While class action lawsuits can be an effective consumer remedy, they are not a quick one. Former drivers for ride-hailing service Uber first filed a class action on behalf of all California drivers in 2013, and it has just now been certified as a class action. The original lawsuit alleges that drivers for Uber are misclassified employees, who should have their vehicle expenses covered by their “employer,” Uber. [More]
class actions
Nestle Says There’s No Place For Forced Labor In Cat Food Supply Chain
By 8.31.15
After American consumers learned about horrible working conditions and trafficked workers on some fishing vessels out of Thailand, class action lawsuits began, accusing American, European, and Thai companies of benefiting from deplorable working conditions farther up their supply chain. One of the companies accused, the Swiss conglomerate Nestle, says that “forced labor has no place in [their] supply chain” for Fancy Feast cat food. [More]
Class Action Suit Alleges Nestle Benefits From Fishing Vessel Slavery To Make Fancy Feast
By 8.28.15
Last week, we shared the news that a Costco customer had filed a class action lawsuit against the warehouse retailer, claiming that they sell shrimp benefiting from slave labor. Now cat owners have filed a similar lawsuit against Nestle, parent company of Fancy Feast cat food, claiming that the company uses mistreated and enslaved workers to catch fish destined for cat food cans. [More]
Starkist Class Action Settlement Means Customers Get $25 In Cash Or $50 In Tuna
By 8.25.15
Two and a half years ago, a man who eats tuna filed a class action lawsuit against Starkist, a tuna company. His allegation was that the company was deliberately under-filling each can by a few tenths of an ounce. That might not make a difference to one consumer making one tuna salad, but would add up over millions of cans. While Starkist doesn’t admit fault, the case has been settled. [More]
Class Action Suit Against Hollister For Canceling Promo Gift Cards Goes Forward
By 6.2.15
While class action lawsuits can be a useful method of consumer justice, they are not a swift one. Take a class action against the clothing store Hollister, which is owned by Abercrombie & Fitch: a customer accuses the store of making promotional gift cards expire even though there was no expiration date printed on the cards. It was just certified as a class action last month, and the promotion in question happened in 2009. [More]
Sears Shareholders Sue, Claim CEO Is Stripping Company For Parts
By 6.1.15
For many years here at Consumerist, we developed a theory that the venerable department store Sears was secretly a vast anti-capitalist prank, which actively avoided selling merchandise. Its goal was something else: perhaps waiting for the retail real estate market to turn around and cash in the land and buildings that it owns. A group of Sears Holdings shareholders are starting to think the same thing, and they’ve filed a lawsuit against the company and its manifesto-writing CEO, Eddie Lampert. [More]
Ohio Jury Finds Whirlpool Not Liable For Moldy Front-Loading Washers
By 10.30.14
For the last six years, appliance-maker Whirlpool has fought the prospect of class action lawsuits filed by the owners of early front-loading high-efficiency washing machines. When the Supreme Court declined to hear Whirlpool’s case for the second time earlier this year, actual suits could go forward. The case on behalf of Whirlpool washer owners in Ohio went to trial this month, and a jury found the company not liable. [More]
Shoes Are Not Magic: Vibram Agrees To $3.75 Million Class Action Settlement
By 5.8.14
Even runners, people who spend lots of time pushing themselves physically through all sorts of weather, are susceptible to the idea that one special product can provide near-magical advantages. Vibram USA has settled a class-action lawsuit alleging that they marketed their weird-looking Five Fingers shoes as providing physical benefits for which they have no evidence. [More]
Did You File A Claim In Price-Fixing Class Action Against EA? Watch Your Mail
By 11.12.13
Did you file a claim in the recent class action settlement with EA that claimed they took advantage of an unfair marketplace for officially licensed football games? Watch your mailbox: tipsters report receiving their settlement checks in the mail. [More]
Not Everyone Is Disappointed With De Beers Class Action Checks
By 6.12.13
