The Illinois AG filed a lawsuit this week against Countrywide, alleging that the now imploded mortgage lender steered blacks and Latinos into riskier subprime loans more often than whites, even when they qualified for safer mortgages. [More]
lawsuits
Passengers Sue To Stop Continental-United Merger
By 6.30.10
With both Continental and United Airlines ready to say “I do,” a group of peeved passengers has busted into the church prepared to give their reasons for why these two carriers should not be wed. [More]
Fruit Roll-Ups Sued For Allegedly Not Actually Being Healthy
By 6.30.10
A Brooklyn, NY woman is suing General Mills for allegedly misleading consumers about Fruit Roll-Ups. She claims they are not quite as healthful as the packaging would like you to believe because they contain partially hydrogenated oil. [More]
Class Action Brewing For iPhone 4 "Death Grip" Issue?
By 6.29.10
Valleywag says the same firm that sued sued Facebook and Zynga over “scammy gaming ads” is looking to take the fight to Apple over its iPhone 4 antenna problems. [More]
YouTube Beats Viacom In $1B Copyright Lawsuit
By 6.24.10
Sorry Viacom! A judge has handed YouTube a victory in the $1 billion copyright lawsuit that the entertainment company brought against Google/YouTube. Viacom’s position was that YouTube had the responsibility to immediately remove all copyrighted materials. YouTube said it only had to comply with takedown requests. [More]
Verizon Blames Improper Billing Of Non-Verizon Customers On Human Error
By 6.23.10
Yesterday, we reported on the Attorney General of Wisconsin filing a lawsuit against Verizon for sending bills to people who had never subscribed to any Verizon services. Today, a rep for Big V contacted Consumerist to give the telecom titan’s side of the story. [More]
CSPI Wants To Make Your McDonald's Happy Meal Sad
By 6.23.10
Perennial buzzkills at the Center for Science in the Public Interest have decided to set their sights on McDonald’s, issuing the fast food giant an ultimatum: Stop putting toys in their Happy Meals in the next 30 days or face a lawsuit. [More]
Thomas' English Muffins Sues To Protect Nooks & Crannies From Hostess
By 6.14.10
For decades, the Thomas’ English Muffins have been bragging about the tasty nooks and delicious crannies of its breakfasts breads. They’re such a well-regarded company secret that only seven people at the company know the recipe. And now that one of those dudes is trying to jump ship to Hostess, it’s lawsuit time. [More]
Don't Talk Smack About Ohio Businesses Or They Can Sue You In Ohio
By 6.10.10
The Columbus Dispatch says that the Supreme Court of Ohio has decided that its perfectly OK for Ohio businesses to sue residents of other states for defamatory comments made on the Internet, as long as people from Ohio saw the comments. [More]
BP Agrees To Compensate Victims Of Oil Spill Faster
By 6.10.10
BP has announced that it will change the way claims are processed in order to speed up the time it takes for money to get to oil-soaked small businesses that are no longer able to function. Under federal law, BP has an obligation to pay for a range of losses, including property damage and lost earnings, says the AP. There has been a growing tide of complaints alleging that the oil giant is dragging its feet when it comes to paying these claims. [More]
McDonald's Threatens Mac & Cheese Restaurant With Lawsuit Over Name
By 6.9.10
McDonald’s has lost at least two customers in the San Francisco area. The fast food Goliath has threatened to sue a pair of hopeful restaurateurs if they go ahead with the plan to name their plan to name their small macaroni and cheese-themed restaurant “Little Mac.” [More]
Texas Sues Bally Total Fitness Over Fake Past Due Billing
By 6.9.10
Texas’ Attorney General Greg Abbott is going after Bally Total Fitness for the fraudulent “past due” scheme it was using to trick former customers into re-upping with the gym. The AG office says that the gym mailed more than 11,000 fake notices to former customers between last summer and March 2010, and at least 1,000 Texans fell for it and paid the fees. [More]
Like Everything Else Copyright Problems Are Simpler On TV
By 6.9.10
In TV Land, where murders are solved and prosecuted in an hour and family issues are wrapped up in a cool 30 minutes there is a new problem being simplified — copyright infringement. Despite being brought to us by Rupert Murdoch, Fox’s Glee is full of depictions of behavior that News Corp supposedly objects too. [More]
Sexy Banker: Chase Told Me To Shut Up About Citibank Lawsuit
By 6.7.10
You remember last week’s story of the former Citibank employee who claimed she was fired for being too sexy? Of course you do. Now she’s claiming that her current employer, JP Morgan Chase, has asked her to stop her public campaign against a fellow banking giant. [More]
Big Tobacco Sues NYC, Claims Anti-Smoking Posters Are Unconstitutional
By 6.4.10
Philip Morris, R.J. Reynolds and Lorillard are bankrolling a lawsuit that says that the graphic anti-smoking posters that the city now requires near cash registers are unconstitutional. [More]
BP Could Be On The Hook For Billions For Violating Clean Water Act
By 6.4.10
On Thursday BP checked its mail and got a love letter from its not-so-secret admirer, the Center for Biological Diversity, notifying the spill-a-riffic British oil giant that it would be sued under the Clean Water Act. [More]
Congress Considers Federal Anti-Slapp Law To Protect Consumers From Angry Businesses
By 6.2.10
The New York Times has an article about Justin Kurtz, the college student who angered the owner of T&J Towing by creating a Facebook page about the company and who is now fighting a $750k defamation lawsuit. That sort of lawsuit–the kind meant to intimidate an opponent into silence–is called a “strategic lawsuit against public participation,” or Slapp. Now two Representatives are sponsoring a bill that would create a federal anti-Slapp law to protect consumers from vengeful businesses. [More]
Did Citibank Fire This Woman For Being Too Sexy?
By 6.2.10
A former banker at a Manhattan branch of Citibank has filed a lawsuit against parent company Citigroup, alleging that she was fired from her job for just being too attractive. [More]
