Legal News Articles & Interviews

Oakland, CA On March 13, a jury in California Superior Court awarded Terry Leavitt and her husband $29.4 million in the first Johnson & Johnson (J&J) talcum powder lawsuit to go to trial in 2019. Ms. Leavitt linked her mesothelioma diagnosis to her use of asbestos-contaminated J&J baby powder and Shower-to-Shower talcum powder. The verdict includes $22 million for pain and suffering, $5 million in compensatory damages, nearly $1.3 million for her medical costs and $1.2 million for lost wages.

Charleston, WV As the nation’s largest mass tort product liability lawsuit winds to a close, those who have suffered from surgical mesh complications and their attorneys are pausing to take stock. Not everyone is happy.

Boston, MA On February 21, 2019, Andre W. Wong, a participant in T-Mobile USA Inc.'s 401(k) plan, filed a class action ERISA lawsuit in Massachusetts District Court. The lawsuit may ultimately affect nearly every 401k plan participant in every plan that has offered investment options managed by Fidelity Investments since 2017. Wong v. FMR LLC lays out a complicated pay-to-play scheme (disarmingly and perhaps deceptively described in internal documents as “supermarket fees”).

Los Angeles, CA Superior Court Judge Carolyn B. Kuhl has approved Jamba Juice’s offer to settle a class action California unpaid wages lawsuit for $1.95 million. The plaintiffs in Arteaga v. Jamba Juice claimed that the smoothie chain forced nearly 5,500 employees to work off the clock – through meal breaks and without proper overtime pay.

Kansas City, MO On February 21, 2019, Jonathan Foster, an Army Reserve veteran, filed a 3M Combat Arms defective earplug lawsuit in the Western District of Missouri. He suffers from tinnitus, a symptom of permanent hearing loss, because the earplugs supplied to him by the Army during his training and subsequent deployment to Afghanistan were badly designed. They failed to protect him from the preventable harm that the manufacturer guaranteed against.

Washington, DC The long-running Johnson & Johnson (J&J) talcum powder lawsuits have now taken a strangely contemporary turn as long-silent witnesses, both in this world and the next, tell tales. The Department of Justice (DOJ) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have subpoenaed corporate documents, and Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) has requested information back to 1966. Could this end the corporate stonewalling that has stymied so many J&J talcum powder lawsuits for so long?

San Jose, CA Centerplate of Delaware Inc. , a multinational food and beverage company, has offered to pay $5.4 million to resolve stadium workers’ claims that the company failed to pay wages required under various provisions of California labor law. Raquedan v. Centerplate accuses the company of failing to provide meal breaks and sick days; as well as failing to pay for accrued vacation days, time spent waiting at security checkpoints and the cost of uniforms.

Santa Clara, CA: From strippers to cooks to construction workers, independent contractors who say they are misclassified under California labor laws may want to take into consideration what they stand to lose before filing a misclassification lawsuit to be classified as an employee. Sure, the benefits are enticing but they come at a price, such as loss of independence

Tampa, FL: Studies have shown that a host of conditions are characterized by retention of gadolinium, and the proven retention of this heavy metal in brain tissue has been named “gadolinium storage condition”. Armed with these facts, Virginia says she refused to have a second MRI with contrast dye and her radiologist was okay with that.

San Francisco, CA In Humes v. First Student Inc., a group of California bus drivers claim that the company for which they worked, First Student, Inc. (formerly Laidlaw) failed to pay them for all the hours that they worked. In the latest legal turn, the Ninth Circuit has cleared the way for the drivers to pursue their lawsuit as a class action. That keeps the lawsuit alive. Among their California labor law claims is that they received inaccurate pay stubs. It seems a small point in a big fight. Especially because of recent case law developments, however, pay stub claims be an increasingly important part of California wage lawsuits.