On June 19, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision that has the potential to reshape the way class actions are litigated in courts throughout the country. In Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. v. Superior Court of California,...more
A few years back, the Northern District of California was dubbed the “food court” based on the influx of food misbranding class actions claiming that alleged FDA regulatory infractions constituted violations of California...more
Introduction. On June 12, 2017, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Microsoft Corp. v. Baker et al., a closely watched case in the class action world, and one on which we previously reported here. Baker presented the...more
Bruton v. Gerber, No. 15-15174. The district court had dismissed Plaintiff’s unjust enrichment claim, denied class certification for lack of an “ascertainable class,” and granted summary judgment to Gerber because Plaintiff...more
The Big Picture: On Tuesday, Judge Koh granted Kellogg’s Motion to Dismiss in its entirety in Hadley v. Kellogg Sales Company, No. 5:16-cv-04955-LHK (N.D. Cal.). Hadley is one of three cases against well-known cereal makers...more
The House of Representatives has passed legislation that will fundamentally change class actions as we know them. The Fairness in Class Action Litigation Act of 2017 (the “Act” or “H.R. 985”) leaves no stage of class action...more
On January 19, 2017, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a district court’s denial of Samsung’s motion to compel arbitration by the named plaintiff in a class action alleging that Samsung made misrepresentations as to...more
In Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, the Supreme Court clarified the requirements necessary for plaintiffs to establish standing. The Court held that an allegation of a statutory violation, without some showing of concrete harm, is...more
8/19/2016
/ Article III ,
Class Action ,
Consequential Damages ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
Motion To Stay ,
Remand ,
SCOTUS ,
Settlement ,
Spokeo v Robins ,
Standing ,
Statutory Violations ,
Young Lawyers
On July 29, 2016, President Obama signed into law the federal genetically engineered (GE) food labeling bill (S. 764). The bill passed the U.S. House of Representatives on July 14, 2016, 306-117, with broad bipartisan...more
If you make available a service through a free app, and you subsequently decide to migrate users of that app to a paid subscription model, that shouldn’t create any problems, right?...more
A judge in the Eastern District of California recently dismissed a class action filed against LogMeIn based on the company’s decision to terminate its free app, which allowed users to access a remote desktop computer via a...more
As we have previously reported, FDA is currently seeking public comments on the use of the term “natural” on food labeling. The announcement came as a surprise since FDA had previously declined requests from consumers, the...more
The NAD recently referred certain green marketing claims made by LEI Electronics Inc. (LEI) regarding its Eco Alkalines batteries to the FTC after the company stated it would not comply with the NAD’s decision and...more
The FTC recently sent over 50 warning letters to contact lens prescribers and sellers warning them that they may be in violation of the Fairness to Contact Lens Consumer Act, 15 U.S.C. § 7601 et seq., and the Contact Lens...more
There has been much recent discussion of the primary jurisdiction doctrine, as well as stay motions based on the doctrine, related to FDA’s review of its evaporated cane juice (ECJ) draft guidance. Now, in its recent...more
Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a 6-2 decision affirming a $2.9 million judgment against Tyson Foods, Inc. in an employment overtime pay case where statistical sampling was used to establish classwide liability and...more
3/25/2016
/ Admissible Evidence ,
Calculation of Damages ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Class Members ,
Doffing ,
Donning ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
SCOTUS ,
Statistical Sampling ,
Tyson Foods v Bouaphakeo ,
Unpaid Overtime ,
Wage and Hour
On February 16, 2016, U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks of the Western District of Texas dismissed a multidistrict litigation involving 11 putative class action lawsuits against various Whole Foods corporate entities and...more
On February 2, 2016, the FTC settled claims against Sale Slash LLC regarding the marketing of its weight loss pills, including Premium Green Coffee, Pure Garcinia Cambogia, Premium White Kidney Bean Extract, Pure Forskolin...more
On January 29, 2016, NAD recommended that Church & Dwight, the maker of OxiClean White Revive, modify or discontinue various advertising claims conveying the message that chlorine bleach is damaging or “scary” if used on...more
Last week, the California Supreme Court issued a long awaited ruling on organic labeling in Quesada v. Herb Thyme Farms, Inc., No. S216305, 2015 WL 7770635 (Cal. Dec. 3, 2015). At issue in Quesada was whether consumers may...more
This week, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it has sent warning letters to five marketers of environmental certifications and seals, as well as over 30 product companies displaying those certifications,...more
On November 10, the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it is seeking public comments on use of the term “natural” on food labeling. FDA, “Natural” on Food Labeling (Nov. 10, 2015). The agency explained...more
The flurry of food mislabeling class actions filed in California federal courts has recently come to a halt under the U.S. Supreme Court’s holding in Comcast v. Beherend. Comcast requires that putative class action plaintiffs...more
9/9/2015
/ Class Certification ,
Damages ,
Disgorgement ,
Food Labeling ,
Food Manufacturers ,
Food Marketing ,
Misbranding ,
Nestle ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Restitution ,
Unjust Enrichment
Judge Illston’s recent summary judgment ruling in Rahman v. Mott’s LLP, Case No. CV 13-3482 SI (N.D. Cal. Oct. 14, 2014), highlights courts’ varied approaches to the level of proof required to demonstrate Article III...more
On June 12, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an 8-0 ruling1 in favor of Pom Wonderful in a long standing false advertising dispute against rival beverage company Coca-Cola. Reversing the Ninth Circuit’s broad FDA...more