Legal News Articles & Interviews

Grand Rapids, MI: Military veterans nationwide are hopeful that they can bring to court an injury you cannot see and prove why they cannot hear too well. More than 600 military service members have filed defective earplug lawsuits against 3M, the manufacturer.

Philadelphia, PA: The FDA has finally ordered the last two medical device companies selling transvaginal mesh products to pull them from the market. The agency said it is “committed to patient safety” but hundreds of thousands of women –victims of surgical mesh--would disagree. And the lawsuits are still pouring in.

Oakland, CA The jury in Pilliod v. Monsanto Co, the third Monsanto glyphosate lawsuit to go to trial, awarded Alva and Alberta Pilliod $55 Million in compensatory damages and a staggering $1 billion each (that’s $2 billion) in punitive damages for their Roundup-linked cancers. This is reportedly the largest award personal injury award this year and the eighth largest in US history. Although the punitive portion of the award will likely to be reduced under U.S. Supreme Court precedent, the trend in jury sentiment is clear.

New York, NY McCutcheon v. Colgate- Palmolive Co. is a rarity among modern ERISA lawsuits for the simple reason that it deals with a defined benefit retirement plan. In her class action lawsuit, Rebecca McCutcheon claims that her benefit and the benefits of many participants in the Colgate-Palmolive Co. Employees’ Retirement Income Plan (“Plan”) were miscalculated. Surprisingly, the expert witness offered by the Plan was unable to answer fundamental questions about how benefits were calculated.

Sacramento, CA: Morgan Stanley, known as one of the world's top investment banks, regularly stiffed its workers, according to a proposed class action lawsuit that was settled in California federal court last month to the tune of $10.2 million. The international financial firm was accused of forcing its financial advisers to pay expenses such as business travel, phone and internet services and licensing fees and more, which violate the California Labor Law

New Haven, CT Peter Salovey, the president of Yale University, must submit to a deposition in a long-running class action ERISA lawsuit. Vellali v. Yale University claims that the university, as a fiduciary of the Yale University Retirement Account Plan (the “Plan”), mismanaged Plan assets and investment options in a way that harmed workers trying to save for retirement. It occurs in the context of several similar university ERISA lawsuits. The results of these have been very mixed – some wins, some losses for plan participants, with no clear trend developing. Yale University also has a long history of labor troubles.

Chicago, IL Avant LLC, the online lending phenomenon which had previously been hailed as a “breakout financial success story,” has agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for $3.85 million. Although the lawsuit largely relied on a different federal statute, it shares much of the consumer financial protection zeal of the excessive overdraft fee lawsuits recently leveled against credit unions, banks and payday lenders. But it also reveals shortcomings in federal consumer protection laws.

Los Angeles, CA A Los Angeles commercial glass manufacturer has agreed to pay $1.3 million to resolve a class action California unpaid wages lawsuit brought on behalf of workers who claim they were shorted on overtime and meal and rest breaks between 2012 and 2018. Most of the more than 1,000 current and former employees affected will pocket about $800, although some will collect as much as $2,400.

Los Angeles, CA: Every time an employee at a Wal-Mart fulfillment center in Chino, California wanted to leave the building they were required to go through anti-theft metal detectors. This time-consuming process cut into 30-minute lunch breaks, unless of course you didn’t leave the building to eat lunch. And on April 12, 2019 a federal district court jury ruled that a violation of the California labor law, ordering Wal-Mart to shell out over $6 million.

Oakland, CA Pilliod v. Monsanto Co., the latest a Monsanto glyphosate lawsuit to go to trial, has focused squarely on the quality of the scientific evidence. Relying on expert testimony, counsel for Alberta and Alva Pilliod has accused Monsanto of outright fraud in securing regulatory approval for Roundup. Counsel for Monsanto has tried to undermine expert Charles Benbrook’s testimony by questioning his credentials.