If a manufacturer has an unresolved issue with a complaint lodged with the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s saferproducts.gov database, it has the right to take the CPSC to court and prove its case. But should that same company be able to litigate the matter anonymously, keeping its name and all relevant court findings under seal? [More]
lawsuits
The World May Never Know Which Company Filed This Lawsuit To Block Consumer Safety Complaint
By 10.23.12 — Updated: 12.13.12
Court Rules Lap Dances Aren’t Art; Ruin Plans For My MFA Thesis
By 10.23.12
In a story we’ve been following with great interest for quite some time, the top court of the state of New York has ruled that lap dances are not a form of performance art and are therefore not exempt from sales taxes. [More]
FDA Incident Reports Link Monster Energy Drink To Five Deaths
By 10.23.12
Last week, a mother in Maryland sued the makers of caffeine-heavy Monster Energy drink, alleging that the beverage was not only behind the death of her teen daughter, but that the company knew of possible health risks and failed to warn consumers. [More]
Court Rules That Best Buy Violated Federal Telemarketing Reguations
By 10.22.12
Reversing a summary judgement by a U.S. District Court, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week that calls from Best Buy to customers asking them to update their Rewards Zone accounts cross the line from informational to telemarketing, in violation of federal law. [More]
Georgia Counties Sue HSBC, Say Bank’s Prejudiced Loans Cost Them Millions
By 10.19.12
Three counties in Georgia have filed suit against HSBC, claiming the bank pushed minority borrowers into expensive, subprime mortgages. But these banks aren’t suing on behalf of the wronged borrowers. Instead, they allege that the predatory practices ultimately resulted in lost tax revenue, decreased property values and other damages. [More]
How Does Alarm Company Send Former Customer To Collections 4 Times For A Bill She Never Owed?
By 10.18.12
It’s bad enough when a company does such a bad job of keeping its books that it sends a customer to collections once for a bill she never owed. But it takes a special kind of stupid to pass that debt around like a hot potato until that customer has to prove her case four separate times. [More]
Anti-Piracy Porn Lawyer: “I’m The Original Copyright Troll”
By 10.15.12
We’ve written quite a bit recently about strong-arm tactics used by lawyers representing the porn industry to squeeze settlements out of alleged file sharers who would rather pay up than have their names publicly linked to downloaded porn. One attorney who has made millions from this practice says he is fully aware that everyone hates him. [More]
Lawsuit Seeks To Block New York City Ban On Big Sodas
By 10.15.12
Earlier this year, the New York City Board of Health announced that full-calorie sodas (and other sugary drinks) larger than 16 oz. would be unwelcome in restaurants, delis and other businesses regulated by the Board. On Friday, the groups that would likely feel the sting of such a ban — soda companies, restaurant owners and the like — sued to try to ban the ban. [More]
Trademark Office Doesn’t See Difference Between A Philadelphia Cheesesteak And “Philadelphia’s Cheesesteak”
By 10.12.12
Just about every pizza place, diner, deli and sandwich shop here in Philadelphia will make you a cheesesteak, and while many claim to make the city’s best, only one has actually tried — unsuccessfully thus far — to trademark the phrase “Philadelphia’s Cheesesteak.” [More]
Disabled Vet Says Debt Collector Told Him “You Should Have Died”
By 10.12.12
An Army veteran who was left disabled after suffering spinal and head injuries in the line of duty claims that not only did a did a debt collector attempt to illegally garnish his disability payments, but that an employee of the collection agency told him he “should have died” after a judge sided with the vet. [More]
It’s Oakland Vs. Washington In Legal Battle Over Huge Medical Marijuana Dispensary
By 10.11.12
In what is believed to be the first instance of a municipality suing the federal government on behalf of a medical marijuana dispensary, the city of Oakland has gone to court to ask the feds to please stop trying to close down the largest such dispensary in the country. [More]
Lawsuit Claims Ticketmaster/Live Nation Is A Fee-Hungry Monopoly
By 10.10.12
A new class-action lawsuit is seeking to prove in a court of law what many people already believe — that the Live Nation/Ticketmaster combination is an unfair monopoly intent on using exorbitant fees to siphon off cash from customers. [More]
Equifax Caught Improperly Selling Lists Of People With Late Mortgage Payments
By 10.10.12
When you’re in financial trouble, one of your concerns is that your creditors will report you to the three major credit bureaus — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. But maybe you should be concerned that the bureaus are selling your sensitive information. [More]
Sony Files Very Real Lawsuit Against Fake Sony Executive
By 10.8.12
You probably know actor Jerry Lambert as “Kevin Butler,” the man who has played the character of Sony Executive Kevin Butler in a long-running series of ads for the PlayStation brand. Now Lambert can add “defendant” to his resume, as Sony is apparently unhappy with his appearance in an ad for another company that features him playing Nintendo. [More]
Reminder: Write eBay By Nov. 9 To Opt Out Of Restrictive, Anti-Consumer Clause
By 10.5.12
As we mentioned a few weeks back, the new user agreement for eBay includes one of those lovely little clauses that takes away customers’ right to a lawsuit against the company and locks them into mandatory binding arbitration. Fortunately, it also includes the ability to opt out of that clause, but you have to do it in the form of an actual letter, which has to be postmarked by Nov. 9. [More]
Chevy Dealer Really Sorry About Having Customer Arrested Over Pricing Error
By 10.3.12
When the folks at a Chevy dealership in Virginia realized they had accidentally sold a customer a car for $5,600 less than they should have, they could have just eaten the difference and stewed about it for a bit. Instead, they tried to get the customer to pay the extra money — and then had him arrested for car theft when he refused. [More]
Woman Loses License Because Red-Light Camera Can’t Read
By 10.1.12
Municipalities around the country are turning to red-light cameras as a way to bring in traffic violation revenue while freeing up police officers to do other things. Of course, these devices are far from perfect, especially in the dark. But the process of convincing authorities that it couldn’t have been your car in the photo is sometimes more of a hassle than just paying the ticket. [More]
American Express To Pay Out $85 Million To Customers For Variety Of Consumer Violations
By 10.1.12
American Express is feeling the sting of an $112.5 million spanking from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, following an investigation that found that three subsidiaries of the credit card company had violated several consumer rights, from misleading ads to age discrimination to unlawful late fees. [More]
