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Mealey's California Section 17200

  • March 07, 2025

    Privacy, Biometric Claims Over CapCot Video-Editing App Survive Dismissal

    CHICAGO — An Illinois federal judge largely granted a motion by ByteDance Inc. to dismiss putative class claims over the purported collection of personal data from users of its CapCot video-editing app, finding that a group of the app’s users did not establish claims for unfair competition, unjust enrichment and violation of several federal and California state privacy laws.

  • March 07, 2025

    Final Judgment Entered For $27.5 Million Thomson Reuters Data-Selling Settlement

    SAN FRANCISCO — One week after a California federal judge granted final approval to a $27.5 million settlement of a class action over Thomson Reuters Corp.’s online gathering and sale of personally identifying information (PII) of Californians, he issued final judgment in the four-year-old suit, dismissing unjust enrichment and unfair competition claims against the company.

  • March 06, 2025

    Suits Consolidated Against Microsoft For ‘Stealing’ Affiliate Link Benefits

    SEATTLE — A Washington federal judge consolidated nine putative class actions against Microsoft Corp. brought by app operators and online content creator that earn money from online marketing and claim that Microsoft’s in-browser shopping extension “systematically steals commission payments from their rightful owners.”

  • March 05, 2025

    $9.5 Million Settlement Of Payroll Firm Data Breach Suit Gets Final Approval

    LOS ANGELES — Six months after a $9.5 million settlement of privacy and unfair competition claims over a payroll services provider’s 2023 data breach was preliminarily approved, a California judge gave the final stamp of approval to the agreement, also granting the plaintiffs’ motion for attorney fees, costs and class representative service awards.

  • March 04, 2025

    Furniture Delivery Company Asks 9th Circuit To Rehear UCL Coverage Dispute

    PASADENA, Calif. — A furniture delivery company insured has asked the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reconsider its ruling that an insurer has no duty to defend it against an underlying misappropriation of trade secrets and unfair competition lawsuit brought by a competitor, challenging the appeal court’s affirmation of a lower federal court’s grant of the insurer’s motion for summary judgment in its breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit.

  • March 04, 2025

    Judge Dismisses Monopoly Claims Against Apple Over iCloud Storage

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted Apple Inc.’s motion to dismiss a putative class action in which consumers accuse it of monopolizing access to its iCloud data storage service on Apple devices in violation of federal and state antitrust laws and California’s unfair competition law (UCL), finding the plaintiffs did not sufficiently allege a violation of federal law, a monopoly or unfair conduct.

  • March 03, 2025

    Choice-Of-Law Ruling Issued In Disability Insurance Suit In Federal Court

    NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Granting an insurer’s motion for partial judgment on the pleadings in a suit challenging the discontinuation of long-term disability (LTD) benefits, a Connecticut federal judge ruled that the “tort, equity, and contract claims under the common law are not governed by California law” and that three California and North Carolina statutory claims fail as a matter of law.

  • February 27, 2025

    High Court Distributes Nursing Home Operators’ Challenge To COVID Deaths Suit

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 26 distributed for conference a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by a California nursing home operator and affiliated defendants challenging the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ affirmance of the remand to state court of a case against them for the deaths of 15 elderly residents during the COVID-19 pandemic, arguing that the federal PREP Act preempts state law claims against them and requires removal.

  • February 27, 2025

    Judge Certifies Class Accusing Loan App Operator Of Concealing Fees

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge certified a class of California residents accusing a consumer loan app operator of concealing certain fees while operating as an unlicensed lender in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and California finance laws, denied the app operator’s motion to exclude a plaintiffs’ witness and granted in part the defendant’s motion for summary judgment as to claims regarding its performance fees.

  • February 26, 2025

    9th Circuit Affirms Judgment In Chipmaker's Favor On Antitrust Claims

    SAN FRANCISCO — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Feb. 25 affirmed orders of dismissal and a grant of summary judgment on consumer claims brought against a chipmaker for alleged anti-competitive exclusive dealing and unlawful tying claims, finding the conduct at issue lawful, but said the consumers may refile their claim for violation of California's unfair competition law in state court.

  • February 26, 2025

    ‘Wholesome’ Claim On High-Sugar Bars Not Puffery, Judge Rules

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted in part and denied in part a snack maker’s motion to dismiss a putative class action lawsuit brought against it by a consumer who accuses it of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by labeling its fig bar products as healthy and “wholesome” when they in fact contain high levels of sugar, finding that “the word ‘wholesome,’” as used on the defendant’s labels “is not puffery.”

  • February 25, 2025

    Judge Partially Dismisses Claims In UCL Class Suit Over App Cyberbullying

    LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge partially dismissed a putative class suit against YOLO, a company that designed an anonymous messaging app that allegedly failed to monitor content, purportedly resulting in cyberbullying and the death of one user, finding that the motion to dismiss for violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) is granted due to the plaintiffs’ failure to show that they have an inadequate remedy at law.

