The Southern District of California recently declined to certify a class based on plaintiffs’ failure to offer class wide proof of deception and materiality. In Gross et al. v. Vilore Foods Company, Inc., plaintiffs alleged that Kern fruit juice products were deceptively labeled as “100% Natural” or made with whole fruit when the drinks in
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Heartbreakers Gentlemen’s Club Gets Lucky with Arbitration Win in Fifth Circuit
A recent Fifth Circuit decision continues the trend of courts rejecting putative class and collective actions where absent class members are subject to arbitration agreements.
Exotic dancers sued A&D Interests, Inc. (doing business as the “Heartbreakers Gentlemen’s Club”) in a putative Fair Labor Standards Act collective action for allegedly misclassifying the club’s dancers as independent…
Were You Exposed to Toxic Substances in Consumer Products? You May Lack Standing to Sue in the Third Circuit.
A consumer purchases a product and later finds out that the product was contaminated with a toxic substance. Was the consumer injured? Without knowing more, the answer is “no”—at least for the purposes of establishing standing in the Third Circuit. In Koronthaly v. L’Oreal USA, Inc., 374 F. App’x 257, 259 (3d Cir. 2010), the…
Court Grants in Part Dismissal of Certain Privacy Claims, Including CCPA Claim, Against The Retail Equation and Retailers
A California federal district court recently granted in part the dismissal of certain federal and state privacy claims, including a California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) claim, in Hayden v. The Retail Equation, Inc., No. 8:20-cv-01203 (C.D. Cal.). Plaintiffs in Hayden alleged that twelve retailers unlawfully shared customer data with a computer software firm, The Retail Equation…
Companies Increasingly Facing Class Actions Connected to Cryptocurrency Theft
A recent class action refiled in federal court against Shopify highlights a growing trend of lawsuits against companies related to the theft of cryptocurrency, particularly as a result of internal company threats. See Forsberg et al v. Shopify, Inc. et al, 1:22-cv-00436 (D. Del.). Despite not itself being a repository for or facilitating the sale…
California District Court Dissects Data Breach Claims, Allowing Some To Proceed
Courts across the country continue to grapple with thorny questions surrounding the legal implications of cyber-attacks. Recently, a federal court in California considered whether a plaintiff could assert a claim against a company when a cyber-criminal acquired his personal information from the company and then used that information to steal his cryptocurrency. The district court…
Seventh Circuit Explains That for Commonality Purposes Plaintiffs Need Not Establish the Content of a Uniform Policy, Only Its Existence
By Andrew Leff
In a recent decision, the Seventh Circuit answered a key question in Rule 23 commonality analyses: whether at the certification stage plaintiffs need to establish the terms of an allegedly common policy, or only its mere existence. Ross v. Gossett, — F.4th —-, 2022 WL 1421315 (7th Cir. May 5, 2022).
The putative class consisted…
Plaintiffs Try to Hook Bumble Bee Tuna with Deceptive Marketing Claim
By Jordan Moran
A recent lawsuit alleges that Bumble Bee Foods, one of the nation’s largest producers of canned tuna, does not use a “fair and safe supply chain,” as the company’s marketing claims.
The suit is the latest in a surge of cases filed under D.C.’s unique consumer-protection statute. The plaintiff, a D.C.-based nonprofit focused on…
Court Dismisses Illinois Biometrics Information Privacy Suit for Impermissible Group Pleading
By Ellen Choi & Kathryn Cahoy
Last week, a federal court in Illinois dismissed a putative class action complaint alleging violations of the Illinois Biometrics Information Privacy Act (“BIPA”) for engaging in “impermissible group pleading.” The ruling serves as a reminder that a complaint that fails to plead specific facts as to each defendant does not meet the Rule 8 pleading…
Supreme Court May Expand Where Corporations Are Subject to General Personal Jurisdiction
By Jordan Moran
Where are corporations subject to general jurisdiction? The answer to that question matters a lot: if a corporation is subject to general jurisdiction in a state, anyone can sue it there on any claim. Traditionally, though, corporations have been subject to general jurisdiction in only two states: where they are incorporated and where they maintain…