The Litigation Counsellor®

On March 14, 2019, a group of parents and current university students filed class claims in federal court in the Northern District of California against the perpetrators of recent elite college admission cheating scandals, in addition to naming several of the involved schools as defendants.

An $18.9 million settlement has been reached in the National Hockey League (“NHL”) concussion multidistrict litigation (“MDL”). Plaintiffs in the MDL similarly allege that while playing professional hockey for one or more of the Member Clubs or the NHL, they were subjected to head trauma and/or injuries and/or brain trauma and/or injuries and that these injuries have caused, or may cause a variety of neurodegenerative, cognitive, emotional, and/or mental health conditions.

On October 5, 2018, class claims were filed in federal court in the middle district of Florida against Westminster Pharmaceuticals LLC (“Westminster”) and CVS Pharmacy Inc., alleging that the companies manufactured and distributed adulterated generic prescription thyroid medications to patients.

On September 27, 2018, California federal Judge William H. Orrick granted approval to a $4.9 million settlement between Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (“PG&E”) and the San Francisco Herring Association (“SFHA”), which is comprised of a group of commercial herring fisherman from the San Francisco Bay area.

On August 17, 2018, plaintiff Dr. Miles Conway filed suit against social media giant Facebook Inc. in federal court in the Southern District of Florida, alleging that the company has negligently and carelessly failed to take down a fake Facebook account that operated under the plaintiff’s name, despite multiple attempts by the plaintiff and his friends to have it removed from the site.

On July 29, 2018, just ten days after the horrific sinking of a Missouri Duck Boat on Table Rock Lake, estate representative for victims of the accident filed suit in U.S. District Court in the Western District of Missouri against the owner and operator of the Ride the Duck tour company and the manufacturer of the land-to-sea amphibious vehicle.

On October 20, 2017, two dissatisfied TJ Maxx customers filed an amended and expanded class action complaint in Massachusetts federal court accusing the retailer’s parent company, TJX Companies Inc. (“TJX”), and textile manufacturers, AQ Textiles LLC and Creative Textile Mills Pvt. Ltd., of exaggerating the thread count of bedding and linen products in order to increase profits.

On October 10, 2017, two separate lawsuits were filed in Nevada federal court in the wake of the devastating Las Vegas mass shooting by The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence (“The Brady Center”) and shooting victim, Paige Gasper. The Brady Center is bringing class claims on behalf of the shooting victims. Both suits allege that the negligence of the Mandalay Bay Resort and its owner MGM Resorts International, contributed to the horrific results of the shooting. Mandalay Bay is the hotel where shooter Stephen Paddock was staying when he opened fire on innocent concertgoers at the Route 91 Harvest Festival, killing 58 people and injuring over 500 including plaintiff Paige Gasper.

On October 6, 2017, trial began in Los Angeles County Superior Court over allegations that the death of 89-year-old Arizona resident, Virginia Jolson, in 2013 was caused by the consumption a batch of contaminated frozen berries. Ms. Jolson purchased Townsend Farm’s Organic Antioxidant Blend at wholesale retailer giant, Costco, which the suit alleges was contaminated with hepatitis A.

On Monday June 19, 2017 the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a controversial ruling from the California Supreme Court, which held that California state courts had jurisdiction to hear class claims from nearly 600 non-California residents who filed suit against Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. The lawsuit was filed in California court alleging that the plaintiffs had sustained injuries from the blood-thinning drug Plavix.

On May 16, 2017, a federal judge denied Red Bull Inc.’s motion to dismiss the $60 million wrongful death suit claiming that excessive consumption of their energy drink resulted in the death of 44-year-old, William Wade. According to Judge Lisa Wood, “Red Bull Inc.’s only arguments are that the complaint is a shotgun pleading and it does not adequately plead fraud. Neither contention succeeds.”

Residents in Pawnee County, Oklahoma, filed a class-action lawsuit against 27 oil and gas companies, accusing the companies of triggering destructive, man-made earthquakes by the process in which they disposed of fracking wastewater. The companies mainly disposed of the waste fluids generated from fracking by injecting them back into the earth under extreme pressure into waste disposal or injection wells. The plaintiffs contend that the introduction of such contaminants into the natural environment caused an adverse change that resulted in unnatural seismic activity.

Residents of New Jersey have filed suit against wholesale superstore, Costco, alleging that the company charged its New Jersey customers a 7% sales tax on Charmin toilet paper in direct violation of New Jersey tax law, which excludes toilet paper from sales tax. Named plaintiffs, Jacqueline Taufield and Robert Arnold, argue that the supposed “tax” was in fact a surcharge masquerading as a sales tax. The plaintiffs further allege that when they brought the issue of the tax up with Costco, they were not offered a refund of any kind.

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (“PwC”), an international accounting firm, and The Citco Group Ltd. (“Citco”), a financial services group, are back at the center of a class action led by investors in several feeder funds that invested in the historic Ponzi scheme architected by Bernie Madoff. The action pleads federal securities law and state law violations arising out of PwC’s role as auditor of the funds and Citco’s part as the funds’ administrator and custodian.