Earlier this year, a 2013 lawsuit filed by Apple Store employees went forward, seeking class action status. The workers complained that mandatory searches of their bags before leaving the store premises occurred while they were off the clock, and the searches were “insulting and demeaning.” Over the weekend, the class action was dismissed. The judge’s reasoning: there’s no reason why employees need to bring a bag to work, or their personal Apple devices. [More]
lawsuits
Supreme Court To Hear Another Challenge To Affordable Care Act Contraception Rules
By 11.6.15
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear its fourth challenge to the five-year-old Affordable Care Act — and the second challenge involving the law’s requirement that employers provide insurance that includes coverage for female workers who choose to use birth control. [More]
Customers Suing General Mills Over Recalled “Gluten-Free” Cheerios That Contained Wheat
By 11.4.15
Whenever a company recalls a product on a large scale, lawsuits are sure to follow. General Mills’ recall of 1.8 million boxes of supposedly gluten-free Cheerios that could have possibly contained wheat is no different: two shoppers have filed a lawsuit against the food giant, claiming the company sold a misbranded product. [More]
Things Are Looking Up For Federal Law Banning “Gag Clauses” That Prevent Customers From Writing Honest Reviews
By 11.4.15
While most companies understand that honest negative feedback is, at worst, an inevitability of doing business, and maybe even a chance to improve, some companies try to use non-disparagement, or “gag,” clauses that use threats of legal action or financial penalties to prevent customers from writing or saying anything negative about that business — even if what’s being said is 100% true. We’ve seen these in everything from cheapo cellphone accessories, to wedding contractors, to hotels, to dentists, to weight-loss products, to apartment complexes. California recently enacted a law banning this sort of behavior, and some courts have deemed these clauses unenforceable, but there is still no nationwide consensus on their legality. Previous attempts to create a federal ban on gag clauses have been dead on arrival at Capitol Hill, but the latest effort appears to have some life to it. [More]
Homeowner Goes Away For 8 Months, Returns To Find Town Has Demolished His House
By 11.3.15
When you leave home for an extended period, you probably lock the doors up tight, maybe turn on an alarm, and expect that the house will still be standing upon your return. Which is why one Long Island homeowner was shocked, to say the least, when he returned after eight months away to find his home had disappeared entirely. [More]
EPA May Finally Ban Toxic Pesticide For Food Use
By 10.30.15
A federal agency entrusted with protecting the health of Americans has finally gotten around to doing the job it’s paid to do by taxpayers. And once again, the only reason this agency is doing anything is because a court has ordered it to. [More]
Former Starz VP Says Network Manipulated Comcast Merger, Asked Him To Inflate Subscriber Numbers
By 10.30.15
As the saying goes, hell hath no fury like a former senior vice president of sales and affiliate marketing at a premium cable TV network. A recently dismissed Starz exec is now alleging that his former employer had been up to no good, manipulating the (since-failed) swap of markets between Comcast and Charter, and asking executives to inflate the network’s subscriber numbers. [More]
Jury: Cox Violated Antitrust Laws By Forcing Customers To Rent Set-Top Boxes
By 10.30.15
Should you be forced to be required to pay your cable company extra money for a set-top box in order to get cable TV service you’re already paying for? According to a federal jury in Oklahoma, which recently returned a $6.31 million verdict against Cox Communications, the answer is no. [More]
Amazon “Prime Now” Drivers Accuse Company Of Wage Theft
By 10.28.15
If you’re in one of the markets where Amazon offers one- to two-hour “Prime Now” deliveries, the courier who comes to your door may be wearing an Amazon uniform, but they might not be Amazon employees. Some Prime Now drivers in California are accusing the e-commerce giant of using their “independent contractor” status to get away without paying them a legal wage. [More]
Auto Lender Must Pay $3.28M In Refunds, Penalties For Illegal Debt Collection Tactics Against Servicemembers
By 10.28.15
Four months after federal regulators filed a lawsuit against an Ohio-based auto loan company over allegations it violated consumer protection laws – including those protecting servicemembers – in order to collect debts, Security National Automotive Acceptance Company (SNAAC) will pay $3.28 million in refunds and fines to resolve the case. [More]
MillerCoors Gets Court To Throw Out Blue Moon “Craft Beer” Lawsuit
By 10.27.15
Earlier this year, a California man sued MillerCoors (which is half-owned by SABMiller, which is currently in the process of a massive global merger with Anheuser-Busch InBev) over its continued labeling of its Blue Moon brew as a “craft beer.” But yesterday, a federal court threw out the case against the mega-brewer. [More]
Facebook Wins Dismissal Of $15 Billion Privacy Lawsuit
By 10.26.15
It’s been more than three years since a federal judge in California heard arguments in a large class-action lawsuit filed against Facebook over its questionable privacy practices. Finally, on Friday that judge sided with the social network and threw out the case — while leaving open the option for plaintiffs to revise and re-file their case. [More]
Pinterest Doesn’t Own Exclusive On “Pinning” Things Online
By 10.23.15
Ages before there was an Internet, and certainly long before Pinterest ever came onto the scene, folks were pinning things — to bulletin boards, to computer dashboards and docks. But the folks at Pinterest believe they have an exclusive trademark of the online use of phrases like “pin it.” Unfortunately for them, a federal judge disagrees. [More]
Lawsuit Over Safety Nets At Major League Baseball Parks Details Dozens Of Fan Injuries Since July
By 10.23.15
A little more than three months ago, a class-action lawsuit filed against Major League Baseball called for the installation of safety nets that would extend all the way to both of the foul poles. The lead plaintiff in that complaint had not actually been struck by any errant balls or bats, but a newly amended complaint includes details on numerous recent fan injuries and near-misses, including 90 that have occurred since this lawsuit was first filed. [More]
U-Haul Accuses Chicago Towing Companies Of Hauling Away Perfectly Fine Vehicles To Rake In Cash
By 10.23.15
There’s a fight heating up between U-Haul and Chicago-area towing companies, with the former accusing the latter in a new lawsuit of fraudulently hauling away its trucks and trailers and then making the company pay thousands in fees to get the vehicles back. [More]
Discrimination Lawsuit: Starbucks Fired Deaf Worker Who Asked For Sign Language Interpreters
By 10.20.15
An Arizona woman who worked as a Starbucks barista for seven years has filed a lawsuit against the company for allegedly discriminating against her because she’s deaf. She claims she repeatedly asked for reasonable accommodations to help her on the job and was repeatedly denied, and that she was finally fired because of her disability. [More]
More Trouble For ITT Education Services: Agency Restricts For-Profit’s Use Of Federal Student Aid
By 10.20.15
Just a month after for-profit college operator ITT Education Services announced it had become the focus of a federal fraud investigation, the Department of Education revealed it had placed restrictions on ITT Technical Institute’s use of federal grants and loans. [More]
Authors Guild Says Google Books Is “Serious Threat To Writers”
By 10.19.15
Last week, a federal appeals court upheld a district court ruling that Google Books — the search engine that uses scans of actual books for its results — is a legal “fair use” under U.S. copyright laws. This decision is not sitting well with the professional authors trade group that sued Google, and which intends to take its argument before the U.S. Supreme Court. [More]
