Articles by CAReview Editor


Briggs & Stratton to Pay $3.95M to End ERISA Class Action

Briggs & Stratton Corp. has agreed to pay almost $4 million to end a putative class action filed by a group of retired workers who claimed the company and its group insurance plan violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act by reducing their health benefits.


Allstate Can’t Avoid Class Action With Offer to Lead Plaintiff

Ruling in a Bay Area robocall case, a federal appeals court said Tuesday that a company can’t scuttle a proposed class-action suit it is facing by trying to buy off the lead plaintiff. The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco addressed an issue that the U.S. Supreme Court left unresolved in a ruling in January: whether a company or person accused of violating the rights of large …


Counsel’s Corner: DS News Interviews Benjamin Diehl – Challenge of CFPB’s Constitutionality Begins

Benjamin Diehl is a partner with Stroock, Stroock & Lavan. Diehl practices in both the Financial Services/Class Action and Government Relations Practice Groups. Diehl recently discussed with DS News the trial in the case of PHH Corp. v. CFPB and the implications of the case for the financial industry. PHH, a nonbank mortgage lender based in New Jersey, is challenging the constitutionality of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Director Richard Cordray …


Lawyers Who Won Happy Birthday Copyright Case Sue Over “We Shall Overcome”

“We Shall Overcome,” a song that was the “unofficial anthem to the civil rights movement,” was wrongly placed under copyright and should be put in the public domain, according to a lawsuit filed today in federal court. The complaint (PDF) was filed by the same group of lawyers who succeeded at putting the world’s most famous song, Happy Birthday, into the public domain after years of …



Ontario Court of Appeal Says G20 Class Action Can Proceed Against Toronto Police

The province’s top court said Wednesday that more than 1,000 people who were detained by police in Toronto during the G20 summit in 2010 can sue Toronto Police and others through class action. In its decision, the Ontario Court of Appeal said that class actions are appropriate and would provide strong remedies, agreeing that police cannot sweep people up in the hopes one of them may have done …


G20 ‘Kettling’ Class Action Lawsuits Given Green Light

Two G20 class-action lawsuits will go ahead, Ontario’s Court of Appeal ruled on Wednesday. Both lawsuits refer to the “kettling” of protesters during the June 26-28, 2010 summit. “We were illegally arrested, thrown into overcrowded wire cages, and treated worse than animals in a zoo,” Tommy Taylor, a lead plaintiff in the lawsuits, said in a statement Wednesday.


People Detained During G20 Summit Win Right to File Class-Action Lawsuit

More than 1,000 people detained during the chaotic G20 summit almost six years ago won the right Wednesday to go the class-action route in lawsuits against police and others. In approving the class-action process, Ontario’s top court said various reports on the events to date had made only non-binding recommendations. “The remedies sought by the plaintiffs, which include a declaration that …


Judge Approves Settlement in Class-Action Suit Regarding Sony Pictures Hack

A judge on Wednesday approved a multimillion dollar settlement in a class-action lawsuit filed by former Sony Pictures Entertainment employees whose private information was stolen in a massive data breach. The U.S. government blamed the hack on North Korea in an attempt to derail the release of the North Korean-focused comedy “The Interview.” U.S. District Judge R. Gary …