Settlements

Vivendi Ends 15-Year U.S. Lawsuit Over Big Merger, to Pay $26.4 Million

Vivendi SA (VIV.PA) said it agreed to pay $26.4 million to end nearly 15 years of U.S. litigation accusing the French media company of misleading shareholders about its finances in connection with a $46 billion three-way merger. Thursday’s accord resolved claims that Vivendi and officials including former Chief Executive Jean-Marie Messier made false or …


Paralyzed Castle Rock Woman Receives $14.9 Million in Lawsuit Against Surgery Center

A jury awarded a Castle Rock couple the second largest medical negligence verdict in Colorado history on Thursday, the couple’s attorney said. Robbin and Ed Smith received $14.9 million from The Surgery Center at Lone Tree in the case after an injection caused her to be paralyzed from the waist down because of a spinal cord infarction. Robbin was 57-years-old when she …


Hertz Schram Obtains $39 Million Settlement on Behalf of Disabled Retirees in Class Action Lawsuit

The Plan, a multiemployer pension plan subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), dramatically reduced the class members’ Disability Retirement Benefits (DRB) by an average of more than 61 percent and threatened total elimination of their DRB. The 324 plaintiffs, most of whom reside in the Detroit area, filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District …


AWG, United Potato Growers Settle Price-Fixing Lawsuit

Associated Wholesale Grocers and potato industry defendants have resolved a lawsuit alleging price fixing by the United Potato Growers of America. “All legal matters between Associated Wholesale Grocers Inc. and potato industry defendants, including United Potato Growers of America, have been successfully resolved,” according to a statement from the potato group March …


At&T/DirecTV Give in to Government Demands in Collusion Lawsuit Settlement

DirecTV and its owner, AT&T, have promised the US Department of Justice that they will not illegally share information with rival pay-TV providers in order to keep the price of TV channels down. The DOJ sued DirecTV and AT&T in November 2016, saying the satellite-TV company colluded with competitors during contentious negotiations to broadcast Los Angeles Dodgers games. AT&T initially said that …



Instacart Agreed to Settle a Class-Action Lawsuit for $4.6 million

On the heels of a $400 million round at a $3.4 billion valuation, Instacart has agreed on a $4.65 million fee to settle a class-action lawsuit around claims that the on-demand grocery delivery startup misclassified its personal shoppers as independent contractors, and also failed to reimburse them for their work expenses, Recode reports. There are more than 31,000 Instacart shoppers involved in …


PwC Settles $3B Lawsuit With MF Global Over Collapse

A Manhattan federal jury has been robbed of its chance to decide whether the collapse of financial firm MF Global was the fault of its CEO Jon Corzine or his accounting firm. MF Global, which was seeking to pin the blame for the firm’s stunning 2011 demise on PriceWaterHouseCoopers, settled the case mid-trial, sources said. The parties reached an agreement on Wednesday and notified the judge …


Neiman Marcus to Pay $1.6 Million in Shopper Data Breach Lawsuit

Neiman Marcus has agreed to pay $1.6 million to settle a data breach class action in Illinois federal court. The three-year-old case stemmed from the December 2013 cyber attack that exposed credit card data of an estimated 350,000 Neiman Marcus shoppers. The high-profile incident, caused by malware installed on Neiman Marcus terminals, was similar to a larger attack on Target and other …


DirecTV Settles U.S. Antitrust Lawsuit Over Dodgers Channel

DirecTV settled a U.S. antitrust lawsuit that accused the satellite-television provider of colluding with its competitors during a 2014 standoff with Time Warner Cable Inc. over a channel devoted to the Los Angeles Dodgers. DirecTV won’t share competitively sensitive information with rivals and agreed to a compliance program to make sure it abides by the settlement, according to an agreement …