For the past couple of years, we’ve been telling you about “Company Doe,” a manufacturer of some kind who had successfully convinced a federal court to allow it to sue the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission in secret, keeping its name and all relevant details of the case shielded behind black boxes of redacted text. Last month, an appeals court recognized how ridiculous this idea was and ordered that Company Doe be unmasked. And yesterday it was finally revealed to be Ergobaby, the company behind Orbit baby carriers. [More]
lawsuits
POM Wonderful Tries Again To Convince Court Its Ads Aren’t Misleading
By 5.2.14
For the last few years, the Federal Trade Commission has repeatedly spanked the makers of POM Wonderful beverages for making unsubstantiated advertising claims about the health benefits of its pomegranate juice products. But today in a federal appeals court, POM argued that the FTC went too far in regulating the ads in question. [More]
State Sues Kickstarter Project That Earned $25K But Failed To Deliver
By 5.2.14
In what is believed to be the first consumer protection action taken by a state involving Kickstarter project, the attorney general for Washington state has filed suit against a company that raised $25,000 on the crowdfunding site but has allegedly failed to deliver anything to its backers or offer refunds. [More]
Honking Conspiracy? Couple Suing 40 People Over Claims Of Incessant Beeping At Their House
By 5.2.14
Getting honked at even once is annoying enough, but one Ohio couple claims there’s a veritable conspiracy at work dedicated to beeping at their house over 5,000 times in the last seven years. They’re suing 40 people over it, saying their town has now turned against them. [More]
Yankees Fan Gets $1.5 Million After City Rejected His “Buck Foston” Sports Bar
By 5.2.14
Sports rivalries can be so funny! It’s like why would Red Sox fans care if a Yankees fan wanted to start a bar named after a deer named Buck Foston — oh. Clever, right? Or not, but a jury said a club owner had the right to name his bar Buck Foston’s Road House and also gave him $1.5 million. [More]
GM Asks Plaintiffs To Pretty Please Hold Off On Ignition-Related Lawsuits
By 5.1.14
General Motors has already asked a federal bankruptcy court to put an end to the spate of recently filed lawsuits related to an ignition defect that has resulted in the deaths of at least 13 people, but the carmaker is now asking the plaintiffs in those suits to voluntarily back off. [More]
49ers Fan Sues NFL For $50 Million For Letting Teams Sell Locals-Only Tickets
By 4.28.14
During the most recent NFL playoffs, some teams opted to only allow people in certain areas to buy tickets. The idea was to make sure as many home team fans had access to these important games as possible, but some claim it’s an illegally discriminatory practice. [More]
Definitely Don’t Print Out These Fake Labels And Put Them On Real Products
By 4.28.14
As Coca-Cola recently argued before the Supreme Court, you should be able to call your product anything you want so long as it embodies the essential character of that product… even if that means calling a beverage “pomegranate” juice when an entire bottle contains barely an eye-dropper’s worth of that ingredient. So what’s good for the goose is good for the consumer, right? [More]
Man’s Lawsuit Claims Infected Rodent From Petco Gave Him Rat-Bite Fever
By 4.24.14
Following a lawsuit earlier this year accusing Petco of selling an infected rat that led to a boy’s death, a Maine man is now suing the chain claiming he got rat-bite fever from a rat he bought at the store. [More]
Highlights From Today’s Supreme Court Hearing On Aereo
By 4.22.14
Aereo, the streaming video service that everyone’s talking about but few people actually have, defended its existence today in front of the U.S. Supreme Court while lawyers for the nation’s broadcasters and the federal government looked to smash the company’s tiny antennae into bits… legally speaking. [More]
GM Asks Bankruptcy Court To Block Ignition-Related Lawsuits
By 4.22.14
A few weeks back, new General Motors CEO Mary Barra hedged on whether her company would hide behind the shield of its 2009 bankruptcy in order to block lawsuits tied to the ongoing ignition-related recalls, telling lawmakers only that “we have civic responsibilities as well as legal responsibilities.” In the weeks since, GM has made it very clear that it will do everything it can to use its own financial incompetence and ineptitude to put up a wall against these lawsuits. [More]
Aereo Supreme Court Case Could Change TV & Cloud-Based Tech Forever, Regardless Of Who Wins
By 4.21.14
Many big court cases involve one side arguing to maintain the status quo while the other contends that the current situation needs revising. But tomorrow, the broadcast TV networks face off against startup streaming video service Aereo in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in a case that could have far-reaching implications no matter which side is victorious. [More]
General Mills Thinks You’re Stupid, But Decides To Not Take Customers’ Legal Rights Away After All
By 4.20.14
While all sorts of big-name financial, tech, e-commerce, and telecom companies have been trying to take away consumers’ right to sue by inserting forced-arbitration clauses in their contracts and terms of service, it seemed ridiculous to think that the makers of cereal would resort to such deviousness, or how they would even be able to do it. But last week, General Mills tried, adding language to its website that stripped certain customers of their access to legal redress against the company. Realizing that maybe this might tick off an awful lot of people, the company has backed off this policy change. [More]
Stories You Might Have Missed Because You Were Too Busy Being Awesome
April 19, 2014
We post a lot of stories during the week, and we know that most of you have jobs, families, lives, hobbies, nagging itches and other more important things to do than read every single thing we write. So for those who might be playing catch-up on the weekend, here are some of the things you might have missed… [More]
Aereo CEO: Don’t Blame Us Because We Built A Better Antenna
By 4.18.14
Next Tuesday, lawyers for the nation’s broadcast networks and streaming video startup Aereo will square off in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in a case where a victory by either side carries with it potentially huge implications for everything from over-the-air TV to all cloud-based technology. Since he won’t be the one talking to the Supremes, AEREO CEO Chet Kanojia has been making the interview rounds to make his case to the public. [More]
NJ Driver Sues After State Rejects Her “8theist” License Plate
By 4.18.14
A woman in New Jersey claims the state’s Motor Vehicle Commission is biased in favor of Christians after rejecting her request for a vanity plate that reflected her atheist beliefs while allowing plates that express a driver’s Christian identity. [More]
Court Denies Bid To Keep Recalled GM Cars Off Road
By 4.17.14
A U.S. District Court judge in Texas has put the brakes on an attempt to compel General Motors to tell owners of recalled vehicles to keep their cars parked pending repairs. [More]
GM Asks Courts To Stop Ignition-Switch Lawsuits Because It Hasn’t Been GM Since 2009
By 4.16.14
The investigation into GM’s massive manufacturing defect, cover-up, and long-delayed recall is still ramping up, but the lawsuits are already well under way. Or at least, they’re trying to be — but those lawsuits might be over before they start. GM is now relying on their bankruptcy, bailout, and restructuring to claim protection for any errors, small and large, that the company made prior to 2009. Including an error that’s killed at least thirteen peopler. [More]
