After a health insurance plan told members that one of its employees had emailed a spreadsheet containing their sensitive health information to other plan members, the members sued on a variety of Idaho state law theories. The district court dismissed their claims, holding that the unauthorized disclosure of private information alone or the loss of […]
Category Archives: Consumer Litigation
The Fair Credit Reporting Act allows persons to access a consumer’s credit report it they have a “legitimate business need for the information . . . in connection with a business transaction that is initiated by the consumer.” 15 U.S.C. § 1681b(a)(3)(F). In a case decided by the Ninth Circuit today in Bultemeyer v. CenturyLink, […]
After more than five years of litigation, and more than a year after the district court certified a class in a TCPA consumer class action, Club Exploria, a timeshare company, moved to compel arbitration. The district court denied the motion, finding a waiver of the right to arbitrate. It then granted summary judgment to the […]
In 2016, ITT Technical Institute — a for-profit college that had engaged in aggressive and predatory marketing and lending tactics — collapsed. In 2020, three former ITT students brought a class action against a company that ITT had assigned its loan servicing responsibilities to, and related entities, alleging a conspiracy with respect to ITT’s loan […]
One diet promoted by influencers and others over the last few years is a “low-FODMAP” diet, which entails “strict reduction of all slowly absorbed or indigestible short-chain carbohydrates (ie, FODMAPs) followed by reintroduction of specific FODMAPs according to tolerance.” The diet is controversial. FDA regulations prevent food producers from labeling products based on their FODMAP […]
A third appellate decision today about FDCA preemption….it’s definitely clerk turnover season! After studies started casting doubt on the notion that oral phenylephrine (oral PE) was an effective nasal decongestant, consumers across the country and a retail pharmacy sued drug manufacturers under the theory that the manufacturers had produced, marketed, and sold “nasal decongestants containing […]
Today, the Tenth Circuit issued a divided opinion in Dunn v. Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company, a consumer class action brought against the manufacturers of Natural American Spirit (NAS) cigarettes. The consumers allege that they were misled into believing that the company’s cigarettes were less harmful than those produced by other companies. On interlocutory review of […]
Three consumers who stay at casino-hotels in Atlantic City brought a class action against some of those hotels and their algorithmic software provider, alleging a conspiracy to fix prices in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act. The district court dismissed the case, but today the Third Circuit reversed and reinstated the complaint. In reaching its […]
Yogurt company Chobani sold a product it labeled as “sugar free,” even though the yogurt includes four grams per serving of allulose– a naturally occurring sweetener. Consumers sued Chobani for doing so under state consumer protection laws, but an Illinois district court held those claims were preempted by the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act–relying […]
In 2021, Chicago enacted the Keep Chicago Renting ordinance, which requires those who purchase rental properties through foreclosure to (1) negotiate in good faith with existing tenants for a new rental agreement for at least one year, and (2) if the tenant does not sign a new lease, pay the moving tenant a $10,600 relocation […]