The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled yesterday that drivers for the alt-cab company Uber have to arbitrate claims against the company. The decision means that those drivers are out of court on most of their claims, but also that they cannot proceed on a classwide basis. The case is Mohamed v. Uber […]
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The fairness and effectiveness of class litigation has been questioned by courts in recent years. In Inside the Agency Class Action law profs Michael Sant'Ambrogio and Adam Zimmerman argue that aggregation techniques criticized by courts have been used fairly and effectively in agency class actions (such as EEOC class actions). Here is the abstract: Federal agencies in […]
by Paul Alan Levy I blogged here last month about a peculiar pro se lawsuit and consent order which, in retrospect, has all the hallmarks of a sloppy effort by some blackhat SEO outfit trying to help a dentai client, Mitul Patel, rid the Internet of pesky consumer criticisms. As the Streisand Effect engulfed his […]
As widely reported over the last two weeks, EpiPen, which stops potentially fatal allergic reactions by injecting a precise dose of epinephrine, now costs about $600 for a two-pack, up from roughly $100 when Mylan acquired EpiPen in 2007. The Week summarizes the story in a piece called "The EpiPen uproar, explained," available here. Today, […]
Law profs Craig Konnoth and Seth Kreimer have written Spelling Out Spokeo. Here is the abstract: For almost five decades, the injury-in-fact requirement has been a mainstay of Article III standing doctrine. Critics have attacked the requirement as incoherent and unduly malleable. But the Supreme Court has continued to announce “injury in fact” as the bedrock […]
On Wednesday of this week, a federal district court in California handed the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau a victory in its lawsuit against consumer lender CashCall. The court's ruling grants the CFPB partial summary judgment on its claim that CashCall committed deceptive acts in violation of the Consumer Financial Protection Act by collecting illegal interest […]
Health advocates have been saying for years that consumers shouldn’t use antibacterial soaps. Yet manufacturers have continued to put antibacterial agents into liquid soaps, to the extent that for a while it was hard to find products on store shelves that didn’t contain them. Now the Food & Drug Administration has finally gotten the message. […]
Writing in today's New York Times, Erik Eckholm explains in Court Costs Entrap Nonwhite, Poor Juvenile Offenders that Fines, fees and restitution mandates are levied on juvenile offenders to varying degrees in every state, a new national survey of these practices has found. The effects are greatest on the poor and racial minorities, creating a two-tiered system […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau yesterday released a monthly report of consumer complaints received by the agency, highlighting complaints about bank accounts and services. The report shows that consumers continue to experience problems managing their accounts. The report also highlights trends seen in complaints coming from Ohio. The CFPB's press release is here. The report […]
Is it a good idea to label genetically modified foods to indicate that they include ingredients that have been genetically modified? And, more generally, when should the government require precautionary labeling? Those are the topics of On Mandatory Labeling, With Special Reference to Genetically Modified Foods by law prof Cass Sunstein. Here is the abstract: As a […]