In a funny twist of fate, last week Facebook failed in its attempt to force a site to remove incriminating and/or embarrassing personal information about Facebook’s founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. We think Facebook missed a real opportunity here—they should have distributed the documents personally and attached ads to them.
lawsuits
Consumer Wins $2.7 Mil Lawsuit Against Equifax For Screwing Up Her Credit
By 12.4.07
Angela P. Williams tried for more than a decade to clear up her credit report after Equifax confused her records with those of a person with bad credit but a similar name. The company denied any wrongdoing, right up until the jury awarded a $219,000 verdict in damages against Equifax, and $2.7 million in punitive damages for violating the federal credit-reporting laws. The decision is a victory for frustrated consumers at the mercy of these powerful institutions whose record-keeping errors can ruin innocent lives.
Apple, AT&T, Sued Over Visual Voicemail
By 12.3.07
A firm called Klausner Technologies has just announced that they are suing both Apple and AT&T for patent infringement over the iPhone’s “visual voicemail” feature. Klausner Technologies has already sued VOIP provider Vonage and AOL/Time Warner for the same darn thing, and both companies chose to settle and license the technology from Klausner.
Kmart Loses Toilet Paper Tax Lawsuit
By 12.1.07
Mary Bach, the woman who sued Kmart for charging tax on toilet paper, has won her lawsuit and $100. Kmart offered to settle with Bach, but she declined.
TJX To Pay Up To 40.9 Million For Data Breach
By 11.30.07
TJX will be paying as much as 40.9 million in a settlement with Visa and the bank that processes their credit card payments , says the Associated Press.
The funds will be used to help U.S. credit card issuers such as banks recover costs related to the breach, which may have exposed more than 100 million cards to potential fraud, TJX said.
"Vista Capable" Stickers Causing All Kinds Of Problems For Microsoft
By 11.29.07
Around this time last year, computer manufactures were trying to convince people not to wait until Vista came out to buy a new computer. To that end Microsoft devised what was (and still is) considered to be one of the most confusing marketing campaigns ever.
Is The RIAA Afraid Of Harvard?
By 11.27.07
Of all the Ivy League schools, Harvard is the only one to have escaped the deluge of RIAA pre-litigation letters. What gives?
RIAA Told To Provide Breakdown Of Expenses Per Each Downloaded Song
By 11.27.07
Over the Thanksgiving weekend, a Brooklyn judge made a defendant in an RIAA lawsuit very happy when he ordered the RIAA to document the actual expenses incurred per downloaded song.
Walmart Pays For Brain Damaged Employee's Medical Bills, Then Sues For The Money Back
By 11.21.07
A Walmart employee was hit by a semi, leaving her permanently brain-damaged and in a wheelchair. Walmart paid for her medical fees and her family successfully sued the trucking company. Now Walmart wants all the money she got from the trucking company. The family only has Social Security benefits and medicaid to pay for her 24 hour medical care. The company health plan contains a clause that allows it to recoup medical expenses it paid if the person also wins damages in an injury suit. This cost-effective management of the employee health plan is just another way Walmart delivers America everday low prices.
Couple Loses 25% Of Property To Litigious Neighbors
By 11.21.07
A Boulder couple lost 25% of their property after a neighbor used the legal principle of “adverse possession” to west control of it. For 25 years, Richard McClean and Edith Stevens used part of a vacant lot owned by their neighbor, the Kirlins. They extended their rock garden into it, held parties, and stacked wood upon it. Recently they filed to suit to take control of the land. The judge ruled that since the Kirlins hadn’t contested the Stevens use before, they were less attached to the property, and awarded the claim to the litigants. Naturally, the case has caused an uproar in the Boulder community who are delighted to have discovered a land grabber within their midst. The Kirlins plan to appeal, and the Boulderites plan to hold protest picnics among the lots scrabbly grass and weeds.
California Sues Toy Companies Over Lead
By 11.20.07
This week, California’s attorney general filed a lawsuit against 20 companies implicated in the various lead-tainted toy fiascos of 2007. The lawsuit “alleges that the companies violated the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986… because they didn’t notify customers of toys in the marketplace that contained high concentrations of lead.” The federal government doesn’t require such labeling, but California does.
TJX Proposes One-Day Sale As Part Of Class Action Settlement
By 11.20.07
When TJX revealed earlier this year that they’d failed to keep safe over 45 million customer credit card accounts, they were hit with both consumer and bank class action lawsuits. Now they’ve submitted a proposed settlement for the consumer class action suit that includes a strange, somewhat insulting offer: a “one-day sale” for victims of the theft. Attorneys general from eight states have filed an objection against the proposal, citing that even if it’s a well-intentioned goodwill gesture, it doesn’t belong as part of any official, legal settlement, which should be designed to benefit the victims rather than the retailer.
No Refunds For Poisonous Aqua Dots
By 11.20.07
The distributor of children’s toy Aqua Dots, which contained beads that turned into a date rape drug if ingested, is refusing to give refunds to parents. Instead, they want to offer a replacement toy. Some parents are mad as they don’t understand why they should forced to accept another toy from a company that sold them poison the first time around. Here comes the lawsuit! Parents who would rather get a different toy can go to aquadotsrecall.com.
Comcast Sued For Traffic Meddling
By 11.15.07
Ars Technica is reporting that a California resident has sued Comcast for their traffic shaping shenanigans and is seeking class action status. He’s accusing Comcast of “breach of contract, breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and violating the California Consumer Legal Remedies Act.”
J.K. Rowling Sues To Stop Publication Of Fan-Written Potter Reference Book
By 11.14.07
Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling takes a dim view of independently authored reference books, it seems. She’s joined a lawsuit to stop the publication of a fan-written reference book based on a website that she herself admitted to using while fact checking her writing.
Merck Settles Vioxx Lawsuits For $4.85 Billion
By 11.12.07
Merck has announced that it has agreed to settle the majority of the 60,000 Vioxx-related individual claims against it.
Blogger Who Wrote About A Business Wins Defamation Lawsuit
By 11.9.07
Considering the lifeblood of The Consumerist is publicizing stories of bad businesses and bad business practices—including drawing attention to personal stories on other peoples’ blogs—we were happy to read that blogger Philip Smith won the federal defamation and trademark dilution lawsuit brought against him by a company he wrote about on his personal blog. Although it doesn’t guarantee that other angry business owners or their legal teams won’t come after you for writing about your unpleasant experiences with them, it cheers us to know that, at least in this case, a federal judge felt that Smith should be protected from retaliation for telling his side of the story. “It’s not about the title, it’s about the content, said Judge Henry Hurlong, Jr.; a journalist turns out to be anyone who does journalism, and bloggers who do so have the same rights and privileges under federal law as the ‘real’ journalists.”
UPDATE: Centex Offers New Home To Second Contest Winner
By 11.8.07
DENVER, Nov. 8, 2007 — The Denver division of Centex Homes has offered to give a house to Veronica Baca, one of the original finalists in a disputed home give-away contest in Denver. In addition, the Company has offered to provide furnishings for the home and payment for all reasonable legal fees that Mrs. Baca has incurred.