  • February 24, 2025

    Class Suit Over Microplastics Leaching From Baby Bottles May Proceed, Judge Says

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted in part and denied in part a plastic products maker’s motion to dismiss a putative class action against it for violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by omitting the risk to babies and young children of microplastics leaching out of its plastic baby bottles and sippy cups, writing that studies cited by the plaintiffs sufficiently support their material omission claims.

  • February 20, 2025

    Judge Permits ‘Mass Opt-Out’ From Eavesdropping Class Action Against Google

    SAN JOSE, Calif. — A California federal judge stated that she had “little hesitation” denying Google LLC’s motion to reject a “mass exclusion request” by nearly 70,000 Google Assistant (GA) users who seek to opt out of an unfair competition class action over Google’s purported eavesdropping via the digital assistant app and pursue arbitration of their privacy claims against the company instead.

  • February 18, 2025

    Parties To Musk’s Suit Over ChatGPT Funding Seek Dismissal

    SAN FRANCISCO — Elon Musk and his compatriots have no contract with OpenAI entities on which to base claims, have not shown any competitive injury from the artificial intelligence company’s deal with Microsoft Corp. and neither properly allege nor sufficiently point to an injury in fact for their California unfair competition law (UCL) claims, defendants in Musk’s fraud and racketeering suit told a federal judge in California in three motions to dismiss.

  • February 18, 2025

    Lead Claims Against Tampon Makers Dismissed In Part By Judge

    SAN DIEGO — A California federal judge issued two substantially similar rulings dismissing in part two putative class action lawsuits brought against tampon makers by women who accuse the companies of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by concealing the presence of lead in their tampons, finding that the claims should not be dismissed pending a Food and Drug Administration review of lead in tampons but also finding that the plaintiffs failed to allege that the tampons they bought contained dangerous levels of lead.

  • February 18, 2025

    Class Action Alleges Allstate Collected, Sold Data Without Plaintiffs’ Consent

    CHICAGO — A class action complaint filed in Illinois federal court alleges that The Allstate Corp. and its subsidiaries collected and sold the plaintiffs’ personal data and “‘trillions of miles’ worth of ‘driving behavior’” data without their consent.

  • February 18, 2025

    Plaintiffs Failed To Plead Timely Purchase Of Fruit Bars In Labeling Suit

    SAN DIEGO — A California federal judge dismissed with prejudice a putative class action accusing a food manufacturer of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by misrepresenting as “natural” fruit bar products that actually contained artificial flavors, finding among other deficiencies that the plaintiffs failed to allege that their purchases of the product were made within the statute of limitations period.

  • February 14, 2025

    False Advertising Claims Over Walmart Avocado Oil Inadequate, Judge Says

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California federal judge on Feb. 13 granted Walmart Inc.’s motion to dismiss a consumer’s putative class action accusing it of deceptively labeling its avocado oil product as pure avocado oil in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL), finding that the plaintiff failed to allege that the product is labeled in a way that would deceive a consumer as to the purity of its oil.

  • February 14, 2025

    Panel: No Coverage For Unfair Competition Suit Against Furniture Delivery Company

    PASADENA, Calif. — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals determined that an insurer has no duty to defend its furniture delivery company insured against an underlying misappropriation of trade secrets and unfair competition lawsuit brought by a competitor, affirming a lower federal court’s grant of the insurer’s motion for summary judgment in the insured’s breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit.

  • February 13, 2025

    Car Dealership Software Company Accuses Competitor Of Hacking Its Data

    SAN FRANCISCO — A developer of auto dealership management system (DMS) software filed a complaint against its competition in California federal court for allegedly hacking its proprietary data to gain a competitive advantage in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL), while also moving to dismiss the competitor’s lawsuit in the same court accusing it of violating UCL and antitrust laws.

  • February 12, 2025

    Precious Metals Company Data Breach Class Claims Dismissed By Plaintiff

    DALLAS — A putative class action plaintiff filed a notice of voluntary dismissal in Texas federal court of his lawsuit accusing a Texas-based precious metals refiner of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other consumer protection laws by failing to take cybersecurity measures to stop a data breach that allowed access to the personally identifiable information (PII) of himself and class members.

  • February 12, 2025

    Fortra Data Breach MDL Judge OK’s 1 Settlement, Stays Case For Global Settlement

    MIAMI — The Florida federal judge overseeing the multidistrict litigation over a 2023 software app data breach granted final approval to the settlement of one of the MDL’s tracks on Feb. 11, while staying proceedings for the remaining parties while details of an announced global settlement are finalized.

  • July 22, 2024

    Claims Trimmed From Remanded Crypto Wallet Data Breach Suit

    SAN FRANCISCO — A cryptocurrency wallet firm and two of its business partners saw their motions to dismiss a suit over a 2020 data breach partly granted, as a California federal judge found some claims to be preempted by a forum selection clause and others to be insufficiently pleaded.

  • February 12, 2025

    Judge Dismisses Contractor, Allows Only UCL Claim In Crypto Wallet Data Breach Row

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted a subcontractors’ motion to dismiss claims against it related to a crypto wallet data breach incident after finding the claims fall under a forum selection clause requiring exclusive jurisdiction in France despite it being a nonsignatory to the contract, but declined to dismiss the plaintiffs’ putative class claim accusing the French parent company of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL).