A court in the Northern District of Illinois and a court in the Middle District of Florida recently arrived at opposite conclusions in two very similar putative class actions, both of which alleged that the claim “natural flavor with other natural flavors” on drink labels was misleading because synthetic malic acid was present in the
Class Action & Mass Torts
Ninth Circuit Holds COPPA Does Not Preempt Consistent State Law Claims Premised on COPPA Violations
By Amy Heath & Kathryn Cahoy
The Ninth Circuit recently held that the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, which gives the Federal Trade Commission authority to regulate the online collection of personal information from children under the age of 13, does not preempt consistent state law, potentially increasing the risk of class action litigation based on alleged COPPA violations. See Jones…
A Closer Look: The Rise of Class Actions in the UK and the EU
From the implementation of the EU Representative Actions Directive to an explosion of claims in the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal, coupled with an ever-increasing role for litigation funders, class actions in both the UK and the EU are now taking off. We take a look at some of the key developments below.…
Leaving a Bitter Taste: Class Action Lawsuits Alleging Lead and Cadmium in Dark Chocolate
Dark chocolate manufacturers have recently been hit with a wave of putative class action complaints in New York and California federal courts, alleging that the confectioners breached an implied warranty of merchantability and engaged in misleading advertising by failing to disclose the levels of lead and cadmium in their dark chocolate products. According to the…
A Closer Look: Equitable Jurisdiction in the Ninth Circuit After Sonner
By Amy Heath & Sonya Winner
Under the Ninth Circuit’s 2020 decision in Sonner v. Premier Nutrition Corp., 971 F.3d 834 (9th Cir. 2020), plaintiffs cannot recover equitable relief in federal court if they have an adequate legal remedy. More than two years later, district courts remain divided on how to apply Sonner at the pleading stage, with some postponing…
Sixth Circuit Applies Offensive Collateral Estoppel in Subsequent Mass Tort Proceedings
The Sixth Circuit recently affirmed a district court’s application of nonmutual offensive collateral estoppel to negligence claims arising out of an MDL—potentially raising the stakes for bellwether trials that are not considered binding by the district court at the outset and the impact that rulings in those cases could have on later decisions.…
SCOTUS Set to Resolve Circuit Split over Stays Pending Arbitration Appeal
The Supreme Court recently granted certiorari in a case to resolve a circuit split that has serious implications for companies who are unsuccessful in their efforts to enforce arbitration provisions in federal district courts.
In Coinbase, Inc. v. Bielski, No. 22-105, the defendant moved to compel arbitration in two putative class actions. The motions to…
First Circuit Holds that Class Action Settlements Require Separate Counsel for Class Members with Significantly Different Claims
The First Circuit recently vacated and remanded a district court’s approval of a proposed class action settlement “because the absence of separate settlement counsel for distinct groups of class members makes it too difficult to determine whether the settlement treated class members equitably.” Murray v. Grocery Deliver E-Servs. USA Inc., — F.4th —, 2022 WL…
Second Circuit Clarifies Predominance Analysis in Decision Overturning Class Certification of 8,000 Retirement Plans
By Nick Pastan
The Second Circuit recently vacated a district court ruling certifying a class of thousands of employee benefit plans whose fiduciaries contracted with the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (TIAA) to provide collateralized loans to plan participants, in a case that clarifies how courts must analyze challenges to Rule 23’s “predominance” requirement for class…
New Class Action Litigation Targets Titanium Dioxide After EU Ban
Earlier this year, the European Commission decided to ban titanium dioxide as a food additive in the European Union, with a six-month phasing-out period that culminated in a full ban as of August 7, 2022. The decision was based on a recent assessment by the European Food Safety Authority, which had raised concerns over the…