Articles Posted in Class-Action

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The recent natural movement that has led many people towards organic foods has spread to other areas of our everyday lives. Many people now reach for organic soaps and moisturizers as well as local, organic produce.

Deodorant in particular has seen an increased demand for natural options, especially since claims arose years ago that conventional deodorant is linked to cancer. The validity of those claims is still up for debate, but what many customers of Old Spice say is not up for debate are the severe rashes and burns they’ve allegedly received as a result of the company’s various deodorant products.

According to a recent consumer class action lawsuit against Procter & Gamble, the company’s Old Spice deodorant products have left serious rashes and chemical burns on hundreds, maybe even thousands, of customers. The class action lawsuit was filed in March and is seeking $5 million in damages. Continue reading ›

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Peter S. Lubin, Patrick D. Austermuehle, and Andrew C. Murphy recognized by Illinois Super Lawyers 

Peter S. Lubin have been selected as 2016 Illinois Super Lawyers in the areas of Business Litigation and Class Action Law. No more than 5% of attorneys in Illinois receive this honor each year. This marks the sixth straight year both co-founders of DiTommaso Lubin have been selected for this honor.

Two additional DiTommaso Lubin attorneys, Patrick D. Austermuehle and Andrew C. Murphy, have been selected as Illinois Rising Stars for the second straight year in the areas of Business Litigation and Class Action Law. Rising Stars are selected from attorneys under the age of 40 who have been practicing for less than 10 years. No more than 2.5% of Illinois attorneys are selected by the research team at Super Lawyers to receive his honor each year.

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Companies have long been arguing that arbitration agreements are in the best interests of everyone involved, even when it seems pretty clear they only benefit the large corporations implementing and enforcing those agreements. District and federal courts across the country have been upholding all sorts of arbitration agreements between companies and their customers, even though the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) was only intended for arbitration to be used as a means to settle disputes between businesses, not between businesses and individuals.

Because arbitrators work for for-profit companies, the outcome often is not objective when the arbitrator is under the thumb of the company. There are arbitration companies that have a reputation for being fair and objective, but when an arbitration agreement gives the company the right to choose the arbitrator (as these agreements sometimes do), the company is free to choose an arbitrator they feel confident will rule in their favor. If a company brings a lot of business to an arbitration company, the arbitrator may be influenced by that fact without even realizing it. Arbitration in many instances offers no explanation for a ruling and no opportunity to appeal the decision. Companies sometimes choose legal regimes that are unfair to consumers. Continue reading ›

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It is common for parties involved in a lawsuit, especially a large class action, to settle their legal claims outside of court, instead of pursuing the dispute all the way to a court ruling. But just because one party makes an offer, does not mean the other party is required to accept that offer. Each side will agree to or reject an offer to settle the dispute based on a number of factors, of which the amount of the settlement is just one.

In some cases involving statutory damages, such as allegations of violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), if a defendant offers to pay the lead plaintiff all actual and statutory damages in full, the plaintiff’s claims are considered null and void, regardless of whether the plaintiff accepts the terms of the settlement. This allows defendants to avoid a large and costly class action lawsuit by paying off the claims of just one plaintiff. But that recently changed with a ruling by the Supreme Court. Continue reading ›

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NPR reports:

Spotify, the groundbreaking streaming music service, is facing a class-action lawsuit alleging that it violates the copyrights of thousands of independent musicians.

If the songwriters prevail it could cost Spotify tens of millions of dollars in unpaid royalties. And according to experts in the music industry, this may be only the beginning, because other streaming services reportedly commit the same violations.

The named plaintiff in the lawsuit, filed on Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, is David Lowery, an outspoken musicians’ rights advocate and frontman of rock bands Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker. He says his songs have been streamed hundreds of thousands of times without his permission.

 

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As useful as cars are, they can also be extremely dangerous when mishandled. The government takes measures to improve safety by installing traffic lights and road signs and requiring drivers to complete training and pass multiple tests before they’re permitted take a car out on the road on their own. But what about when the car malfunctions?

Losing control of your vehicle is one of the most frightening things that can happen to a driver, but according to a recent proposed class action consumer lawsuit against GM, an alleged defect in some of the cars they make causes just that.

