A judge’s recent decision favoring AXA Equitable Life Insurance Co. in a lawsuit over excessive mutual fund fees in variable annuities was a win of sorts for insurance companies, in that it upholds a traditional structure of offering investment options. At issue in the lawsuit, Sivolella v. AXA Equitable Life Insurance Co. et al, is whether the insurer and an RIA subsidiary, which act as …
A judge on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit filed against Illinois by a coalition of social services providers trying to force the state to pay more than $100 million in overdue bills. Cook County Circuit Court Judge Rodolfo Garcia ruled that the fiscally shaky state, which has racked up $8 billion in unpaid bills, was immune from lawsuits of this …
The Superior Court of California has issued a tentative ruling dismissing a lawsuit filed over a hotelier-approved assessment on hotel room bills, which funds operations of the San Diego Tourism Marketing District. Judge Joel Wohlfeil said the court found that San Diegans for Open Government, represented by local attorney Cory Briggs, does not have standing since it does not include parties …
The court is rubbing salt in the wound, too. The previously scheduled trial will still go ahead in early September, but it’s now limited to Beats’ bid to recoup legal costs. In a sense, Monster’s sue-happy nature is coming back to haunt the company.
A federal judge in Kansas has thrown out a Muslim inmate’s lawsuit that accused a county jail and its administrators of violating the convicted killer’s religious rights. U.S. Magistrate Judge David J. Waxse dismissed Eddie Gordon Sr.’s case involving the Shawnee County Jail after Gordon missed a court-imposed deadline to submit any evidence the alleged misconduct harmed him …
Nearly two years ago, the Federal Trade Commission sued AT&T for allegedly misleading wireless customers by charging them for “unlimited” data plans while simultaneously throttling their cellular connection speeds when they passed certain monthly thresholds. AT&T failed in 2015 to get the case dismissed in District Court, but yesterday succeeded in convincing a federal appeals court to throw …
Uber Technologies Inc. was dealt a second rejection of a legal settlement, this time in a case over claims the company misled riders when it charged them a $1 “safe rides fee” that earned the company almost half a billion dollars. U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar in San Francisco said the proposed $28.5 million payout wasn’t enough for customers, considering how much Uber took in from the fees. …
Can employers still require employees to sign arbitration agreements with class action waivers as a condition of employment? Last week, the Ninth Circuit became the second appellate court to adopt the National Labor Relations Board’s (“NLRB”) position that class action waivers violate the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) in Morris v. Ernst & Young LLP. In February 2012, the plaintiffs …
Mizuho Bank recently found itself in a legal trouble after its association with defunct Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox was recognized by a US court. The bank’s name surfaced in the notorious Bitcoin theft case when some of its victims claimed that their withdrawal requests was denied by the Japanese bank.
A federal judge on Monday shot down another attempt by Donald Trump to stop a group of former students from suing his former real estate school. Trump had argued that the fraud lawsuit shouldn’t have class action status because one of the students in the case, Sonny Low, didn’t actually care whether Trump University was accredited. But U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel ruled that …