Newsletter RSS

Mealey's California Section 17200

  • April 10, 2025

    Class Suit Against OnlyFans Over ‘Chatter’ Scheme May Proceed Anonymously

    SANTA ANA, Calif. — A California federal judge on April 9 declined to dismiss putative class claims brought by California subscribers of adult website OnlyFans for an alleged “chatter scheme” in which they were allegedly deceived into paying to communicate with adult content creators, but instead were connected to “professional chatters,” and said the plaintiffs may proceed anonymously to avoid the risk of embarrassment from revealing private messages discussing their “sexual interests.”

  • April 09, 2025

    Google, Class Plaintiffs Settle 14-Year-Old AdWords Suit For $100M

    SAN JOSE, Calif. — A consumer and his company representing two certified classes of advertisers who claim that Google LLC misrepresented the benefits of its AdWords advertising service have moved in California federal court for preliminary approval of a $100 million settlement to claims against Google first filed in 2011 and say their attorneys will seek a 33% attorney fees award.

  • April 09, 2025

    Vape Maker Says Plaintiffs’ PFAS Class Action Fails For Lack Of Jurisdiction

    SAN FRANCISCO — A maker of vapes has moved in California federal court to dismiss a putative class action alleging that its products contain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), arguing that subject matter jurisdiction is lacking and that the plaintiffs have failed to plead fraud based claims with particularity.

  • April 08, 2025

    Class Claims Over ‘Habit Forming’ Chemical In Sleep Aid May Proceed, Judge Says

    OAKLAND, Calif. — A California federal judge denied a consumer health product company’s motion to dismiss a putative class action filed against it by a consumer who accuses it of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by misrepresenting its product as not habit forming, finding that the plaintiffs provided scientific evidence that the product can cause dependency and withdrawal symptoms.

  • April 07, 2025

    Class Claims Against Apple For Slowing Iphones With Update May Proceed, Judge Says

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted in part and denied in part Apple Inc.’s motion to dismiss a putative class action brought against it by users of an older iPhone model who accuse it of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by deceiving them into downloading an iPhone software update that was optimized for newer-model iPhones and allegedly caused a slowdown in their devices.

  • April 07, 2025

    More Than $12M In Attorney Fees, Expenses Awarded After Apple Gift Card Settlement

    SAN JOSE, Calif. — A federal judge in California, over objections by Apple Inc. and Apple Value Services LLC (together, Apple), granted approval of $11.65 million in attorney fees and more than $500,000 in expenses sought by the plaintiffs and class counsel as part of a $35 million settlement in a case over an alleged iTunes gift card scam.

  • April 04, 2025

    Judge Won’t Dismiss False Discount Class Claims Against Helix Mattress Seller

    LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge denied a motion filed by the company that sells Helix-brand mattresses to dismiss or strike putative class claims against it for violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by allegedly marketing mattresses for sale online with fake discounts and countdowns to deceive customers into believing that they could benefit from time-limited sales.

  • April 04, 2025

    Judge Approves $15 Million Settlement Of Cash App Data Breach Class Action

    SAN FRANCISCO — Almost 10 months after a California federal judge preliminarily approved a $15 million settlement of a consolidated class action against the owners of Cash App over a pair of data breaches that exposed users’ personally identifiable information (PII) and account data, the judge granted the named plaintiffs’ motion for final approval, settling 16 claims, including negligence, fraud, invasion of privacy and unfair competition.

  • April 03, 2025

    Class Representative Seeks $73M Judgment Against Company For Fake Reviews

    SAN JOSE, Calif. — A plaintiff representing a certified class of consumers who claim that they were deceived by a Chinese manufacturer-owned company’s practice of faking reviews on Amazon.com to sell shoddy electronics in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws filed a motion in California federal court for default judgment following the withdrawal from proceedings by the defendant.

  • April 02, 2025

    Judge Allows Insureds’ ERISA, UCL Claims Against Cigna In AI Claims Denial Case

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California federal judge granted in part and denied in part Cigna Corp. and its affiliate’s motion to dismiss insureds’ claims that they violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by allegedly denying coverage using an artificial intelligence algorithm.

  • April 02, 2025

    Sugarcane Companies Accused Of Deceiving Consumers With ‘Greenwashing’ Claims

    SAN FRANCISCO — A consumer filed a putative class action in California federal court against a sugarcane grower and its parent company alleging that they have deceptively marketed their sugar as environmentally friendly in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) while in fact continuing to use sugarcane harvesting practices the consumer says “poison people and the planet.”

  • April 01, 2025

    Consumer Claims Over Watery ‘Buttery Spread’ Dismissed By Judge

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California federal judge dismissed a putative class action lawsuit accusing a butter alternative maker of deceiving consumers by manufacturing the product with higher-than-normal quantities of water and flaxseed oil, which apparently led to thousands of consumer complaints and some sales of “rancid” products, finding that the plaintiff failed to sufficiently allege a violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws.

  • March 31, 2025

    $7.5M Beyond Meat Protein Content Class Settlement Approved

    CHICAGO — A federal judge in Illinois granted final approval of a $7.5 million class settlement between Beyond Meat Inc. and consumers who alleged that the plant-based meat substitute company inflated protein content and overstated the quality of the protein in its products.

