Articles by CAReview Editor

Judge Dismisses Class-Action Lawsuit in Flint Water Crisis

The sources told NBC News and NBC station WDIV of Detroit that state Attorney General Bill Schuette will announce criminal charges against two employees of the state Department of Environmental Quality and one who works for the City of Flint. Reuters reported that Attorney Valdemar Washington, who represents the residents in the lawsuit, said they were considering filing an appeal of O’Meara’s…


Lawsuit Against Natural Cigarette Maker Moved to New Mexico

A class-action lawsuit targeting a company behind a line of cigarettes touted as natural has moved to U.S. District Court in Albuquerque. Three men from California, New York and Florida are suing the maker of American Spirit cigarettes, Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Co., and its parent company, Reynolds American Inc. The plaintiffs say the cigarette maker’s marketing deliberately tries to mislead…


WestJet Responds to Harassment Lawsuit

VANCOUVER — WestJet is rejecting allegations made by a former flight attendant that it fails to provide a harassment-free workplace for its female employees, saying it would not put its reputation at stake by inadequately dealing with complaints. The Calgary-based airline’s response to a civil claim, filed this week in British Columbia Supreme Court, argues against granting class-action status…


Opting Out of Class-Action Bingo Lawsuit Grows

A who’s who of area charities – 855 of them – are named as plaintiffs in the $80-million bingo class-action lawsuit against Windsor and Tecumseh. It’s a list of every single group that ever took out a bingo licence over two decades. Some — like the group Friends of Chris Lori, the former bobsled driver who hasn’t competed since the late 1990s — don’t even exist anymore.


Will Fiduciary Rule Spur New Lawsuits Against Advisors?

With the Labor Department’s fiduciary rule finalized, are some advisors now a target for lawsuits? Experts suggest that the threat of litigation – which exists because the rule provides clients with the right to legal action – could push some firms to change business models and spur some advisors to exit the business. “Litigation is one area where firms are particularly…



Defence Lawyers Argue Against Class-Action Certification

A Vancouver Island-based lawsuit against the cold remedy Cold-Fx is a lawyer-manufactured action in search of a victim and not worthy of class-action certification. Or at least that was the argument advanced by lawyers for the drug giant Valeant Pharmaceuticals earlier this month in a New Westminster courtroom. To be certified, an applicant must show the existence of a…


Structuring a Settlement After Asserting Class Members Did Not Suffer Any Concrete Injury

Frequently, a class action complaint will set forth an elaborate theory of why the defendant’s actions were negligent or wrongful, but fall short when trying to identify how that conduct has harmed the class members. This kind of complaint invites a motion to dismiss on the grounds that the plaintiff has failed to demonstrate constitutional standing by identifying a “concrete, particularized,…


Accounting Class-Action Filings Rose Again in 2015

A new report from Cornerstone Research indicates that securities class-action filings with accounting allegations rose for the third consecutive year. According to Accounting Class Action Filings and Settlements – 2015 Review and Analysis, the 71 filings last year exceeded the average over the past decade of 67 filings. There were 69 accounting-related case filings in 2014.


Flint Water Suit Hits Roadblock in Federal Court

A federal judge may have dealt a serious blow to people suing over the Flint water crisis. U.S. District judge John Corbett O’Meara dismissed the class-action suit after finding the claims made by Flint residents couldn’t be resolved in federal court. At issue are claims made by the plaintiffs in the case that their constitutional rights and state law were…