Legal News Articles & Interviews

Santa Clara, CA: A former member of the U.S. Navy SEABEES adds one more lawsuit to hundreds of others filed by veterans nationwide against 3M Corporation, claiming that the company falsified testing documents and knowingly manufactured and distributed 3M combat arms defective earplugs to the U.S. Military.

Fort Saskatchewan, AB: How can a heavy metal accumulate in the brain but not be considered harmful? After undergoing seven MRI scans, all with injections of a gadolinium-based contrast agent (GBCA), Wanda Milley experienced the same gadolinium contrast dye side effects that many other patients have suffered, and have subsequently filed gadolinium lawsuits.

Atlanta, GA Judge Richard W. Story has now identified ten bellwether Ethicon Physiomesh lawsuits that will likely shape the multidistrict litigation pending in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Georgia. Trials in these hernia mesh lawsuits are now scheduled to begin in April 2020. But there will be plenty to watch even before opening statements begin.

Santa Ana, CA Aaron Kushner and Eric Spitz, who mismanaged the investments of the Retirement Plan of Freedom Communications, Inc. (the Pension Plan) have offered to settle an ERISA lawsuit brought by the federal Pension Benefits Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) for $7.8 million.

Washington, DC: A recent survey by Consumer Reports confirms that most Americans want automakers -- not only Ford-- to improve and increase fuel economy on every type of vehicle.

Los Angeles, CA Household workers, including those who care for the elderly or people with disabilities, are among the most vulnerable to wage theft and other forms of employment abuse. They work in isolation, behind closed doors and sometimes in fear of deportation. Ray v. County of Los Angeles cuts through the fog and fear to make clear that private litigants may recover unpaid overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The bigger picture is that the change in federal protection fills a gap in the legal safety net left under California’s Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights, Wage Order 15 and other provisions of California labor employment law.

Denton, MT: A Montana farmer recently filed a Monsanto glyphosate lawsuit claiming its herbicide Roundup he used since 1982 caused his Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. In a similar case filed in France, a French court found Monsanto guilty of poisoning a farmer and in June the first Australian legal action was filed against Bayer, which bought Monsanto in 2018.

Oakland, CA: If finally approved, a lawsuit brought under PAGA will settle California labor law claims brought on behalf of 35,000 workers in California who allege that Safeway failed to provide accurate pay stubs. The giant supermarket chain’s $1.45 million deal would affect former and current workers.

Santa Clara, CA: Many drivers of America’s top-selling vehicle, the 2018 or 2019 Ford F-150 pickup, could be spending an extra $2,000 in fuel. Now they are accusing Ford Motor Co. of falsifying fuel-economy tests, and looking at a Ford class action lawsuit for anyone who bought or leased a 2019 Ford Ranger--and likely more models and model-year vehicles affected as testing continues.

Birmingham, AL In an ERISA lawsuit filed in the Northern District of Alabama, participants in the Compass SmartInvestor 401(k) Plan claim that Plan fiduciaries failed in their legal duty to act prudently for the benefit of plan participants and beneficiaries. The Plan offered only one poorly performing short-term bond investment option and failed to monitor the investment performance of higher cost funds, ostensibly selected to produce higher yields.