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On July 14, 2016, fourteen supporters of Donald Trump filed a lawsuit against the San Jose police department, claiming that the police failed to protect them from violent protestors at a June 2, 2016 Trump campaign rally. The fourteen named plaintiffs are seeking class action status on behalf of all Trump supporters who were attacked at the rally. Around 300 to 400 anti-Trump protestors were outside the venue, allegedly pelting eggs and glass bottles at supporters. On the day of the event, San

Residents of the waterfront community of Cape Coral, Florida are making it known to lawmakers in Lee County that they want their taxes lowered in response to the sudden infestation of foul smelling blue algae that has surrounded the community. Residents allege that the taxes they pay are high due to their close proximity to the water. However, now that the putrid smelling algae has moved in, homeowners and business owners say their properties have lost significant value. If the local government

On July 1, 2016, the fifth case to go to trial in Philadelphia’s mass tort litigation involving the antipsychotic drug Risperdal resulted in a $70 million verdict against Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson. In the case, the family of Andrew Yount claimed that Risperdal caused their adolescent son to develop female breasts. Andrew, who was born in 1998, began taking the drug manufactured by Janssen in 2003 to medicate his severe psychiatric problems, which were later

On June 29, 2016, disgruntled Netflix user, George Keritsis, filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against the popular movie-streaming site in California federal court. Keritsis’ suit seeks class-action status for all Netflix users who entered into agreements with the site, promising to lock them into a fixed, low subscription rate only to be told their monthly subscription rates have increased over time.  Currently, more than half of Netflix’s 81.5 million U.S. subscribers have grandfathered a

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals on July 13, 2016 found that the claims against General Motors (“GM”) regarding its faulty ignition switch could proceed. Approximately 1,000 lawsuits were brought against the company in 2014 arising from claims that the ignition switches on the GM’s vehicles, such as the Chevrolet Cobalt and Saturn Ion, were prone to slipping out of their run position, causing the vehicles to suddenly stall and preventing airbags from deploying in the event of a crash. Some o

A very public verbal battle emerged between esteemed Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump. The controversy began after Justice Ginsberg made several clearly partisan comments to multiple media outlets, including The New York Times, regarding Trump’s suitability to be president. Ginsberg’s disdain for Trump was evident when she gave the media a point-by-point explanation as to why she believes “he is a faker.” She admitted that she feared

Boston Retirement System, a public pension fund for Boston municipal employees, has filed the first bondholders class action in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against German automaker, Volkswagen (“VW”), relating to the company’s emissions scandal. Plaintiffs allege that Volkswagen, Volkswagen Group of America and Volkswagen Group of America Finance purposefully mislead the public by releasing false and misleading information, causing VW bonds to trade at artifi

Three class-action lawsuits in Northern California have been filed against the Arizona-based blood-testing firm Theranos. The first and third class actions were filed May 26 and May 30 respectively, alleging that Theranos falsely advertised its products to consumers. The second class action was filed May 27, alleging that the company breached its contract with customers by not providing what had been promised—a minimally invasive procedure and accurate test results. Theranos specializes in “no

On Thursday, June 2, 2016, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation ordered the transfer of more than 50 class-action lawsuits—alleging that several brands of Parmesan cheese, which had been labeled as 100% grated Parmesan cheese, contained wood-pulp and cellulose as fillers—to U.S. District Judge Gary Feinerman of the Northern District of Illinois. Defendants in the suit include Kraft Heinz Co., Target Corp., Wal-Mart Stores Inc. private-label Parmesan cheese and Supervalu Inc. Plai

On May 26, 2016, Scott Magee from Metairie, Louisiana, filed a class-action complaint against McDonald’s Corporation for alleged systemic violations committed by the fast-food chain against blind persons. The lawsuit arose because Magee, who is blind, approached a local McDonald’s drive-thru window on foot after the restaurant’s lobby was closed last August. The restaurant refused service to Magee, laughed at him and told him to leave.McDonald’s Corporation late-night drive-thru policy provides

