Anheuser-Busch InBev’s formal $107 billion bid to acquire SABMiller is far from a done deal: federal regulators will likely be combing through the details of the proposal for quite some time to determine how it will affect the global beer markets, and consumers’ wallets. But it looks as if lovers of the sudsy drinks are a bit ahead of the game, filing a lawsuit to stop the mega-merger. [More]
lawsuit
Razor Accuses “Hoverboard” Distributor Swagway Of Infringing On Patent
By 12.4.15
Although “Hoverboard” scooters – you know, those boards that don’t actually hover at all, in spite of the nickname – have taken over the Internet and the holiday wish lists in recent months, they’ve also made headlines for all the wrong reasons, such as allegedly exploding while charging and being under investigation by federal safety officials. And now the devices are the center of a lawsuit between big-time scooter manufacture Razor and Swagway -a leading hoverboard distributor. [More]
Target Agrees To Pay Banks $39.4M For Expenses Resulting From 2013 Data Breach
By 12.2.15
Target continues to put the disastrous 2013 holiday-season data breach behind it, agreeing today to pay $39.4 million to banks claiming they lost money during the hack. [More]
Regulators Reportedly Poised To Block Staples, Office Depot Mega-Merger
By 12.1.15
Providing office supplies for commercial businesses could be the final nail in the coffin of the would-be formation of the $6.3 billion StaplesMaxDepot Voltron, with regulators reportedly poised to block the mega-merger next week. [More]
Man Who Sued Costco After Altercation Led To Broken Leg Loses Case
By 11.20.15
Last September, a man in Oregon filed a $670,000 lawsuit against Costco claiming that a receipt-checking dispute left him with a broken leg. This week, a jury refused to award the man damages in the case. [More]
Lawsuit Claims Safeway Deliberately Sold Under-Filled Tuna Cans
By 11.17.15
The amount of tuna packaged into small circular containers is once again at the center of a consumer lawsuit. This time the $5 million complaint revolves around allegedly under-filled cans of Safeway-branded tuna. [More]
UPDATE: For-Profit Education Company EDMC Agrees To Pay $95.5M To Settle Fraud, Recruitment Violations
By 11.16.15
UPDATE: Education Management Corporation, the operator of for-profit college chains such as Brown Mackie College, Argosy University and the Art Institutes, will pay $95.5 million to settle claims it violated state and federal False Claims Act (FCA) provisions regarding its recruiting practices. [More]
Virginia Artist Accuses Target Of Ripping Off Designs For Cellphone Covers
By 10.29.15
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but that’s not how one Virginia artist sees it. At least not in the case of cellphone covers she says Target and one of its suppliers copied from her designs. [More]
Feds Win Default Judgment Against Corinthian Colleges Over Predatory Lending Scheme
By 10.28.15
In September 2014, just seven months before Everest University, WyoTech and Heald College closed their doors, federal regulators sued the for-profit colleges’ parent company Corinthian Colleges Inc claiming it duped thousands of students into taking out costly, predatory, and often financially devastating, private student loans to finance their post-secondary education. This week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau won a default judgment against the for-profit educator for engaging in a predatory lending scheme. [More]
Six Companies To Pay $30M Over Deceptive Prepaid Calling Card Ads
By 10.21.15
With mobile phones and carrier long distance plans, the average consumer might not have much need for a calling card. But that doesn’t mean companies offering such products are exempt from scrutiny from federal regulators. As such, the Federal Communications Commission today announced a $30 million settlement with six companies over deceptive marking of prepaid calling cards. [More]
West Virginia Sues VW Over Deceptive Advertising For Vehicles Equipped With “Defeat Devices”
By 10.6.15
Since the Environmental Protection Agency revealed that Volkswagen had rigged its “clean diesel” to cheat on emissions tests, a number of consumers and cities have sued the carmaker. Now West Virginia becomes the first state to join the list of those alleging the company tricked car-buyers into paying thousands of dollars more for supposedly environmentally-friendly vehicles. [More]
West Coast Grocery Chain Haggen To Close Most Stores After Expansion Gone Wrong
By 9.25.15
The purchase of nearly 150 grocery store locations in the Northwest meant to provide consumers with more options in the face of a mega-merger between chains Albertsons and Safeway has come to a rather disastrous end: Haggen Inc. plans to close most of those locations after its quick expansion turned sour and the company filed for bankruptcy. [More]
Office Depot, Staples Merger Under Scrutiny In Europe
By 9.25.15
The $6.3 billion merger between the top two office supply chains has hit yet another bump: the European Union opened an “extensive” investigation into the would-be union of Staples and rival Office Depot. [More]
Starbucks Faces Another Lawsuit Over Drinks Tainted With Chemicals
By 9.24.15
For the second time in three months, Starbucks has been accused in a lawsuit of serving up a drink with some unwanted extra ingredients. This time, a customer says she suffered months of medical problems after Starbucks sold her a hot chocolate containing industrial-strength cleaner — and that the coffee giant offered her a free drink as an apology. [More]
Missouri Attorney General Suing Walgreens Over Pricing Practices… Again
By 9.22.15
Barely a year after Walgreens reached a deal with the Missouri attorney general to close the state’s investigation into allegations of overcharging and deceptive advertising, the state’s top prosecutor is taking the drugstore chain back to court. [More]
Report: Prosecutors, GM Reach $900M Agreement To Settle Criminal Charges Over Ignition Defect
By 9.17.15
Federal prosecutors are poised to settle a criminal investigation into General Motor’s mishandling of the ignition switch defect linked to more than 120 deaths and hundreds of injuries. [More]
Target To Face Class-Action Lawsuit From Banks Over Data Breach
By 9.16.15
A month after Target agreed to pay financial institutions that issue Visa-branded credit cards $67 million related to its massive 2013 data breach, a federal judge gave the go-ahead for other banks to pursue a class-action lawsuit against the retailer. [More]
Class-Action Lawsuit Accuses Fiat Chrysler Of Hiding Safety Issues To Increase Stock Value
By 9.14.15
Fiat Chrysler once again finds itself in the legal doghouse after some of its investors filed a class-action suit, claiming the automaker deceived them by withholding information related to the safety and computer problems in millions of vehicles in order to inflate the price of company stock. [More]
