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Legal News Feb 3, 2017

Flint Water Lawsuit Dismissed by Judge

A federal judge has dismissed one of the first major class-action lawsuits filed against the state in response to the Flint water crisis. U.S. District Judge John Corbett O’Meara dismissed the case on Thursday, saying allowing the plaintiffs’ claims to proceed would circumvent the Safe Drinking Water Act’s procedures. The lawsuit was filed in 2015 by Melissa Mays and several other Flint residents against Gov. Rick Snyder, the city of Flint and other state and city officials involved in making the decision to use water from the corrosive Flint River, which caused high lead levels in the water municipal water system. The plaintiffs alleged …

News Feb 3, 2017

Judge’s Aetna-Humana Ruling Sparks Class-Action Lawsuit: 5 Things to Know

Judge’s Aetna-Humana ruling sparks class-action lawsuit: 5 things to know Written by Morgan Haefner | February 03, 2017 |Print |Email A Pennsylvania law firm filed a class-action lawsuit against Aetna following a judge’s ruling the payer’s proposed $37 billion acquisition of Humana violated antitrust laws. The lawsuit alleges the Hartford, Conn.-based payer made false claims about its decision …

News Feb 3, 2017

Snapchat Paid Reggie Brown $157.5M to Settle His ‘ousted Founder’ lawsuit

Ousted Snapchat early employee Reggie Brown was paid $157.5 million in a settlement in September 2014 to close off a 2013 lawsuit he had brought against other co-founders Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy, alleging that they had taken his original idea and run with it, pushing him out of the company without compensation in the process. The details were made public for the first time in Snapchat’s …

Lawsuits Jan 26, 2017

ProPublica Files Lawsuit Seeking VA Correspondence Related to Agent Orange

ProPublica and the Virginian-Pilot filed a lawsuit today in federal court against the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, accusing the agency of stonewalling requests for documents under the Freedom of Information Act. The lawsuit, ProPublica’s second against the VA in two months, seeks a preliminary injunction compelling the government to immediately release correspondence about Agent Orange, …

Class-Actions Jan 26, 2017

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.

Class-Actions Jan 26, 2017

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 …

News Jan 26, 2017

Detroit Backs DPS Students in Literacy Fight

The city of Detroit is siding with seven Detroit public schoolchildren suing Gov. Rick Snyder and state education officials over their right to access literacy. On Thursday, attorneys for the city filed an amicus brief in a proposed class action lawsuit against Snyder and state education officials that is being touted as an unprecedented attempt to establish that literacy is a U.S. constitutional right. …

Lawsuits Jan 25, 2017

Apple Faces Lawsuit for Not Stopping iPhone Owners From Texting and Driving

Apple could face a potential class action lawsuit in California for not using its technology to prevent iPhone users from texting while driving. Apparently since no one can put their phones down when they’re driving, it’s on Apple to make them. Filed on Tuesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, the complaint alleges that Apple, though having the ability to fit the iPhone with a lock-out …

News Jan 25, 2017

Lawsuit Filed to Reduce Restrictions on Sex Offenders

The fight over what to do with North Carolina’s sex offenders could be headed to federal court after a lawsuit was filed to reduce the restrictions placed on them. A North Carolina nonprofit is part of the team that filed the lawsuit. “There’s a place for a kind of register.

News Jan 25, 2017

NRA Files Lawsuit Over Absurd Massachusetts “Assault Weapons” Ban

The National Rifle Association and other pro-liberty groups have filed a 33-page civil complaint that challenges the constitutionality of the Bay State’s ban on so-called “assault weapons,” which is one of the worst-attempts we’ve seen of ignorant politicians attempting to ban something they don’t understand . The Massachusetts chapter of the National Rifle Association has sued Governor Charlie …