Yesterday, we shared the news that people have started to receive their settlement checks from the class action lawsuit that accused diamond merchants De Beers of price-fixing. (Gasp!) The first reader we heard from, Sean, was upset that he only received $48 back on a $3,000 claim, or about 1.6%. Other readers are happier with their settlements…but, to point out the obvious here, people with larger settlements are a lot happier, and people who spent more on shiny rocks in the first place received larger checks. [More]
Oh Look, It’s My $48 De Beers Class Action Settlement Check
By 6.11.13
Do you remember May 2008? That’s when we reminded our readers to get their claims in to get their piece of the $135 million class-action settlement against diamond miners, merchants, and pseudo-monopoly holders De Beers. Since then, class members have been waiting for their settlement checks. And waiting. Then waiting some more. [More]
Woman Files $5 Million Class Action Over Broken iPhone Power Button
By 5.16.13
The power button on a woman’s iPhone 4 failed, and she’s not able to turn the phone on or off. That pretty much renders it useless, so she ditched AT&T and got a new phone. But she never forgot that shiny, shiny iPhone that broke down shortly after its initial one-year warranty was up. She filed a class action on behalf of herself and other powerless iPhone users. What raised eyebrows is that she sued under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, accusing Apple and AT&T of conspiring together to sell expensive two-year contracts on phones that break after one year. [More]
Suing Lancôme Because Makeup Lacks Magic Powers Takes Serious Chutzpah
By 5.3.13
All one observant Jewish mom wanted was to look pretty for the day of her son’s bar mitzvah, during the sabbath when she isn’t allowed to apply or touch up her makeup between sundown Friday and sundown Saturday. She bought a bottle of Lancôme makeup online that boasted 24-hour coverage…but also expected the promises the product’s ad made to be literally true. We posted this story when it broke earlier this week, but got hold of some new information that makes the whole situation even more stupid. [More]
Radio Shack Issues Vouchers After Class Action Settlement, Won’t Let Me Use Them
By 4.24.13
Diane received a merchandise voucher from Radio Shack as part of a class action settlement. It has the very nice feature of being usable on “any merchandise” in the store, but in this case “any merchandise” means “anything in the store except for that thing you wanted to buy.” [More]
Lawsuit: NYC’s Metropolitan Museum Of Art Misleads Visitors Into Paying High ‘Suggested’ Admission Price
By 3.25.13
When you ask for a ticket at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, you get charged $25. Because that’s the admission price, right? Not so fast! As the fine print says, it’s actually a “suggested donation.” You have to pay something, but that “something” could be a penny that you found on the sidewalk. Upset at this, two museum-goers have filed a class action lawsuit accusing the museum of misleading the public. [More]
Woman Sues California Pizza Kitchen For $5 Million, Shocked That Frozen Pizzas Could Be Unhealthy
By 1.31.13
Sure, you could assume that because it’s illegal for restaurants in your state to use trans fats in the foods they serve, a frozen meal branded with the name of a restaurant chain wouldn’t have trans fats in it. You would be wrong, but you’re certainly free to make that assumption. That’s what a California woman who bought some California Pizza Kitchen frozen pizzas thought, though. Now she’s suing Nestle, the company that makes CPK frozen meals, for $5 million in a class action suit, intending to save us all from the hidden poisons that are actually disclosed on the back of the box. [More]
Milk, Aspirin, Broadband, And LivingSocial: Some Class Actions You Might Be Eligible For
By 12.14.12
Organic milk, LivingSocial vouchers, Norton Antivirus, Verizon Wireless games, and Clearwire Internet service: what do they all have in common? All of these companies have open class-action lawsuits against them for which eligible customers can file claims and get cash. [More]
Bought A Groupon, An iPhone 4, Or Coconut Water? These Class Actions Are For You
By 5.24.12
Have you bought coconut water, pinot noir, a Samsung TV, or an iPhone 4? If you purchased any of these products, plus a whole bunch more, you may be eligible to file a claim in one of these recently settled class action lawsuits. Proof of purchase isn’t always required, but lying is bad consumer karma. [More]
