The Litigation Counsellor®

On Friday, November 25, 2022, a claim was filed in the United States District Court Central District of California against TikTok and parent company Byte Dance (collectively, “defendants”). The plaintiff claims his privacy was violated through a tracking device in the defendants’ product.

On Thursday, November 10, 2022 in the Social Media Multi-District Litigation (“MDL”), U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzales Rogers of the Northern District of California issued Case Management Order No. 1 which included the selection of Leadership for Plaintiffs.

On Monday, November 7, 2022, a claim against Mars Inc., the manufacturer of Skittles, was withdrawn in the United States District Court Northern District of California. The plaintiff had initially claimed Skittles was unfit for human consumption.

In the complaint, named plaintiff Jenile Thames alleged that the product, Skittles, contained Titanium Dioxide (“TiO2”) a chemical known by the defendant to be harmful. Plaintiff claims that in 2016 Defendant promised to phase out its use of the chemical. 

On Friday, October 21, 2022, a claim was filed in the United Stated District Court, Northern District of Illinois against L’Oreal and additional defendants (collectively, “Defendants”). The plaintiff claims her uterine cancer is a result of using Defendants’ haircare products.

On Wednesday, October 5, 2022, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (“JPML”), consolidated suits related to Acetaminophen. There are currently 65 actions pending in eight districts nationwide alleging a link between the development of either autism spectrum disorder (“ASD”) or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (“ADHD”) and prenatal exposure to acetaminophen.

On Tuesday, September 26, 2022, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) filed a complaint against Lilly USA, LLC (“Lilly”) alleging age discrimination in violation of the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (“ADEA”) in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division. Lilly USA is the parent company of Eli Lilly, a U.S.-based pharmaceutical company.

On Tuesday, September 20, 2022, in the Takata Airbag Product Liability Litigation, U.S. District Judge Federico A. Moreno of the Southern District of Florida issued an order granting in part and denying in part motions to dismiss.

The judge denied Defendants’ motions to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction with respect to the Florida Consumer Plaintiffs. The judge did grant Defendants’ motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction with respect to the non-Florida direct-file Consumer Plaintiffs.

On Thursday, September 9, 2022 in the Abbott Infant Formula Multi-District Litigation (“MDL”), U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly of the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division issued Case Management Order #2 naming a plaintiff leadership committee.

The following two attorneys were appointed to serve as plaintiffs’ co-lead counsel: Stacy K. Hauer and E. Samuel Geisler. Judge Kennelly’s order specifically laid out their duties and responsibilities.

On August 26, 2022, Judge Jeffrey Graham, United State Bankruptcy Judge in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana denied Aearo Technologies’ (“Aearo”) request for a preliminary injunction for a non-debtor party, its parent company, 3M.

On Monday, August 22, 2022, the judge in the TikTok Privacy litigation approved the $92 million settlement reached by parties via mediation in October 2021. The Order was issued by U.S. District Judge John Lee of the U.S. Federal District Court in the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division. Defendants are the TikTok platform and its parent company, ByteDance, Inc.

On July 26, 2022, Aearo Technologies (“Aearo”), a subsidiary of 3M, filed bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana. Aearo originally manufactured the earplugs that are at the core of the 3M Earplug MDL currently pending in the U.S. District Court, Northern District Florida. The MDL is overseen by U.S. District Judge Casey Rodgers. The bankruptcy filing came on the heels of a court ordered mediation between the parties.

On July 4, 2022, a West Virginia federal judge found in favor of three drug distributors in the West Virginia opioid litigation. U.S. District Judge David Haber found that Cabell County and the city of Huntington, West Virginia failed to prove that AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health Inc. and McKesson Corp. created a public nuisance by flooding the area with large shipments of opioids. Further, the judge ruled that the plaintiffs could not seek relief for abating the damages from the Opioid Crisis.

Recently, Congress proposed the Camp Lejeune Justice Act as part of the larger Honoring our PACT Act of 2022 legislation (H.R. 3967), in order to provide compensation to those injured by exposure to polluted water at Camp Lejuene.

Camp Lejeune is a Marine Corps base and a military operations and training facility for the United States armed forces located in Onslow County, North Carolina. Thousands of military servicemembers, their families, civilian employees and contractors lived and/or worked there beginning in 1942 through the present.

On Friday, June 10, 2022, United States District Judge Casey Rodgers in the Northern District of Florida, Pensacola Division, ordered parties in the 3M earplug litigation to attend mediation. Claims against 3M are consolidated in a Multidistrict Litigation (“MDL”) and are overseen by Judge Rodgers. Plaintiffs, veterans and US servicemembers, claim that 3M’s earplugs were defectively designed. They allege that the defective design prevented the earplugs from providing protection to servicemembers and that this failure led to tinnitus and/or hearing loss.