On May 24, 2016, Johnson & Johnson (J&J) requested Judge Ed Kinkeade of the Northern District of Texas to hold all future trials in the multidistrict litigation arising from its DePuy Pinnacle hip devices until certain post-trial motions were ruled upon in the “Aoki cases”—decided just one week prior. In the Aoki cases, which were designated as the second bellwether trial in the MDL, a jury awarded $498 million to five plaintiffs who suffered debilitating injuries as a result of receivi

Consumer finance companies have until August 22, 2016, to express their concerns regarding the latest rule proposed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”), which bans class action arbitration waiver provisions in consumer financial products and services agreements. The proposed rule (81 FR 32830) was published in the May 24, 2016 issue of the Federal Register for public comment and, if made final, will be codified in 12 CFR part 1040. Pursuant to Section 1028(b) of the Dodd-Frank

On June 13, 2016, Judge Kevin McNulty granted Defendant General Mills’ request for a stay in proceedings In re General Mills, Inc. Kix Cereal Litigation. Plaintiffs in the suit allege that General Mills purposefully misled consumers by labeling boxes of its Kix cereal as “all natural” when in fact the cereal was made with bioengineered corn. Kix boxes were labeled “all natural” from 2009 to 2013. Defendants requested the stay so the FDA could sift through comments on whether the use of the word

On June 10, 2016, an Alabama-based car dealership, Turnbull Automotive, filed a lawsuit against the Centerville, Virginia-based company, Carfax, on behalf of itself and all other individuals and entities who have been subject to intermittent, arbitrary increases in subscription fees with the company over the past four years. Carfax subscribers are given access to information on the repair history of used cars. The plaintiff claims that the defendant, Carfax, has been significantly and arbitrari

A recent report released by the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) highlighted the increasing global epidemic arising in advertising that could impact a plaintiff firm’s marketing strategy—due to ad fraud, a huge number of online ads never reach actual humans. The WFA estimates that by 2025, ad fraud will result in losses to companies aggregating over $50 billion annually, which could easily rise to $150 billion if nothing is done to protect consumers against the fraud. Further, the WFA pred

Plaintiffs in the Fitbit class action received encouraging news when the results of a recent study conducted by California State Polytechnic University, Ponoma concluded that Fitbit’s PurePulse pulse tracker does not accurately monitor a user’s heart rate during more intensive workouts. The study, which was commissioned by Plaintiffs’ attorney, Lieff Cabraser, tested the heart rates of 43 adults wearing the PurePulse heart rate monitors and then tested the same people using a BioHarness device

With technology advancing at an ever-increasing rate, the law must be continuously reexamined in order to keep pace with society’s needs. Products liability law is currently experiencing this phenomenon, as 3-D printing becomes a reality in many industries. 3-D printing poses a significant disruption to the usual flow of the supply chain on which traditional products liability law is based; now anyone can simply design and manufacture a product from the comfort of their own home. The black and

Under the agreement, announced at a court hearing on Thursday, Volkswagen is to provide “substantial compensation” to owners of over 500,000 2-liter vehicles that were fitted with high-tech software used to evade U.S. emission requirements. The specific financial details of the settlement, including how much each owner will receive, were not provided. Some news sources have reported that Volkswagen will spend just over $1 billion to compensate owners, but exact amounts were not disclosed as neg

U.S. District Judge Lawrence F. Stengel of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania has ordered that Terry v. McNeil-PPC, Inc., the first bellwether trial in the Tylenol MDL, be pushed back four months to allow for the resolution of similar Tylenol suits pending in New Jersey. Plaintiff, Rana Terry, filed suit on behalf of her deceased sister, Denice Hayes. In November 2015, Defendant McNeil Consumer Healthcare attempted to get Terry dismissed, arguing that the suit was time-barred by Alabama’s wro

Computer technology giant, Apple, recently agreed to a $24.9 million settlement with New York engineering school, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (“RPI”), who claimed that one of its professors developed the technology that Apple uses in its personal assistant application, Siri. Plaintiffs in the suit include RPI, which employed Professor Cheng Hsu and his doctoral student, Veera Boonjing, and Dynamic Advances, a Dallas, Texas based company that purchased the technology from RPI in 2011. Plai

