging E.I. Du Pont de Nemours and Hammond Group Inc. caused their exposure to lead, while denying certification of a personal injury class.

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'Waterproof' Sunscreen Suit Tossed Over Lack Of Harm

By Emily Field

A New Jersey federal judge on Tuesday dismissed a proposed class action alleging that Missha and A'pieu sunscreens are falsely labeled as "waterproof" and "sweatproof," saying that the consumers hadn't shown that they were harmed financially since the products still functioned as sun protection.

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Water Co. Escapes Consumer Protection Claim In PFAS Case

By Brian Steele

A proposed class of Connecticut Water Co. customers who allege their drinking water was contaminated with toxic forever chemicals cannot bring a claim for unfair trade practices because they are already suing under an exclusive product liability law, a state court judge has ruled.

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Benefits Firm Can't Knock Out Data Breach Suit

By David Aaro

A Georgia federal court on Wednesday narrowed, but refused to dismiss, a proposed class action accusing a human resources services firm of failing to safeguard customer information ahead of a 2024 data breach.

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Mid-Atlantic Law Firm Hit With Data Breach Class Action

By Andrea Keckley

A Virginia woman filed a proposed class action on Tuesday accusing Midkiff Muncie & Ross PC of failing to protect her personal information from a cyberattack that the mid-Atlantic firm says it discovered in December.

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Paramount Can't Ax Most Claims In Pluto TV Privacy Action

By Craig Clough

A California federal judge Tuesday allowed seven claims to proceed in an amended action alleging Paramount Skydance Corp. unlawfully disclosed the personally identifiable information of children who streamed content on its Pluto TV service, finding the parents sufficiently alleged privacy injuries after an earlier dismissal.

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Tech Co. Sensata Can't Duck Data Breach Class Action

By Carolyn Muyskens

Sensata Technologies Inc. must face a lawsuit over a cybersecurity breach, a Massachusetts federal judge ruled Wednesday, finding that the industrial sensor technology company's former employees adequately pled that the ransomware attack has exposed them to a risk of identity theft.

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Verano, Dispensary Failed To Protect Patient Info, Suit Says

By Mike Curley

An Illinois woman is alleging that nationwide cannabis operator Verano Holdings Corp. and a St. Charles dispensary failed to properly protect patient data, allowing 2.4 million lines of database information to be put on the internet.

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Ohio Parents Say Netflix Hooks Kids For Ad Data

By Jonathan Capriel

Netflix falsely marketed itself as a "kid-friendly" streaming alternative to Big Tech platforms while secretly building an addictive surveillance machine around children, Ohio parents have claimed in a proposed class action, which is at least the third lawsuit accusing the company of harvesting families' personal data.

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T-Mobile Users' Rate Hike Class Claims Sent To Arbitration

By Rachel Riley

Consumers in a proposed class action against T-Mobile over alleged wireless plan rate hikes must arbitrate their claims individually, a Washington federal judge said Tuesday, agreeing with the company the customers consented to an arbitration pact by continuing to use and pay for service after receiving notice of updated terms.

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Analysis

IP Notebook: AI Dilution, Alamo TM, India Copyright Ruling

By Ivan Moreno

An unsettled copyright theory over competition from artificial intelligence-generated works and a trademark clash between Texas and an association representing descendants of those who fought at the Battle of the Alamo lead this edition of Law360's look at emerging copyright and trademark issues.

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Judge Orders ICE Reports After Hold Room Violations

By Tom Lotshaw

A Maryland federal judge ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to provide cell count and medical care data for its short-term holding facilities in Baltimore, largely granting a detainee class's push to enforce an injunction issued over "deplorable" and likely unconstitutional conditions.

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NCAA Wins Title IX Trans Suit, As Judge Finds No Fed. Aid

By Elaine Briseño

A Georgia federal judge has sided with the NCAA in a suit that challenged its former policy allowing transgender athletes to compete in women's sports, ruling the organization was not bound by Title IX restrictions because it received no federal funds.

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Ex-NFL Players Object To Proposed Race-Norming Settlement

By Tom Lotshaw

More than 100 former NFL players spoke against a proposed class action settlement over allegedly discriminatory cognitive disability assessments, telling a federal judge it threatens to release the league's benefit plans from claims raised in other litigation and deliver largely empty rescoring promises.

