Ninth Circuit Affirms $54.6 Wage Award for Walmart TruckersSan Francisco, CA On January 6, the Ninth Circuit affirmed a $54.6 million jury award for Wal-mart's truck drivers under the provisions of California labor law. Wal-mart had challenged the 2016 District Court decision in
Ridgeway v. Walmart, Inc. on a variety of grounds, including lack of jurisdiction, the certification of a class of similarly situated plaintiffs and the applicability of the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994.
E-Cigarette Lawsuit Claims Deceptive Advertising, FraudEugene, OR Among other e-cigarette side effects, Kewmarse Imani, who began JUULing in 2018, is now addicted to nicotine and will struggle with that addiction for life.
Imani v. JUUL Labs, Inc. and Altria Group, Inc., a class action lawsuit, claims that his nicotine addiction is the result of a permanent injury to his developing brain and that he suffered a seizure because of exposure to the toxic substances in JUUL.
New Research: Brief Heat Exposure Increases Zantac Cancer OddsWashington, DC Emery Pharma, a California-based testing laboratory has reported that Zantac appears to produce unacceptably high levels of cancer-causing N-Nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) when exposed to heat for as little as five days. Brief periods of modestly inadequate temperature control can easily occur during transport, storage or even in consumer’s home. These findings have sparked new calls for a U.S. Food and Drug Administration recall of Zantac and related generic drugs and will likely fuel class action Zantac cancer lawsuits (ZANTAC) already underway.
U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Oral Arguments in ERISA Breach of Fiduciary Duty LawsuitWashington, DC On January 13, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in
Thole v. U.S. Bank, NA, an ERISA lawsuit (ERISA) that has major implications for the rights of participants and beneficiaries to sue plan sponsors under the basic legal framework of ERISA. The defendant plan sponsor will argue that the plaintiff retirees have no standing to sue over alleged breaches of fiduciary duty because they have not suffered any individual financial loss. The defendant plan sponsor will ask the Court to affirm an Eighth Circuit decision that limits participants’ rights to oversee investment management decisions.
More Ranitidine Cancer Concerns Lead to Zantac LawsuitsSanta Clara, CA Since the FDA last September reported that minute amounts of a carcinogen called N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) was detected in Zantac, along with several other heartburn medications, a number of Zantac cancer lawsuits have followed.
Disneyland Workers file a lawsuit alleging they aren’t paid Minimum WageAnaheim, CA All Disney employees are entitled to minimum wage, from bellhop to barista, Mickie and Minnie. But five current and former workers claim that the entertainment behemoth has violated the California labor law by failing to pay its workers minimum wage, failing to pay overtime and all wages owed at termination.
Target Red Card Lawsuit Poised to Settle for $8.2 MillionSan Diego, CA On December 2, the Southern District of California granted preliminary approval to the settlement of a class action lawsuit that shone a light on the real cost of Target’s Red Card purchases for thousands of Target shoppers since 2012. The store-branded payment card permitted Target to charge Returned Payment Fees (RPFs) of $20 to $40 in addition to multiple bank overdraft fees on purchases for which there were insufficient funds in a customer’s account.
California Uber Drivers Survive Motion to Dismiss, Lose Preliminary InjunctionSan Francisco, CA On December 16, Judge Edward Chen of the Northern District of California denied Uber’s Motion to Dismiss a class action California labor lawsuit that claims Uber drivers were misclassified as independent contractors under standards set out in
Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court. However, in
Colopy v. Uber Techs Inc., Judge Chen also denied the drivers’ Motion for a Preliminary Injunction. The injunction would have required the ride-hailing giant to begin to treat drivers as employees immediately.
Does Monsanto (Bayer) Have a Silver Bullet?San Francisco Edwin Hardeman v. Monsanto was the first federal trial and the March 2019 verdict is considered a milestone in the continuing Roundup cancer debate. Hardeman claimed his non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma was caused by glyphosate in Roundup weed killer and the company knew its product was carcinogenic but deliberately misled the public.
