A Washington State Supreme Court decision last spring that construed that state’s Commercial Electronic Mail Act (“CEMA”) to broadly prohibit any misleading information in retailers’ email subject lines has opened the floodgates to similar state spam claims. In the past six months, there have been eight putative class action complaints alleging that retailers’ misleading email
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Tenth Circuit Adopts Majority View not Requiring “Administrative Feasibility” for Ascertainability
In Cline v. Sunoco, Inc. (R&M), 2025 WL 3199871 (10th Cir. Nov. 17, 2025), the Tenth Circuit adopted the majority view that “administrative feasibility” for identifying class members is not an independent requirement for certifying a class under Federal Rule 23. The ascertainability standard endorsed by the court requires only that the class be…
Third Circuit Affirms Dismissal of CIPA and CMIA Claims
Last week, the Third Circuit affirmed dismissal of a putative class action asserting that defendant Quest Diagnostics violated the California Invasion of Privacy Act (“CIPA”) and the Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (“CMIA”) by employing a website pixel to track and collect data about their website activity for advertising purposes. See Cole v. Quest Diagnostics…
California Court Grants Summary Judgment for Defendant, Urging the California Legislature to “Bring CIPA”—“A Total Mess”—“Into the Modern Age”
Recently, a California federal court granted summary judgment for defendant Eating Recovery Center (“ERC”) on a plaintiff’s California Invasion of Privacy Act (“CIPA”) § 631(a) wiretapping claim, joining other California federal courts that have granted summary judgment on CIPA claims for a plaintiff’s failure to “satisfy [CIPA’s] ‘in transit’ requirement as a matter of law.” …
High Price of Dissent: Court Upholds Substantial Bond on Objectors To The In Re: East Palestine Train Derailment Class Action Settlement
In 2023, a train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, sparking a class action lawsuit against the railway company and others involved in the derailment. In re: East Palestine Train Derailment, — F. 4th –, 2025 WL 3089606, at *1 (6th Cir. November 5, 2025). The class-action lawsuit concluded with a $600 million settlement, approved by…
Fifth Circuit Clarifies No Cross-Jurisdictional Tolling in Texas
By Max Larson
A recent Fifth Circuit decision, Ackerman v. Arkema Inc., reinforces that Texas law does not permit cross-jurisdictional tolling, and that federal courts in the Fifth Circuit will enforce that, notwithstanding federal tolling rules for class actions. Ackerman v. Arkema Inc., — F.4th —-, 2025 WL 3039221 (5th Cir. Oct. 31, 2025).
Following chemical explosions…
Illinois Federal Court Dismisses Deceptive Advertising Class Action Against Snack Food Company
In a recent decision, the Northern District of Illinois dismissed a deceptive advertising class action filed against Mondeléz International, Inc. (“Mondeléz”). Salguero v. Mondeléz Int’l, Inc., 2025 WL 3004534, at *6 (N.D. Ill. Oct. 27, 2025). Mondeléz, a snack food company, manufactured and distributed energy snack bars (“Zbars”) while labeling the packaging as “climate neutral…
California Court Rejects First Algorithmic Price Fixing Case to Reach Summary Judgment
On October 20, a California trial court granted summary judgment in favor of defendants in Mach v. Yardi Systems, Inc., rejecting class plaintiffs’ claims that defendants violated California’s antitrust law, the Cartwright Act, through their common use of rental pricing software. The decision, which relied on “critical” evidence produced by defendant Yardi Systems in discovery,…
Ninth Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Wiretap Claims Based on Party Exception
On October 27, 2025, the Ninth Circuit affirmed in a memorandum opinion the dismissal of a proposed class action asserting that the owner of a cybersecurity browser extension violated the California Invasion of Privacy Act (“CIPA”) and the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (“ECPA”) by intercepting communications between extension-users and search engines. Karwowski v. Gen Digital,…
Court Applies Popa to Dismiss CIPA Pen Register Claim for Lack of Article III Standing
In a win for businesses using third-party technologies to power their websites, a California federal court applied the Ninth Circuit’s recent decision in Popa v. Microsoft Corporation to dismiss a “pen register” claim brought under the California Invasion of Privacy Act (“CIPA”) for lack of Article III standing. Khamooshi v. Politico LLC, No. 24-cv-07836-SK, 2025…