By now you’ve heard about the on-air gaffe at Oakland’s KTVU-TV, in which a news anchor read a list of obviously fake names of the four pilots on Asiana Flight 214 that crash-landed at SFO on July 6. The South Korean airline recently said it intended to sue the TV station over the incident, but has now decided against taking any legal action. [More]
lawsuits
Bank Of America Attempts To Discredit Statements Of Former Employees
By 7.12.13
Last month, it was revealed that six former Bank of America employees and one ex-contractor for the bank, had given sworn statements in a lawsuit filed against BofA, and that these statements painted a picture of a system that deliberately lost mortgage modification paperwork and rewarded staffers for pushing employees into foreclosure. Now BofA has issued a detailed rebuttal of those allegations and why it believes that these statements misrepresent the truth. [More]
Homeowners Accuse Bank Of America Of Racketeering In Lawsuit Over Mortgage Modifications
By 7.12.13
Following the recent revelations from former Bank of America employees that the nation’s most-hated financial institution allegedly engaged in deliberate schemes to delay and deny mortgage modifications, a group of three homeowners have sued BofA, alleging violations of federal anti-racketeering laws. [More]
Big Meat Sues USDA Over Country-Of-Origin Labeling Requirement
By 7.10.13
In May, new USDA regulations went into effect that require meat processing plants to label not just the original country of origin for each item sold, but also which countries that product might have stopped at along its way from farm-to-store. The rules also prohibit the commingling of meats from various international sources. But now a group of meat industry associations have sued the USDA, claiming that this rule violates their Constitutional rights. [More]
Our Long National Nightmare Is Over: Apple, Amazon Halt War Over “App Store” Name
By 7.10.13
More than two years ago, Apple launched a lawsuit against Amazon, alleging that the online retailer was violating Apple’s trademark by selling smartphone and tablet apps under via its Appstore, which sounds an awful lot like Apple’s App Store. Now, after years of bloodshed and families torn asunder by this nasty dispute, both sides have agreed to lay down their arms and agree to peace terms. [More]
World’s Largest Debt Collector To Pay $3.2 Million Penalty For Harassing Consumers
By 7.9.13
It’s highly possible you’ve never heard of Expert Global Solutions, but it’s the largest debt-collection operation in the world. It also is the subject of a recent Federal Trade Commission complaint alleging that the company and its subsidiaries violated federal law by harassing consumers. [More]
Sued McDonald’s Franchisee Now Says Employees No Longer Have To Accept Pay On Debit Card
By 7.2.13
The McDonald’s franchisees who were sued by a former employee after she was forced to accept her wages on a prepaid debit card have had a sudden change of heart, saying they will now be giving workers at their 16 McDonald’s franchises in Pennsylvania the option of receiving their pay on good old-fashioned paycheck or direct-deposit. [More]
Here’s Why Employers & Banks Love Putting Wages On Prepaid Debit Cards, And Why Employees Keep Their Pay In Shoeboxes
By 7.1.13
The recent lawsuit filed by a former McDonald’s worker against her employers has drawn a lot of national attention to issue of paying wages on prepaid debit cards, with a some people not understanding why a business would push these cards over traditional payment methords, or why an employee would have such a big problem with the cards. [More]
Criticize Dentist On Yelp, Get Threatened With Felony ‘Internet Business Defamation’
By 6.27.13
A Texas mother took her child to a dentist who only works on children based on the referral of the family’s regular dentist. She didn’t really like the specialist, and wrote a relatively short, clear Yelp review explaining why. That got her a letter from the dentist’s attorney ordering her to take down her review, OR ELSE. [More]
Family Says Woman Died Because Male Planet Fitness Employee Was Afraid To Enter Ladies Room
By 6.24.13
While gym employees are expected to observe the rules prohibiting males from entering the ladies room (and vice versa), we doubt too many people would have a huge problem with a male staffer entering that females-only area when a gym member has collapsed in one of the stalls and may need medical attention. [More]
Did Your Kid Make In-App Purchases On Your iPhone Without Asking? You Might Be Due Some Cash From Apple
By 6.24.13
A couple years back, Apple came under fire from parents and regulators after reports that kids were making in-app purchases, sometimes to the tune of four figures, on their folks’ iPhones and iPads. The company has since changed its policy to prevent children from draining their parents’ wallets in this fashion, but that didn’t stop the class-action lawsuit from the people who’d lost money before the policy change. [More]
Wendy’s Sues Ice Cream Company Over Frosty Trademark
By 6.24.13
If you’ve been to Wendy’s enough times, you’ve probably tried a Frosty, the chain’s not-exactly-a-milkshake-but-not-quite-ice-cream dessert offering. The fast food giant is now suing an Ohio-based ice cream company over what it claims is a deliberate attempt to cash in on the Frosty name. [More]
Jury Awards Former Student $13 Million In Lawsuit Against For-Profit College
By 6.21.13
One of the more common complaints against for-profit colleges is that the institutions make promises to prospective students about job placement and salary that the schools don’t make good on. A woman in Missouri recently sued one such for-profit school, saying it misled her about its medical assistant program. She had been seeking somewhere between $2-4 million in damages, but the jury went ahead and awarded her $13 million. [More]
Supreme Court Deals Another Blow To Consumers, Lets Companies Use Forced Arbitration To Skirt The Law
By 6.20.13 — Updated: 3.10.15
The Supreme Court has once again ruled that forced arbitration clauses in contracts are enforceable, and that they can be used to preempt class-action lawsuits, even in cases where class-action suits are the only economically feasible way for the plaintiff to make its case. [More]
McDonald’s HQ Says It Has Nothing To Do With Franchisee That Forces Employees To Get Paid Via Debit Card
By 6.20.13
People around the country have taken an interest in the story of a former McDonald’s employee who recently filed a lawsuit because she was told the only way she could receive her wages was via a prepaid debit card. Meanwhile, the folks at the McDonald’s corporate office are trying to put as much of a buffer between themselves and the franchisees running the store in question. [More]
Big Banks Failing To Comply With All The Rules For National Mortgage Settlement
By 6.19.13
Remember that massive $25 billion settlement between the nation’s largest mortgage servicers — Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Chase, Citi, Ally — and attorneys general from around the nation? Well, it comes with a lot of rules for these institutions to follow. But the person in charge of monitoring the settlement says most of the banks are failing to comply fully. [More]
Ex McDonald’s Employee Sues Because She Doesn’t Want Her Paycheck On A Prepaid Debit Card
By 6.17.13
Earlier this year, a woman in Pennsylvania was expecting to get her first paycheck from her new job at McDonald’s, but rather than an envelope containing cash or a check, she received a prepaid debit card from Chase. This did not go over well. [More]
Supreme Court Rules FTC Can Challenge Deals Intended To Delay Release Of Generic Drugs
By 6.17.13
When a generic version of a drug comes on the market, the holder of the brand-name drug’s patent stands to see a steep drop in sales as many customers switch to the lower-price option. Thus, some companies will go to great lengths to delay the release of generics. One such method, dubbed “pay-for-delay,” involves the patent-holder suing manufacturers of generics and then settling for millions of dollars with the agreement that the generic suppliers will hold off on releasing their product. Today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Federal Trade Commission has the right to challenge these sorts of deals. [More]
