Jul 1, 2016

Caddies Appeal Dismissal of $50 Million Lawsuit Against PGA Tour

The Battle of the Bibs continues. Mike Hicks and 167 other professional caddies have appealed U.S. District Judge Vince Girdhari Chhabria’s decision to dismiss their $50 million class-action lawsuit against the PGA Tour. The caddies raised contract, antitrust and intellectual property claims against the Tour when they filed suit in February 2015, alleging that the Tour had reduced them to …


HSBC Pays $1.6 Billion to End 14-Year Mortgage-Lending Lawsuit

Thursday, a unit of HSBC Holdings said it will pay $1.575 billion in order to end a 14-year old shareholder class action lawsuit. The lawsuit stems from questionable mortgage lending undertaking more than a decade ago from the Household International consumer finance business that HSBC bought in 2003, according to an article by Jonathan Stempel for Reuters. In the second quarter, the company …



Feds Appeal Ruling in St. Bernard, Lower 9 MR-GO Damage Case

The U.S. Justice Department has formally appealed a federal judge’s approval of class action status for a lawsuit blaming the Army Corps of Engineers for declining lost property values caused in St. Bernard Parish and New Orleans’ Lower 9th Ward by floodwaters during Hurricane Katrina and later storms. That status would make thousands of residents and businesses eligible for damage awards that …


Some Volkswagen Owners Say $15 Billion Settlement Doesn’t Go Far Enough

The largest auto maker settlement to date may not be enough to buy back the trust of some drivers. On June 28, Volkswagen VOW, +4.15% submitted a settlement plan worth $14.7 billion to a federal judge following the company’s admission in September of cheating emissions tests by placing a “defeat device” in 11 million of its diesel vehicles world-wide. The settlement gives about 475,000 diesel …


EEOC Investigating Google for Age Discrimination, Lawsuit Says

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is investigating complaints of age discrimination by Google, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court. Cheryl Fillekes, a systems engineer who interviewed with but was not hired by Google when she was 47, made reference to the EEOC investigation in …


Gender Discrimination Alleged in Workers’ Comp Lawsuit

Three women workers and the SEIU California State Council filed a proposed class-action lawsuit Wednesday in Los Angeles, challenging what they allege is systemic gender discrimination in California’s workers’ compensation system. The lawsuit names as defendants numerous government officials and entities, including the state Department of Industrial Relations and the Division of Workers’ …


West Virginia Chemical Spill Lawsuit Trial Moved to October

The trial for a class-action lawsuit over a West Virginia chemical spill that polluted 300,000 people’s drinking water has been rescheduled for October. The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports (http://bit.ly/29sHmwz ) that U.S. District Judge John T. Copenhaver in Charleston announced …


Man Suing Davie “Breastaurant” Twin Peaks for Gender Discrimination

A man who tried to apply for a job at Twin Peaks in Davie is now leading a class-action lawsuit arguing that the so-called “breastaurant” chain discriminates against men. Rafael Ortiz of Hialeah claims that he was told by the manager on duty that he couldn’t fill out an application to become a server because those positions were for women only. In case you’re unaware, Twin Peaks is in many ways …


St Jude in $39.25 Million Shareholder Settlement Over Heart Devices

St. Jude Medical Inc has reached a $39.25 million class action settlement with shareholders to resolve claims it downplayed the possible dangers associated with a product used to connect implantable defibrillators to patients’ hearts. The preliminary settlement, disclosed Thursday with the U.S. District Court in Minneapolis, requires a judge’s approval. It resolves claims that St. Jude inflated …