UPDATE: Progressive has denied its attorneys acted as legal counsel for the other driver in the lawsuit. [More]
lawsuits
Why Would The Victim's Insurance Company Defend The Other Driver In A Fatal Car Accident?
By 8.13.12
Copyright Infringement Universe Collapses In On Itself As Beastie Boys Sue Monster Energy Drink
By 8.9.12
So here’s a copyright infringement lawsuit involving the makers of Monster Energy Drink in which they are the ones being sued and not the ones claiming ownership of an incredibly common word. Instead, the beverage company is the target of a lawsuit brought by the Beastie Boys, who claim Monster cobbled together dozens of their tunes to create promotional videos. [More]
Reebok EasyTone Refund Checks Are In The Mail
By 8.7.12
Almost a year after Reebok settled with the Federal Trade Commission for $25 million over allegations that it had deceptively advertised its EasyTone sneakers, those checks are finally going out to around 315,000 consumers who registered for refunds. [More]
SEC Investigates Sprint Over Allegations It Failed To Properly Collect Sales Tax
By 8.2.12
Back in April, the New York Attorney General’s office filed a lawsuit against Sprint, alleging the wireless provider deliberately under-collected sales tax in an effort to remain competitive. Now, Sprint has revealed that it is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission over these same allegations. [More]
Convenience Store Owner Calls Cops On Unruly Customer, Ends Up Getting Arrested
By 8.2.12
The owner of a Chevron gas station and convenience store in Georgia says that when she called the cops to handle an allegedly rude and unruly customer, things got turned around on her and she ended up being the one in cuffs — all because she couldn’t figure out how to operate the security camera system. [More]
Medical Debt Collector Banned In Minnesota For Harassing Patients In Emergency Rooms
By 7.31.12
One of the nation’s largest medical debt collectors just got a bit smaller after it agreed to stop operating in Minnesota over allegations that the company staffed hospital emergency rooms with its agents in order to get people to pay up on any owed debts before they received additional care. [More]
Dish Tweaks Ad-Skipping DVR Service To Be More Broadcaster-Friendly
By 7.27.12
Back when Dish Network first released its AutoHop ad-skipping DVR feature, the service automatically recorded prime-time network broadcasts so that viewers could watch all their favorite NBC, CBS, ABC, and Fox shows at a later date without having to fast-forward through commercial breaks. But now that Dish has been sued by those same broadcasters, AutoHop is slightly less “auto.” [More]
Chase Ordered To Pay $100M To Credit Card Customers For Boosting Minimum Payments
By 7.24.12
JPMorgan Chase hit up its customers for some additional cash back in 2008 and 2009 when it raised minimum monthly payments on many of its credit cards from 2% to 5%, and now it seems the tables have turned. As part of a class-action settlement over litigation brought by customers, the bank has agreed to pay $100 million to its cardholders for improperly boosting payments in order to generate higher fees. [More]
Man Accused Of Illegally Downloading Porn Countersues For Defamation
By 7.24.12
We’ve written quite a bit in recent months about porn company lawyers who have tried to bully alleged copyright violators into settling out of court lest it become public record that they are accused of downloading movies that predominantly feature the word “anal.” But there are a few people who have been willing to stand up and defend their reputatiion, like the Kentucky man who recently fired back at his accusers with his own lawsuit. [More]
Sorry Airlines, Court Says You Have To Tell The Truth About Airfares
By 7.24.12
In the last year or so, the U.S. Dept of Transportation has instituted a number of new rules — like requiring airlines to include all known taxes and fees in its advertised prices — aimed at adding more transparency to airfares. Some carriers, especially discount airlines that love to advertise a bottom-dollar price with oodles of fine print hiding the fact that it’s not such a good price, have challenged these changes. But today, a U.S. appeals court sided with federal regulators (and common sense). [More]
Walmart Comes Out Against Credit Card Swipe Fee Settlement
By 7.24.12
Earlier this month, when the Visa and MasterCard announced a massive settlement in the legal battle over credit card swipe fees, it looked like the seven-year-old dispute had finally come to an end — and that we’d all soon be seeing credit card surcharges at retailers. But in just the last few days, the nation’s largest retailers have come out in opposition of the settlement. [More]
L.A. Sues U.S. Bank For Letting Foreclosures Fall Into Disrepair
By 7.17.12
When a lender forecloses on a home, it becomes responsible for keeping the property safe and reasonably kept-up. But officials in Los Angeles has accused U.S. Bank of ignoring hundreds of foreclosures as they fall into disrepair and/or become taken over by squatters and street gangs. [More]
Monster Energy Assumes Consumers Can’t Distinguish Energy Drinks From Fish Tanks
By 7.17.12
We thought that the company behind Monster Energy drink (and its lawyers) were done with petty legal action against anyone bold enough to use the word “Monster.” We last reported on such action in 2009. Turns out that the, uh, monster was only sleeping, though, and the company has re-emerged to issue a cease and desist order to an aquarium keepers’ forum, Monster Fishkeepers. That site has owned their trademark since 2005, but Monster Energy apparently claims to own the word “monster.” And the letter “M.” [More]
Couple Sues JPMorgan Chase For Ignoring Instructions, Enriching Itself On Fees
By 7.16.12
In 2005, an Indiana couple sold their baking business for a nice sum of $6.5 million and turned to JPMorgan Chase to place that money in “safe and liquid investments.” But the investors say Chase deliberately ignored their wishes and put the millions into high-risk investments that also padded the bank’s coffers with “fees upon top of fees upon top of fees.” [More]
Visa, MasterCard Agree To Let Merchants Add Surcharges To Credit Card Purchases
By 7.13.12
Earlier this week, we told you that a settlement in a huge lawsuit between merchants and Visa and MasterCard was in the offing and that it could open the door to retailers tacking on surcharges to credit card customers. Well, that proposed settlement has come to pass, meaning you may soon be paying more for the privilege of using your credit card. [More]
Wells Fargo Receives $175 Million Slap On Wrist Over Discriminatory Loan Allegations
By 7.12.12
Three years after it began looking into allegations that Wells Fargo had systematically discriminated against minority loan applicants by pushing them into risky, high-cost subprime loans — regardless of their qualifications — the U.S. Dept. of Justice has come to a $175 million settlement with the bank. [More]
Woman Sues Porn Companies For Threatening To Sue Her Over Alleged Illegal Downloads
By 7.10.12
During the years when the music and movie business began going after people for allegedly downloading copyrighted files, the porn industry did very little, claiming it didn’t have the resources to wage large-scale legal battles. But then someone realized there was money to be made in just threatening people with legal action, and a slew of lawsuits followed. Though many people, even those who claim they are innocent, have just paid up to avoid having their peccadilloes made public, one woman has fired back with a suit of her own. [More]
Man Sues Strip Club Over Mysterious $50,000 Credit Card Bill
By 7.9.12
Strip clubs can be an alternate dimension where money vanishes at a faster rate than it does in the outside world. Or so we’ve been told… Ahem… Regardless, a man in Florida says there is no way he spent $50,000 on lap dances and warm cans of beer, and he’s willing to go to court to prove it. [More]
