Veterans with Hearing Loss Chucked 3M Defective Earplugs During DeploymentKalamazoo, MI: Brian is a former Marine Corps combatant diagnosed with hearing loss and tinnitus. “I served three tours in Iraq and many training missions where I was a forward observer of artillery, heavy guns, and aircraft ordnance. These 3M earplugs were my standard issue and we were also given no instruction on use or efficacy,” says Brian. “I was unaware that this hearing protection was defective until I read about 3M defective earplug lawsuits online.”
Uber to Settle Class Action Contract Lawsuit for $395,000San Francisco, CA The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California appears ready to approve a settlement in
Dulberg v. Uber Technologies Inc. that will net nearly a quarter of the drivers only $20. The class action lawsuit is notable for two reasons. It was brought as a contract lawsuit, not under the provisions of California labor employment law. Secondly, the payouts are very small for many of those included in the class. Even Judge William Alsup, who presided over the case, described the settlement as “a low-end recovery for the class.”
Dignity Health Poised to Settle ERISA Lawsuit for $100 MillionSan Francisco, CA Dignity Health has agreed to pay $100 million to settle a proposed class action ERISA lawsuit that accused it of using a undeserved religious exemption to justify underfunding its pension plan by $1.5 billion. The proposed settlement would require Dignity Health to add $50 million in retirement plan funding in 2020 and at least $50 million in 2021. In addition, the settlement requires Dignity Health to refrain from reducing participants’ accrued benefits because of a plan merger or amendment for 10 years. Dignity Health has also promised to fund the plan until 2024, making the minimum contribution recommended by actuaries to the plan.
$1.2 Billion Class Action Lawsuit Targets Ford Fuel Economy ClaimsDetroit, MI Rapidly multiplying Ford class action lawsuits focusing on deceptive fuel economy claims will now include owners or lessees of 2018 and 2019 Ford F-150s or 2019 Ford Rangers. Misrepresented mileage may have cost drivers as much as $2,000 a year. Claims abound, but in the latest lawsuit, plaintiffs seek damages of
$1.2 billion, arising from violations of statutory and common law in 49 states.
Daubert Hearing Underway is Crucial to Johnson & Johnson Asbestos Talc LawsuitsTrenton, NJ: Johnson & Johnson is hoping to snuff out over 20 plaintiffs’ expert witnesses from the multi-district litigation in a Daubert Hearing that began this week. The plaintiff cases are built on expert testimonies who say that asbestos fibers have been found in samples of talcum powder provided by plaintiff lawyers purchased on eBay and other places.
Johnson & Johnson Investors Accuse the Company of Cover-UpNew York, NY: A Johnson & Johnson shareholder in February 2018 filed a securities class action claiming that J&J has known its talcum powder contains asbestos fibers and that exposure to J&J’s talc can cause mesothelioma and ovarian cancer. Shareholders are now urging a federal judge to move forward with the lawsuit because they purportedly have evidence showing that the company has known since the 1970s about the dangers of its talc and chose testing methods that couldn’t detect the cancer-causing asbestos fibers.
Forced Arbitration Threatens Class Action Excessive Overdraft Fees LawsuitsWashington, DC JPMorgan Chase, the country’s largest bank, is
moving to require credit card customers, and by extension, checking account customers with a linked debit card, to settle disputes through arbitration. It would, reportedly, preclude class action excessive overdraft fee lawsuits like one that in 2012
led JP Morgan to settle with checking account customers for $110 million.
