Three years after General Motors recalled millions of cars that contained a ignition switch defect that was ultimately linked to more than 120 deaths, the carmaker is finally closing another chapter of the saga. The company will pay $120 million to resolve allegations that it failed to disclose the safety defect in a timely manner. [More]
settling up
GM, States Reach $120M Settlement Over Claims It Kept Ignition Switch Defect Under Wraps
By 10.19.17
Uber To Pay $20M For Allegedly Spamming People With Illegal Text Messages
By 10.10.17
More than a year after a Chicago resident filed a class-action lawsuit against Uber, claiming the company violated federal law by sending unsolicited text messages to people who want nothing to do with the service, the ride-hailing company has agreed to pay $20 million to put the legal challenge behind it. [More]
Whistleblowers Will Receive $3.6M For Reporting Healthcare Company’s False Medicare Claims
By 7.18.17
Less than a week after federal authorities conducted a massive crackdown on medical fraud, arresting more than 400 individuals, the Department of Justice announced that three Ohio-based healthcare companies and their executives would pay $19.5 million to resolve allegations they falsified Medicare claims for unnecessary services that allegedly harmed patients. [More]
Bank Of America To Pay $2M Over Calls Recorded Without Customer Consent
By 6.14.17
Bank of America has agreed to pay $2 million to settle allegations that it violated California law by failing to alert some customers that their phone calls to the bank were being recorded. [More]
Kawasaki To Pay $5.2M To Resolve Allegations It Didn’t Properly Report Defects, Injuries Related To Recall
By 6.2.17 — Updated: 6.9.17
Under federal law, manufacturers, distributors, and retailers are required to immediately report information regarding possible safety defects to the Consumer Product Safety Commission within 24 hours of obtaining reasonable supporting evidence. Kawasaki allegedly failed to do this with regard to defects in thousands of eventually recalled recreational off-highway vehicles (ROVs) and now the company has agreed to pay a $5.2 million penalty. [More]
Family Of Child Killed In Waterslide Incident To Receive $20M
By 5.4.17
Nine months after a 10-year-old boy died on the “world’s largest waterslide” at Schlitterbahn Water Park in Kansas City, the youngster’s family has reached a nearly $20 million settlement with the company. [More]
Viking Range To Pay $4.65M To Resolve Allegations It Didn’t Properly Report Defect
By 4.13.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
Two years ago, Viking Range recalled 52,000 oven ranges that were somehow able to turn themselves on. Now the company behind the ranges has agreed to pay $4.65 million to resolve allegations it failed to properly report the issue to federal regulators in a timely manner. [More]
Santander Bank To Pay $26M Over Subprime Auto Loan Practices
By 3.29.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
One of the nation’s largest providers of automobile financing, Santander Bank, has agreed to pay $26 million to end a two-state investigation into the financial institution’s alleged violation of state consumer protection laws related to its auto loan underwriting practices. [More]
Instacart To Pay $4.6M, Revise Service Amount Description To Resolve Class Action Lawsuit
By 3.24.17
Back in 2015, and again last year, Instacart shoppers took their growing ire over worker classification, as well as tip and service amount changes, a step farther by suing the grocery delivery startup claiming it broke state and federal labor laws, the company has agreed to settle the class-action suit for $4.6 million. [More]
Mobile Health App Makers Settle Allegations Of Misleading Marketing Claims
By 3.23.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
A trio of smartphone health apps that claim to do things like measure your heart rate or the vitals of your unborn child have agreed to settle allegations brought by the state of New York that these products made promises they couldn’t keep. [More]
DeVry Will Pay $2.75M To Settle State’s Allegations Of Misleading Advertising
By 1.31.17
One month after DeVry Education Group agreed to pay $100 million to settle federal regulatory charges that it used deceptive ads to recruit students, the for-profit educator has come to a multimillion-dollar settlement that should close the book on one state-level investigation. [More]
Costco Settles Federal Charges That It Turned Blind Eye To Bad Prescriptions
By 1.20.17
Costco has reached a deal with the U.S. Department of Justice to pay $11.75 million to resolve federal allegations that the warehouse club’s pharmacies violated the Controlled Substances Act by filling prescriptions they probably shouldn’t have. [More]
IKEA To Pay $50M To Families Of 3 Toddlers Killed In Dresser Tip-Overs
By 12.22.16
Six months after IKEA and the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced the recall of more than 29 million topple-prone Malm dressers now linked to four deaths, the furniture maker has agreed to pay $50 million to three of the affected families. [More]
Wells Fargo On The Hook For $185 Million For Opening Unauthorized Accounts
By 9.8.16 — Updated: 9.30.16
More than a year after the city of Los Angeles sued Wells Fargo for alleged customer account abuses, including pushing employees into opening unauthorized accounts to make sales quotas, the banking giant has been ordered to pay more than $185 million in refunds and penalties. [More]
Law Firm Must Pay $3.1M For Operating Automated Debt-Collection Lawsuit “Factory”
By 12.28.15
A Georgia-based law firm behind hundreds of thousands of debt-collection lawsuits, and its principal partners, have agreed to pay a total of $3.1 million in penalties to settle federal accusations that they were operating a lawsuit mill in violation of the law. [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]
New York Papa John’s Franchisee Ordered To Pay Workers More Than $2M For Wage Violations
By 3.6.15
A New York Papa John’s franchisee must pay more than $2 million to workers as part of a judgment resolving charges that the company underpaid hundreds of delivery workers at five Harlem-area restaurants. [More]
Diner Arrested After Her “Husband,” Jesus Christ, Fails To Show Up With Promised Cash To Pay The Bill
By 10.21.14
It doesn’t matter if you believe in Jesus (either as the son of God and/or as historical figure) or not: The issue of a hefty unpaid restaurant tab for food and booze hinges on the fact that Jesus Christ failed to show up and pay the bill of a woman claiming he’s her husband in the eyes of the law, a husband that she allegedly promised would walk in any minute to settle her tab with cold, hard cash. [More]