The class action consumer lawsuit was filed by Briana M., the owner of a Chevy Cruze. Briana alleges a defect in the electronic power steering system causes the steering wheel to lock into the straight position when the car has been traveling in one direction for an extended period of time, for example, when driving on a highway. Continue reading ›

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Large companies sometimes try to look for ways of getting around the laws that protect their employees by requiring their workers to sign contracts in which they agree to forfeit certain rights guaranteed them by law.

Flowers Foods, Inc. is one of the leading producers and marketers of packaged bakery foods in the U.S. Until recently, the company maintained a distribution model in which its distributors were classified as independent contractors.

Independent contractors are self-employed workers who run their own businesses. They are not subject to any of the protections under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), including minimum wage and overtime regulations. Because the FLSA does not extend its protections to independent contractors, it is very specific about the requirements workers must meet in order to be considered independent contractors. Continue reading ›

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Millions of car owners use motor oil to keep their engines running smoothly, but buying the wrong oil can do more harm than good.

To many consumers, one brand of motor oil is much like any other brand. But according to a recent consumer class action lawsuit against Dollar General, the discount retailer has been taking advantage of this assumption by selling their own brand of motor oil at a much lower cost than other brands, but there’s a catch.

The fine print on the back of the bottle says the oil is not intended for use in cars made after 1988. Dollar General’s oil is marked as 10W-30 and stored on shelves right next to oil meant for newer vehicles, so many consumers assume there’s no real difference, other than the price. Because Dollar General’s brand is considerably cheaper, many consumers buy it thinking they can use the motor oil in any car, but that’s not actually the case.

Joe Wood, a plaintiff in one of the consumer lawsuits against Dollar General, says his car died after he started using Dollar General’s brand of motor oil.

Tom Glenn, the president of the Petroleum Quality Institute of America, said that he considers Dollar General’s motor oil to be obsolete, because it should only be used on cars 28 years or older. The class action consumer lawsuit likewise called the motor oil obsolete, but Dollar General objected to the use of that word, saying their oil can be used in the millions of cars that were made prior to 1988 that are still on the road. Continue reading ›

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As Earth’s population continues to increase, sometimes it seems like our world is getting smaller as technological advances manage to give the appearance that people thousands of miles away are right in front of you. Shortly after the birth of the Internet, single people started using it to find other single people with similar interests. Numerous sites have been created that match people up based on geography, interests, and various preferences expressed by each member.

One such popular dating site, called It’s Just Lunch International Inc., encourages single people to meet other single people in their area for lunch, but users of the site sued the company for allegedly ignoring their dating preferences when matching people up with other singles.

The lawsuit was filed by nine plaintiffs in 2007 who combined their claims and sought to represent a total of more than 250 singles. They alleged the dating service overcharged its customers for matchmaking services that claimed to be personalized, while simultaneously ignoring preferences clearly stated by the user, including age and criminal background. Instead, the lawsuit alleged the matches made by the dating site were motivated by monthly quota requirements, even when those requirements allegedly disregarded aspects of a partner plaintiffs had clearly requested. Continue reading ›

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A class action lawsuit is a lawsuit in which many plaintiffs with small claims combine their claims to file one large lawsuit against a defendant. The class action is a legal tool that is extremely beneficial for plaintiffs with small claims who have been cheated out of money or goods as a result of a company’s illegal practices.

The costs of filing a lawsuit are often too high to make it worthwhile for a plaintiff to file a claim for a few hundred, or even a few thousand dollars. Nevertheless, that amount can be significant to plaintiffs, and by cheating many people out of small sums of money, companies can illegally gain a huge profit. The opportunity to file a class action lawsuit gives plaintiffs the chance to pursue their claims and to prevent the defendant from similarly taking advantage of people in the same manner in the future.

But plaintiffs have to fit certain requirements in order for a court judge to grant class certification. The first requirement is numerosity, which means the class must be large enough to warrant pursuing the lawsuit as a class action. There is no specified number of plaintiffs that must be eligible to join a class in order to justify class certification, but in general, classes of less than 20 are not usually found sufficiently large to fulfill the numerosity requirement, while classes of 40 or more stand a pretty good chance of receiving class certification, provided the other requirements are met. Continue reading ›

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