The TCPA prohibits “send[ing], to a telephone facsimile machine, an unsolicited advertisement.” 47 U.S.C. s. 227(b)(1)(c). After receiving such an unsolicited advertisement on its fax machine from AmeriFactors Financial Group, plaintiff Career Counseling, Inc. brought a putative class action in South Carolina. While that litigation was pending, AmeriFactors obtained a declaratory ruling from the FCC, […]
Author Archives: Adam Pulver
In 2023, a New York district court dismissed three consolidated class actions against Beech-Nut, a baby food manufacturer, alleging that its baby food products contained elevated levels of certain toxic metals. The district court had agreed with Beech-Nut that it should abstain from addressing the plaintiffs’ claims, instead deferring to the FDA under the doctrine […]
In 1979, the New Jersey Legislature added Chapter 347 to the state’s Consumer Frauds Act. That chapter contained a provision expanding what constitutes an “unlawful practice” to include misrepresentations of the identity of food, and also created a refund remedy–specifying that “[a]ny person violating the provisions of the within act shall be liable for a […]
In a 113-page opinion just issued, a Massachusetts federal judge has blocked the merger of JetBlue and Spirit Airlines, finding that the merger would create harm to consumers. An appeal is likely, but this is a major win for the DOJ Antitrust Division, and likely for consumers as well, as JetBlue had more or less […]
In the wake of studies showing that cost-cutting by nursing homes contributed to high COVID death rates at New York’s nursing homes, the state legislature enacted a law that set minimum staffing levels, required minimum spending levels on resident care, and capped profits. Though enacted in 2021, implementation was delayed for several years, and the […]
The facts of this case are awful: In August 2018, Plaintiff Jane Doe requested that her boyfriend call her an Uber remotely because her phone had low battery. Plaintiff’s phone, however, lost its charge, and she did not receive from her boyfriend the information identifying the authorized vehicle. Plaintiff then entered a car displaying an […]
A group of consumers brought a class action against the New York Black Car Operators’ Injury Compensation Fund–a statutorily created fund that provides workers’ compensation benefits to New York’s black car drivers. The consumers argued that the fund had unlawfully collected a surcharge on noncash tips they paid to drivers (generally, through the Uber App), […]
Last week, the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection filed a lawsuit against Grand Canyon University, one of the nation’s largest for-profit universities, alleging it deceived prospective doctoral students about the cost and course requirements of its doctoral programs and about being a nonprofit, while also engaging in deceptive and abusive telemarketing practices. The FTC’s press […]
In an unpublished decision, the Ninth Circuit last week affirmed the district court’s dismissal of a class action against Roblox, a video game platform, based on allegations that Roblox unlawfully denies minors refunds for their purchases of Robux, a virtual currency that users buy to obtain new characters, weapons, and other in-game benefits. The court […]
The Eleventh Circuit today weighed in on a matter involving the increasingly frequent scenario of a corporate defendant refusing to comply with the terms of the arbitration agreement it foisted upon consumers. Three consumers who had bought timeshares through Wyndham Vacation Resorts filed claims for breach of contract and fraudulent inducement with the American Arbitration […]