On April 5, 2016, the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil rights group, filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of thousands of Americans placed on the “No Fly List” created and maintained by the United States government. In the suit, which is pending in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, Plaintiffs allege that persons were placed on the list, including a seven-month-old baby, even though it was clear they were not terrorists. They claim that nominat

On April 5, 2016, Christopher DiStasio brought a class action suit against Edible Arrangements, LLC over the popular fruit franchise’s marketing via automated text messages. In the complaint, DiStasio, on behalf of himself and those similarly situated, alleges that the text messages sent by Edible Arrangements to his cellular device within the last four years were not authorized. Further, he argues that the messages he received from Edible Arrangements were fully automated, as the content was “

On March 29, 2016, a New Jersey state appeals court decided to uphold the $11.1 million verdict in the pelvic mesh suit, Gross v. Ethicon. The three-judge Appellate Division panel chose to uphold the 2014 Atlantic County Superior Court decision, which awarded $3.35 million in compensatory damages to Plaintiff, Linda Gross, and $7.76 million in punitive damages to Gross and her husband. The panel determined there was substantial evidence to show that the defendant knew of the potential dangers a

As a result of his serious medical condition, Braden had to undergo two open-heart surgeries since his birth in 2004. Rader alleged that officials at GlaxoSmithKline, the manufacturers of the drug, were aware of the dangers the drug posed to unborn children, and yet did not inform the medical community of the risks.  In the post-trial motion, Plaintiff’s counsel argued that Judge Powell misinterpreted the 2010 case management order governing the Paxil mass tort cases when he granted GlaxoSmithK

 thinkglink.com The plaintiffs’ law firm financing company, California Attorney Lending, announced today that one of its clients, Gianni ♦ Petoyan, successfully resolved a birth injury case resulting from an obstetrical failure to diagnose intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR)—a common prenatal condition. As a result, the child suffered a hypoxic injury in utero resulting in periventricular leukomalacia and cerebral palsy. The profoundly disabled child will require lifetime care. The case resol

On April 25, 2016, named plaintiff Jan Burgess and 513 other current and former residents of Flint, Michigan filed a notice of class action against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In the complaint—filed almost two years after city officials decided to save money by switching Flint’s water source from Detroit’s municipal system to the Flint River—the plaintiffs assert that the EPA was negligent, which contributed to the dangerous levels of lead in the city’s water supply. They seek $22

Philadelphia cosmetology school, The Jean Madeline Aveda Institute, has agreed to settle class claims alleging that the school overcharged customers for cosmetic services performed by students in violation of Pennsylvania state law. Lead plaintiff, Sophia Krivy, claimed that The Jean Madeline Aveda Institute charged her $12 for a haircut performed by an unlicensed student. Krivy argued that $12 was significantly higher than state law allows such a service to cost. According to Pennsylvania stat

On April 12, 2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that a putative class action could proceed despite a defendant offering judgment on a named plaintiff’s individual claims under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 68. In the case, Chen, et al. v. Allstate Ins. Co., named plaintiffs Richard Chen and Florencio Pacleb filed a class-action complaint against Allstate Insurance Company alleging violations of the Telephone Consumer protection Act (“TCPA”) after recei

On February 16, 2016, Sony became the first defendant to settle claims in the multidistrict litigation (MDL) alleging that lithium-ion battery makers including Sony, Toshiba Corp., NEC Corp and LG Chem America and others, violated antitrust laws by fixing the prices of lithium-ion batteries sold to both direct purchasers and consumers. The litigation was consolidated into an MDL in California federal court under U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in 2014. In the settlement agreement, So

After six years of litigation, parties in the polyurethane foam multidistrict litigation have agreed on a $151 million settlement. Plaintiffs in the suit claimed that the defendant manufacturers, Carpenter Co., Leggett & Platt Inc., Mohawk Industries Inc., Woodbridge Foam Corp., Hickory Springs Manufacturing Co., Future Foam Inc., FFP Holdings LLC, FXI Holdings Inc., Vitafoam Inc. and Vitafoam Products Canada Ltd., conspired to illegally fix the price of polyurethane foam from 1999 to 2012.