  • March 31, 2025

    Judge Stays Deceptive Marketing Class Claims Against Zyn Maker Due To Earlier Suit

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California federal judge on March 28 stayed a putative class action against Swedish Match North America LLC (SM) for allegedly deceptively marketing Zyn nicotine pouches as nicotine cessation products in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws after finding a similar suit is already pending and applying the “first-to-file rule.”

  • March 31, 2025

    Judge Allows Class Suit Over ‘Truffles From France’ Claims To Proceed

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California federal judge on March 28 denied a chocolate maker’s motion for judgment on the pleadings in a putative class action filed by two women who say the company deceptively marketed its chocolate truffles as made in France in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws .

  • March 31, 2025

    23andMe Agrees To Proceed With Data Breach Settlement, Files Bankruptcy Notices

    SAN FRANCISCO — Two days after 23andMe Inc. informed a California federal court that it would be proceeding with a settlement of negligence, privacy and unfair competition claims over a 2023 data breach, which had been preliminarily approved in December, the troubled DNA testing company filed three notices of bankruptcy, staying the multidistrict litigation.

  • March 28, 2025

    Judge Dismisses Class Suit Alleging Infant Formula Contained Heavy Metals

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge on March 24 granted an infant formula company’s motion to dismiss a putative class action lawsuit against it for violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by allegedly concealing the presence of heavy metals in its formula products, finding that the plaintiff failed to allege that the amounts of heavy metals in the products pose a safety.

  • March 28, 2025

    9th Circuit Reverses, Says Claims Valid In Roundup Mislabeling Lawsuit

    PASADENA, Calif. — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on March 27 issued an unpublished nonprecedential memorandum in which it reversed a lower court decision that dismissed claims against Monsanto Co. and its parents related to allegations that its herbicide Roundup was mislabeled, ruling that the plaintiffs alleged sufficient facts to plausibly state a claim for relief against Monsanto, but the panel affirmed the part of the lower court ruling that concluded that the claims against Scotts Co. LLC were properly dismissed.

  • March 28, 2025

    Judge Dismisses Deception Claims Over V8 Splash, Allows Malic Acid Claim

    CAMDEN, N.J. — A New Jersey federal judge on March 27 largely granted Campbell Soup Co.’s motion to dismiss a putative class action brought against it by two consumers who say it violated California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by deceptively marketing V8 Splash as healthy but ordered expedited discovery regarding whether malic acid is used to flavor the product.

  • March 26, 2025

    Class Claims For School’s Nondisclosure Of Sexual Misconduct Fail, Panel Says

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California appellate panel affirmed the dismissal of a putative class action brought against a school for failing to disclose that three of its employees engaged in sexually abusive or inappropriate conduct, finding in part that the plaintiffs lacked standing to bring a claim for violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) as they were not directly harmed by the conduct.

  • March 24, 2025

    Apple Misled Consumers As To IPhone 16’s ‘AI-Driven’ Functions, Consumer Says

    SAN JOSE, Calif. — A consumer filed a putative class action lawsuit in California federal court accusing Apple Inc. of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other state consumer laws by misleading millions of consumers into buying its latest iPhone models by misrepresenting the artificial intelligence capacities that the iPhone 16’s “Apple Intelligence” and Siri software would offer.

  • March 24, 2025

    High Court Won’t Review COVID Deaths Suit Against Nursing Home Operators

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on March 24 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by a California nursing home operator and affiliated defendants that sought to challenge the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ affirmance of the remand to state court of a claim against them for the deaths of 15 elderly residents during the COVID-19 pandemic, which they contended was preempted by the federal PREP Act.

  • March 21, 2025

    9th Circuit Affirms Ruling Tossing ‘Illicit’ Ink Cartridge UCL Suit Against Amazon

    PASADENA, Calif. — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on March 20 affirmed a lower court ruling that dismissed with prejudice a lawsuit by a remanufacturer of ink cartridges accusing Amazon.com Inc. and its subsidiaries of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL), the Lanham Act and other laws by allowing third-party sellers to post allegedly deceptive listings for recycled printer ink cartridges, thereby diverting business from authentic ink cartridge recyclers, finding that “to the extent claims” against Amazon “survive” the Communications Decency Act (CDA), the remanufacturer “has failed to allege an actionable false statement by Amazon.”

  • March 18, 2025

    App’s Arbitration Agreement Was ‘Rife With Unfair Surprise,’ 9th Circuit Told

    SAN FRANCISCO — Mobile app game players who contend in a putative class suit that they were tricked into paying to play against bots instead of real people urge the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in a March 17 appellee brief to affirm a lower court’s ruling barring arbitration of their claims against the app’s developer and its co-founders, saying the agreement was unconscionable and required “batching” of claims that would have lasted “a century or more.”

  • March 18, 2025

    Costco: Baby Wipes Case Fails Because Studies Do Not Show Harmful Effects Of PFAS

    SAN FRANCISCO — Costco Wholesale Corp. has moved in California to dismiss a class action alleging that Kirkland Signature Baby Wipes contain unsafe levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), arguing that the plaintiffs do not cite “any state or federal regulations prohibiting or restricting the specific substances” at issue and do not point to a single study that purports to find harmful effects from those substances in humans.