The plaintiffs and the defendants in the ongoing Sandy Hook Elementary School gun lawsuit continue to pursue their respective, but divergent, legal goals in the state Superior Court case. The plaintiffs want to obtain detailed information from the defendants about the marketing of the semiautomatic rifle that a gunman used to kill 20 first graders and six educators at the school in …
A federal appeals court on Thursday cast doubt on the legitimacy of a settlement resolving claims that Subway tricked customers by selling “Footlong” subs that were less than a foot long. A three-judge panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago heard arguments on a challenge by prominent class-action critic Ted Frank, who said the settlement gave too much money to lawyers and no …
Fraud allegations won’t stop the Democratic Party primaries from rolling on in the Bronx — at least for now. A group of activists who sued the Bronx Democratic Party — claiming they were used as straw candidates for political posts — have not shown they will suffer enough “irreparable harm” to justify halting next week’s elections, a federal judge ruled Tuesday. But Judge Kimba Wood said in …
Less than a month after he denied a motion by minor-league baseball players to classify their lawsuit against Major League Baseball as a class action, the U.S. district court judge presiding over the case has given the plaintiffs a second chance. In an order issued Aug. 19, Judge Joseph C. Spero granted a motion by the plaintiffs to reconsider his order to deny class certification in the case, …
Facebook Inc. defeated a bid for a group lawsuit claiming the company illegally gave its users’ personal information to advertisers, with a judge ruling the plaintiffs didn’t have enough in common to pursue a class action. Facebook users accused the social network of “automatically and surreptitiously” disclosing to advertisers information about them when they clicked on ads. …
Tom Schuck, a member of the Catholic Civil Rights League, believes a lawsuit against Bill Whatcott, which stems from Toronto Pride Parade in July, could set a dangerous precedent. It was announced Aug. 12 by lawyer Douglas Elliott in Ottawa, who was joined by lead plaintiffs George Smitherman, the former Liberal deputy premier of Ontario, and gay activist Christopher Hudspeth. “It’s really not …
Former Sen. John Edwards has pledged to support hundreds of U.S. sailors, Marines and airmen who say they were sickened by radioactive fallout from the 2011 disaster at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. U.S. forces participated in relief efforts after a 9.0-magnitude earthquake triggered a tsunami that battered swaths of northeastern Japan, including the plant. Edwards — the 2004 …
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 …
The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, or FLSA, protects workers by (1) requiring a minimum wage, (2) mandating overtime pay for work exceeding 40 hours in a workweek, (3) prohibiting child labor, and (4) requiring employers to keep accurate time records. There’s a problem, though. Consider an individual worker with a solid wage claim.
A federal district judge in California has approved a settlement of a class-action lawsuit against Mercedes-Benz over faulty roof air conditioners in Sprinter vans. The settlement extends the warranty on about 10,000 Freightliner and Mercedes Sprinter vans nationwide, attorneys representing plaintiffs in the case said. Customers said the air conditioners leaked so much water, it seemed to be …