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DraftKings Uses AI To Exploit Losing Bettors, Suit Alleges

By Lauren Berg

DraftKings weaponizes artificial intelligence to identify vulnerable gamblers who tend to lose and then deploys promotions enticing those gamblers to place more bets to increase the house's revenue, according to a proposed class action filed Wednesday in Massachusetts federal court.

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AI Meeting Recaps Pose New Discovery And Privilege Risks

The New York City Bar Association’s recent ethics opinion, cautioning attorneys not to record nonclient conversations with artificial intelligence tools, reflects an emerging view that AI meeting recaps are now a distinct business record category, meaning counsel should set meeting-level controls and apply framework-level updates, says William Wright at Faegre Drinker.

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The Law360 Pulse Prestige Leaders: A Look At The Top Firms

Today's most prestigious firms attract top talent and marquee clients while posting record profits. Here's a look at the top 10 firms in this year's Law360 Pulse Prestige Leaders, a ranking of the firms that stand out for their prominence, power and distinction.

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DOJ Accuses Judges Of Ethics Violations With Press Remarks

By Jack Karp

Several Minnesota federal judges ran afoul of their ethical obligations when they commented on President Donald Trump's immigration policies in a recent news article, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a judicial misconduct complaint filed Wednesday.

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Federal Bar Discussion Looks At Courts' Role In Regulating AI

By Bonnie Eslinger

A Federal Bar Association discussion Wednesday in California about AI and how it will be regulated in the United States prompted the Northern District's new chief judge to ask whether Congress' "inability to pass laws" will leave it to the courts "to figure out how we're going to do this."

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DOJ Atty Picked For Judgeship Probed On Fulton County Raid

By Courtney Bublé

A top U.S. Department of Justice official tapped for a federal judgeship faced questions from Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday about the department's investigation in Fulton County, Georgia, over Trump's allegations of fraud in the 2020 election.

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Texas AG Says ABA Stifling Law School Competition

By Spencer Brewer

The Texas Attorney General announced an investigation into the American Bar Association relating to alleged anticompetitive conduct in the association's accreditation of law schools, claiming Wednesday that the ABA "weaponized its accreditation authority" to push "unconstitutional racial and gender preference requirements."

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Sen. Blackburn Sues Smith For Seizing Phone Records

By James Boyle

U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn alleges in a federal complaint filed Wednesday that Jack Smith illegally subpoenaed her phone records as part of an investigation into alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

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3rd Circ. Calls Westlaw AI Fight 'Ordinary Copyright Case'

By Ivan Moreno

The Third Circuit said the first appellate fight over artificial intelligence training and fair use ultimately came down to an "ordinary copyright case," affirming that Ross Intelligence infringed Thomson Reuters' Westlaw headnotes when it used them to train a competing legal research platform.

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Blank Rome Seeks Time To Exit LIV Golf's Fla. Office

By Ben Zigterman

Blank Rome LLP on Wednesday filed a limited objection to LIV Golf's motion to reject its sublease at an office building in West Palm Beach, Florida, saying it didn't receive any advance notice and would like until the end of October to transition to a new office.

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Roundup

Defamation Litigation Roundup: Candace Owens, Firm DQ

By Theresa Schliep

In this month's review of defamation fights, Law360 highlights a new suit over right-wing media personality Candace Owens and her conspiracy theories about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, as well as Quinn Emanuel's disqualification from a suit against a former client.

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Tort Report: Uber Owes $40M In Abandoned Rider Death Case

By Y. Peter Kang

A $40 million arbitration award in a case over an Uber incident and looming litigation against the federal government over a highly publicized U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid on a Hyundai-LG plant in Georgia lead Law360's Tort Report, which compiles recent personal injury and medical malpractice news that may have flown under the radar.

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Roundup

Hub Hires: Mintz, Foley Hoag, Barclay Damon

By Chris Villani

Boston saw several significant moves across its legal landscape as the summer wound down, with Foley Hoag adding an experienced debt finance attorney from Goodwin Procter, a boutique white collar firm snagging a longtime federal prosecutor, and Mintz getting new leadership for the first time in nearly two decades.

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