We’ve all been there: you’re waiting for a package, you check the tracking, and it says they tried to deliver. Except you’ve been paying attention the whole time, and no knock has ever come. When it’s just one resident, that really stinks. When it’s a whole bunch of packages being delivered on government contracts, though, it’s lawsuit time. [More]
settlement
Settlement Between New York, Tobacco Companies Provides $550M For Smoking-Related Health Costs
By 10.20.15
A decades-long dispute between the New York Attorney General’s Office and major tobacco firms over payments the companies were required to make for smoking-related public-health costs, but refused to dish out, has come to an end. A new settlement between the parties directs the tobacco companies to deliver $550 million to the state, New York City and other counties. [More]
BP Must Pay $20.8 Billion In Finalized Settlement With Feds, Five States For 2010 Gulf Disaster
By 10.5.15
Three months after the Department of Justice and BP announced they had come to an agreement to put an end to the legal debacle related to the 2010 explosion at the Deepwater Horizon oil well in the Gulf of Mexico that left eleven people dead and released millions of gallons of oil into the water, the deal has been finalized for $20.8 billion — about $1.3 billion more than the oil company estimated in July. [More]
Missouri Attorney General Suing Walgreens Over Pricing Practices… Again
By 9.22.15
Barely a year after Walgreens reached a deal with the Missouri attorney general to close the state’s investigation into allegations of overcharging and deceptive advertising, the state’s top prosecutor is taking the drugstore chain back to court. [More]
Report: Prosecutors, GM Reach $900M Agreement To Settle Criminal Charges Over Ignition Defect
By 9.17.15
Federal prosecutors are poised to settle a criminal investigation into General Motor’s mishandling of the ignition switch defect linked to more than 120 deaths and hundreds of injuries. [More]
Company That Paid YouTube Users To Promote Xbox One Settles Charges Of Deceptive Advertising
By 9.2.15
When Microsoft teamed up with Machinima to launch a promotion that paid affiliated YouTubers for shilling for the Xbox One console in January 2014, we questioned whether any potential negative publicity and regulatory hassle would be worth it. Turns out, we were right to think the company would face scrutiny from federal regulators, as the Federal Trade Commission says it has cleared Microsoft of wrongdoing and settled charges that Machinima pushed videos of people endorsing the video game without disclosing they had been paid. [More]
Bank Of America Reportedly Settles Overtime Lawsuit For $36 Million
By 8.28.15
When working a few extra hours, you have a reasonable expectation to be compensated for that time. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always happen, which was the case for nearly 400 employees of Bank of America who sued the company alleging it failed to pay them overtime. Now, the company has agreed to settle the case, providing $36 million to the wronged employees. [More]
Target Must Pay $2.8M To Settle Claims Of Unfair Hiring Practices
By 8.24.15
Target Corp. must pay $2.8 million to settle allegations that thousands of people lost out on a chance to be employed by the company because of certain discriminatory pre-employment assessments. [More]
CVS Must Pay $450K To Settle Claims That Pharmacies Filled Bogus Prescriptions
By 8.10.15
CVS Health agreed to pay $450,000 to settle a years-long investigation by Rhode Island and the Drug Enforcement Administration that several of its locations filled forged and invalid painkiller prescriptions in violation of federal laws. [More]
Operators Of Credit Repair Business Masquerading As The FTC Must Return $2.4M To Consumers
By 8.4.15
Three months after regulators shut down a credit repair company catering mainly to Spanish-speaking consumers for falsely claiming to have a close relationship with the federal government – calling itself “FTC Credit Solutions” – and bilking thousands of dollars from individual consumers with empty promises of boosting their credit scores, the real Federal Trade Commission announced it has reached a settlement that will result in the return of $2.4 million to victims of the scam. [More]
Two For-Profit Schools Must Pay Students $2.3M Over Unfair Practices
By 7.31.15
Hundreds of former students at Kaplan Career Institute and Lincoln Technical Institute in Massachusetts will receive redress from the for-profit colleges after the schools settled charges they engaged in unfair practices with the state’s Attorney General’s office. [More]
Owners Of Nike+FuelBands Eligible For $15 Check Or $25 Gift Card Under Class-Action Settlement
By 7.27.15
Owners of Nike+Fuelband fitness trackers are eligible for a partial refund after Nike and Apple agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit that claimed the companies misled consumers about the accuracy of the wearable device. [More]
Operators Of Massive Payday Loan Scheme Banned From Industry
By 7.7.15
The masterminds behind a massive payday loan scheme have agreed to be banned from the consumer lending industry to settle federal regulators’ charges they bilked millions of dollars from customers by trapping them into loans that were never authorized. [More]
T-Mobile Customers Have 14 Days To Claim A Piece Of $112.5M Cramming Settlement
By 6.16.15
If your to-do list currently has a spot marked “apply for cramming refund from T-Mobile,” then you’d better hop to it. Individuals who currently have or had wireless service with the “Uncarrier” in the last five years have just 14 more days (the deadline is June 30) to apply for a refund as part of the mobile company’s $112.5 million settlement with the Federal Trade Commission for tacking-on third-party charges to customers’ bills – a practice known as cramming. You can visit the settlement website to see if you’re eligible or to submit a claim. [WTNH-TV] [More]
Target Poised To Settle Class-Action Suit Related To Massive 2013 Hack For $10M
By 3.19.15
More than a year after Target announced that it had been victim to a massive data breach during the 2013 holiday season, the company is poised to pay $10 million to settle a class-action suit stemming from the incident. [More]
Nissan Settles Class-Action Suit Over Faulty Brakes, Consumers Could Receive Between $20 And $800
By 12.9.14
Current and former owners of nearly 350,000 Nissan vehicles could be on the receiving end of a reimbursement check after the car company agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit involving vehicle defects that caused brakes to suddenly fail. [More]
NYC’s Monopolistic Hop-On, Hop-Off Tour Bus Companies To Pay Back $19M To Tourists
By 5.21.14
Sometimes working together is better than going it alone. That is, unless you collude with your competition to form a monopoly. In which case you’re probably going to slapped with lawsuits, and a hefty fine. Such was the case for a group of tour bus companies in New York City that have agreed to pay $19 million to settle antitrust claims. [More]
FTC Makes Twitter Promise Not To Mislead Customers About Privacy
By 6.24.10
Twitter has settled a Federal Trade Commission investigation, which started after a hacker gained access to a number of Twitter accounts (including President Barack Obama’s) and sent out fake tweets from those addresses. Under the terms of the settlement, Twitter “will be barred for 20 years from misleading consumers about the extent to which it maintains and protects the security, privacy and confidentiality of nonpublic consumer information.” We don’t know what happens in year 21. [More]
