A for-profit educator that was recently hit with a $13 million settlement for allegedly filing false claims for student aid is now accused of stealing an Alabama woman’s identity and forging her signature to take out a student loan for her son, even though he never attended that school. [More]
lawsuits
Judges In Subway “Foot-Long Fraud” Appeal Ask Why Case Wasn’t Thrown Out Long Ago
By 9.9.16
More than three years after an Australian teen’s photo of a shorter-than-a-foot Subway sandwich kicked off a series of lawsuits against the fast food chain — and nearly a year after those suits were settled — the matter is still pending before a federal appeals court. Not because the plaintiffs are asking for more or Subway is trying to wriggle out of the deal, but because a third party is saying the case was so frivolous there should have been no settlement at all. [More]
Big Dairy Settles Claim It Killed Cows To Keep Milk Prices Up; Are You Due A Piece Of $52M?
By 9.8.16
What’s one way to keep milk prices from going down? Cut down on the number of cows producing that milk. An dairy industry group representing around 70% of the milk we buy has agreed to pay $52 million to settle an antitrust complaint alleging that industry illegally inflated milk prices by paying farmers to slaughter cows prematurely. [More]
Appeals Court: Sorry Uber Drivers, You Signed Away Your Right To Sue Company
By 9.8.16
Just like a growing number of companies are quietly stripping consumers of their right to a jury trial, so too are employers using workers’ contracts to insert clauses that prevent them from bringing lawsuits in court. Yesterday, a federal appeals court ruled that most Uber drivers signed away their rights to pursue legal action against the company, putting multiple lawsuits — and a potential $100 million class action settlement — at risk. [More]
Lawyer: Employers Should Take Away Workers’ Right To Sue; Arbitrators “Know Where Their Bread & Butter Comes From”
By 9.6.16
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is currently working on rules to stop banks, credit card issuers, and others from forcing customers to sign away their right to a jury trial. Opponents claim that this change will only benefit trial lawyers, but some candid advice from one lawyer shows exactly why these protections are needed — and who really stands to benefit. [More]
Airbnb Says City’s Ban On Short-Term Rentals Violates Federal Law, Constitution
By 9.6.16
In May 2015, the California city of Santa Monica — the one with the famous pier that’s in just about every beach movie ever made — revised its laws to effectively bar most Airbnb rentals. Now the online home-sharing platform is accusing the city of violating the Constitution and multiple federal laws. [More]
GM Settles Two Ignition Switch Injury Lawsuits
By 9.6.16
Nearly two years after General Motors’ decades-long ignition switch defect came to light, the automaker continues to face hundreds of lawsuits. However, the company recently settled a pair of complaints that could set the tone for future litigation. [More]
Apple, Amazon, Google, Twitter, Dozens More Voice Support For Microsoft Lawsuit Against Justice Dept.
By 9.6.16 — Updated: 1.23.17
In April, Microsoft sued the U.S. Department of Justice, arguing that its “customers have a right to know when the government obtains a warrant to read their emails,” and that “Microsoft has a right to tell them.” While Microsoft might be the only plaintiff in this case, dozens of tech biggies, media companies, privacy advocates, and others have let the court know that they stand behind Microsoft. [More]
Online Payday Lender Can’t Hide Behind Western Sky’s Tribal Affiliation
By 9.2.16
While operating a business on tribal lands may protect you from certain federal laws, an online payday lender can’t just prop up a storefront on tribal lands in order to offer high-interest loans that are illegal in many states. [More]
Court Throws Out Lindsay Lohan’s Lawsuit Against Makers Of ‘Grand Theft Auto V’
By 9.2.16
She might have seen herself as a character in a video game, but Lindsay Lohan is just like us — in other words, not a video game character: a New York appeals court has chucked the actress’ lawsuit against the makers of Grand Theft Auto V that claimed her image had been used without her permission in the game. [More]
Judge Rejects $28.5M Uber “Safe Rides” Fee Settlement, Says Company Made $449M From These Charges
By 9.1.16
Not even two weeks after a court rejected a $100 million class action settlement in a dispute between Uber and its drivers, a federal judge has denied a second huge settlement in a legal battle over the nearly half a billion dollars in “Safe Rides” fees collected by the ride-hailing service. [More]
Feds Say Landlords Offered Reduced Rent For Sex, Evicted Tenants When They Refused
By 9.1.16
Tenants of homes owned by a pair of St. Louis landlords say the weren’t just subjected to inappropriate sexual comments, but that one landlord also offered to look the other way on the rent if tenants would sleep with him. When the renters refused these advances, they claim the landlords tried to throw them out on the streets. [More]
Court Upholds Federal Ban On Gun Sales To Medical Marijuana Cardholders
By 8.31.16
A large number of states have legalized marijuana use for medicinal purposes, even as the federal government continues to maintain that pot is as dangerous and addictive as heroin. However, even though you can’t currently be prosecuted by the feds for properly obtaining medical marijuana in a state like Nevada, your status as a confirmed marijuana user could be used to prevent you from buying a gun. [More]
Judge Dismisses Claims That Dr. Dre, Jimmy Iovine Cheated Early Beats Partner
By 8.31.16
After Beats Electronics and Music scored $3 billion when it became part of Apple, not everyone was happy. A former partner of Beats executives Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine, for one, who sued the pair in 2015, claiming they’d swindled him out of money that should’ve been his. A judge has now dismissed key claims in the former partner’s lawsuit. [More]
Petsitter Loses $1 Million Lawsuit Over Negative Yelp Review
By 8.30.16
The six-month saga of the Texas petsitter who sued a customer for up to $1 million in damages over a negative Yelp review appears to have come to an end, with a judge agreeing to dismiss the case that made national headlines. [More]
The Battle Between Trader Joe’s & Pirate Joe’s Rages On
By 8.30.16
Can you effectively recreate a supermarket by buying a bunch of that store’s products, shipping them across the border and selling them in a store with a deliberately similar name? That’s the question at the center of a years-long legal battle between Trader Joe’s and its Canadian lookalike Pirate Joe’s. [More]
Video Claims To Show Price Discrepancies Of Up To 78% At L.A. Zara Store
By 8.30.16
Last week, a Zara customer filed a lawsuit against the company accusing it of misleading customers by posting some prices in euros and others in U.S. dollars, and of making up its own exchange rates to charge more for those items with price tags in dollars. The plaintiff’s lawyers now say they have even more proof of this pricing switcheroo. [More]
Court Throws Out Federal Government’s Lawsuit Over AT&T “Unlimited” Data Plans
By 8.30.16
Nearly two years ago, the Federal Trade Commission sued AT&T for allegedly misleading wireless customers by charging them for “unlimited” data plans while simultaneously throttling their cellular connection speeds when they passed certain monthly thresholds. AT&T failed in 2015 to get the case dismissed in District Court, but yesterday succeeded in convincing a federal appeals court to throw out the government’s complaint. [More]
