A decade ago, searching someone’s cell phone would give you a list of names and numbers, maybe some recent texts. But now, the average smartphone could contain as much personal and sensitive information as a desktop computer, yet many law enforcement agencies argue they don’t need a warrant to search these devices. That’s why the American Civil Liberties Union has filed suit against the city of San Francisco and its chief of police. [More]
lawsuits
ACLU Files Suit To Stop Police From Searching Cell Phones Without Warrant
By 3.20.13 — Updated: 1.17.14
Mom Sues McDonald’s After Son Allegedly Eats Used Condom Found On Floor
By 3.14.13
Another mom is taking McDonald’s to task for the conditions of its restaurants’ play areas. But this time, it’s not about microscopic pathogens lurking on the slide; it’s about how some of a used condom allegedly ended up in a child’s stomach. [More]
Google To Pay States $7 Million For Privacy Violations Related To Street View
By 3.12.13
Remember way back in 2010 when people were up in arms about Google collecting and storing data — including e-mails, texts, browsing histories, and other fun, private stuff — while tooling around taking photos for Google Street View? Well, the multi-state lawsuit over that mess has finally been settled. [More]
Feds Shut Down Telemarketing Scam Aimed At Elderly
By 3.11.13
It’s bad enough to call up an elderly person and mislead him or her into paying a pile of cash for a medical alert service they don’t need or want. But what takes one Brooklyn-based telemarketing scheme to the next level was its alleged tendency to bill consumers thousands of dollars for something they never ordered. [More]
Time Warner Cable To Pay $2.2 Million To Overcharged New York Customers
By 3.7.13
More than 18,000 New York state residents will be getting refunds from Time Warner Cable, now that the company has settled allegations that it overcharged subscribers in 10 towns and villages. [More]
FTC Goes After Spammers Responsible For 180 Million “Free Gift Card” Text Messages
By 3.7.13
Through eight lawsuits filed in four different U.S. District Courts, the Federal Trade Commission has put the regulatory smackdown on 29 alleged text spammers believed to have blasted out more than 180 million unwanted text messages to consumers. [More]
Court Says Begging Is Protected Speech, Allows Challenge To Anti-Panhandling Law
March 4, 2013
The city of Charlottesville, VA, (home to the awesomest University on the planet) currently has a law on the books that forbids panhandling in and around the city’s Downtown Mall area. A group of homeless men tried to fight the ban in court, but a District Court judge dismissed the case. However, a federal appeals panel has said the lower court was too hasty in tossing the case out. [via CourthouseNews.com] [More]
Monster Says There’s No Proof Caffeine Killed Teen Girl
By 3.4.13
Last year, a woman in Maryland sued Monster Beverage, alleging that the energy drink caused her 14-year-old daughter to die of caffeine toxicity. However, the Monster folks claim this allegation can’t be proven because the medical examiner did not test the teen’s blood. [More]
Even If It Breaks Up Viacom Bundle, Cablevision Won’t Commit To A La Carte Cable
By 3.1.13
Earlier this week, Cablevision sued broadcasting biggie Viacom for its practice of requiring cable and satellite carriers to buy a wide range of channels — many of them with small audiences — in order to be able to air the few stations with mass appeal. But it doesn’t look like Cablevision is open to the idea of giving customers the same level of choice. [More]
Lawsuit: FedEx Accidentally Delivered Box Of Drugs To Me, Gave Intended Recipient My Address
By 2.28.13
A woman in Massachusetts is suing FedEx, alleging that the shipping company mistakenly delivered a box containing marijuana to her address, then proceeded to provide her name and address to the package’s intended recipient. [More]
Two Guests Who Drank Corpse Water Now Suing L.A. Hotel
By 2.27.13
Last week, we shared the story of a Canadian tourist who disappeared and died under mysterious circumstances, then turned up dead in the water tank of the Los Angeles hotel where she was staying. The investigation into the 21-year-old’s disappearance and tragic death continues, but some former guests are being proactive and have already filed a lawsuit against the hotel. [More]
Supreme Court To Decide Whether Companies Can Use Forced Arbitration To Skirt Federal Laws
By 2.27.13
It’s been nearly two years since the Supreme Court slapped U.S. consumers across the face, ruling in AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion that companies could take away customers’ rights to class-action lawsuits by including a tiny arbitration clause in user agreements. Today, SCOTUS hears another arbitration case that could shift the balance even further in favor of corporations. [More]
Court Rules Airline Doesn’t Need To Accept Cash For In-Flight Purchases
By 2.25.13
There’s a widely held belief that because dollar bills are legal tender that all cash must be accepted by any business for any purchase. This simply isn’t true, but try telling that to the man who sued Continental Airlines for refusing to let him buy $8 worth of stuff with cash during a flight. [More]
Hero Or Fool: Man Pays $200 To Appeal $26 Parking Ticket
By 2.25.13
Here in Philadelphia, parking tickets tend to appear out of nowhere, the Parking Authority’s army of ninja ticket-writers leaving their citations in silence. Many people just fork over the cash, even when the violation is bogus. But not one man, who was willing to spend money to prove his point. [More]
Now You Can No Longer File Class-Action Suits Against StubHub; Here’s How To Opt Out
By 2.22.13
Yet another company with the potential to tick off a lot of consumers has slipped a consumer-unfriendly mandatory binding arbitration clause into its user agreement. This time, it’s the ticket re-selling marketplace StubHub, but there is a way for users to opt out of this clause. [More]
Another Poop Cruise Lawsuit Pops Up Seeking Class Action Status Against Carnival
By 2.21.13
We know you’ve been wondering why this week has felt so empty, bleak and desolate. That’s probably because we haven’t had much Poop Cruise news to report lately, but today is your lucky day: A couple is suing for their bad time onboard the Carnival Triumph and seeking class action status to include the other 3,000 or so unlucky souls aboard the sloshy sewage-filled boat. [More]
Debt Collectors Keep Calling About Bogus Debt, Even After Being Threatened With Suit
By 2.19.13
From calling at all hours of the day and night to contacting you at work, we’ve told you before about the large number of banned practices for debt collectors. But one man says he’s the victim of a tenacious debt collector trying to collect a debt he doesn’t even owe. [More]
