Class-Actions


Class Actions Follow FTC Lawsuit Against Qualcomm

The Federal Trade Commission’s two-year probe of Qualcomm has led to the government filing suit against the California-based company, accusing executives of employing “onerous” tactics allowing it to “maintain a monopoly on baseband processors.” Since then, the semiconductor manufacturer has been slapped with at least two putative class action complaints filed …


Appeals Court Advances Two Samsung Class-Action Lawsuits

A federal appeals court ruled in San Francisco Thursday that two consumer lawsuits filed over Samsung smartphones can’t be forced to go to arbitration and instead can proceed toward trials. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said that in both cases, a mandatory arbitration provision contained in a warranty booklet placed in a box packaging the smartphone didn’t amount to a contract.


Wage and Hour Class Action Boom Called Likely to Last

The number of wage and hour class lawsuits filed in federal court dipped slightly during 2016, but employers should expect a rebound in 2017, according to a management lawyer who tracks workplace class actions.
The 8,304 Fair Labor Standards Act collective actions filed was down, compared with 8,954 such lawsuits filed in 2015, said Gerald Maatman, a Seyfarth Shaw LLP partner who is co-chair of the firm’s class action litigation practice group. But the 2015 figure was the highest since the firm formally began tracking employment law class actions in 2004, and the 2016 total is the second-highest, Maatman told Bloomberg BNA. The top 10 wage and hour settlements reached in 2016 totaled $695.5 million, up from $463.6 million in 2015, Maatman said. The long-term growth in class lawsuits against employers alleging violations of minimum wage, overtime and other wage and hour requirements isn’t stopping anytime soon, he said. The Trump administration could …


Lawsuit Filed Against Pediatrician in Child Pornography Case

Two women whose children were seen by an Albuquerque pediatric urologist facing a federal child pornography charge filed a class-action lawsuit Saturday alleging that the patients were “treated by a depraved sexual predator” who used his position “to engage in pedophilia and voyeurism.” Dr. Guy Rosenschein was arrested in November and remains in federal custody pending trial on charges of …


The DC Police Chief Behind the Inauguration Crackdown Has a Disgraceful History

According to a class-action lawsuit, more than 200 people hit with “felony riot” charges following their mass arrest at Friday’s inauguration protest in Washington, D.C. were indiscriminately swept up “without warning and without any dispersal order” and attacked with chemical weapons, flash-bang grenades and batons. The crackdown, which was overseen by acting Metropolitan Police Department …



Ford Class Action Goes Beyond the Kuga Models That Have Been Recalled

But fire investigation reports seen by TMG Digital‚ and which form part of a class action suit that is being prepared against Ford‚ say the fires were caused by electrical faults. In one of these cases an incorrectly installed spotlight bulb started the fire‚ an investigation report says. The class action is being led by the family of Reshall Jimmy‚ who burnt to death in December 2015 when his …



Supreme Court to Weigh Securities Class Action Timing Question

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to resolve a legal dispute over whether certain securities class action lawsuits can be barred because they were filed too late. The justices agreed to hear an appeal filed by the California Public Employees’ Retirement System seeking to revive a lawsuit against various financial institutions over their alleged role …