Class Action Settlements

Judges announced this week that a Bank of America overdraft fee settlement had been reached.  The settlement amount is $410 million, which actually turns out to be a repayment by the bank of less than ten percent.

Attorneys estimate that Bank of America made $4.5 billion in overdraft fees during the time period of the overdraft fee class action lawsuit.  Nevertheless, the Bank of America overdraft fee settlement is one of the largest settlements ever, as far as consumer class action settlements go in the United States.

Bank of America debit card customers who had an account between January 2001 and May 2011 will receive some sort of repayment from the Bank of America overdraft fee settlement.  Only 350 opted out, which would clear them to bring their own Bank of America lawsuits against the bank.  46 people objected to the Bank of America overdraft fee settlement.

Tags : Bank of America Overdraft Fee Settlement, Class Action Settlements

A Reebok settlement was announced this week to the tune of $25 million.  The Reebok lawsuit that resulted in settlement brought claims against the sneaker giant that they didn’t back up any of the claims they made for Easy Tone and Run Tone sneakers.

Reebok published TV and print as well as in-store advertisements that claimed wearers of the Easy Tone and Run Tone shoes would see 11% increase in muscle tone in their back and legs.  The ads also told wearers they’d see a 28% increase in muscle tone in their buttocks.  The Reebok settlement dictates that the sneaker company pull those ads and cease making those claims.

Despite the Reebok settlement, the sneaker company stands by its product and maintains the sneakers tone legs and buttocks better than regular shoes.   They are pulling the ads from the media and from retail locations with in-store ads as well.

The Reebok settlement was reached with the Federal Trace Commission (FTC), who maintains Reebok never backed up those claims.    An FTC official was quoted as saying, “You better have some sort of substantiation before you make those claims”.

The Easy Tone and Run Tone cost around $100 a pair.  Consumer who purchased the shoes in question can get a refund, according to details of the Reebok settlement.  Easy Tone and Run Tone shoes will continue to be sold, only without the claims stated in ads previous to the Reebok settlement.

Tags : easy tone sneaker settlement, fitness shoe settlement, Reebok settlement, REebok sneaker settlement

An Enfamil infant formula settlement has been reached, after the class action lawsuit alleged the manufacturers used false advertising.  This class action settlement is not about whether the baby formula is harmful or dangerous to consumers or whether the nutrition is bad.  It’s about false advertising convincing consumers to pay more for this product due to claims that turned out to be false.

Mead Johnson, makers of the baby formula, claimed that Enfamil LIPIL Infant formula was the only baby formula containing DHA and ARA.  These are fatty acids that are clinically proven to improve eye and brain functions in babies.  Consumers who bought Enfamil LIPIL infant formula between October 2005 and March 2010 are eligible, under the Enfamil Infant Formula Settlement, to collect either $6 or $12, depending on how long a period of time the product was purchased.  Alternatively, they can collect product rather than cash.

Tags : baby formula settlement, Enfamil LIPIL Infant Formula Settlement, Enfamil settlement, infant formula settlement

This past April it was discovered that Apple was using software pre-loaded on its iPhones to track locations of its users.  The function in the phone could not be turned off, and a Korean lawyer sued the company.  His case was settled for about $1000.  Now, that lawyer, Kim Hyung-suk, is seeking an Apple location tracking settlement in a class action lawsuit over the same privacy issue.  The new Apple location tracking class action is brought by his law firm, Mirae Law, on behalf of almost 28,000 customers.  Similar lawsuits are in the works in the US, France, Germany and Italy.

If these cases go the same way, we’ll be seeing a lot of Apple location tracking settlement announcements this year.  Geotracking without permission violates privacy laws in several countries.  Apple says it has eliminated the “locationgate” issues by updating to iOS 4.3.3.

Mirae Law’s Apple location tracking class action involves both the iPhone and the iPad.

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A Natura pet food settlement has been reached, and members of the class action can claim up to $200.  Consumes who bought Natura Pet food between March 20, 2005, and July 8, 2011 and who are U.S. residents can claim their settlement funds by filling out an online form.  This news comes just two days after a judge granted class action status to the Natura pet food lawsuit.

The class action lawsuit alleged that Natura misrepresented th quality of its pet food with statements such as “We only use ingredients you’d use yourself” and “human grade dog food“.  As part of the Natura pet food settlement, the pet food company must agree to stop marketing their pet food products as “human grade” and “ingredients you’d use yourself”.  Natura pet products include several popular brands: Evo, Innova, Healthwise, California Natural,  Mother Nature and Karma.

The Natura pet food settlement is for $2.15 million, which goes into a settlement fund.  The money goes towards attorney fees and expenses.  Natura does not admit any wrongdoing but settled to end the ordeal.  The Natura pet food class action was first filed in 2009 and final approval of the Natura pet food settlement will occur in February 2012.

Tags : Natura pet food class action, Natura pet food lawsuit, Natura pet food settlement

The class action lawsuit that claimed DirectBuy Holdings Inc’s sales practices were fraudulent has failed to settle this week.  The DirectBuy settlement was rejected because the judge in the case said the amount was too little.  He said that plaintiffs’ claims were undervalued and that a settlement should be higher.

Interestingly, a very small number of members of the class action objected to the DirectBuy settlement: fewer than one percent.  The settlement for each member should be at least what he or she lost in membership dues, which are in the thousands of dollars…$3,000 to $7,000 usually.  There are also State consumer protection laws that figure into the final settlement amount, and this DirectBuy settlement didn’t cover both these items.  Attorneys in 37 states argued that the DirectBuy settlement offered no real benefit to consumers.

The case is known as Wilson v. DirectBuy Inc., and is being heard in the State of Connecticut.  DirectBuy promised near wholesale prices to paying members but faced a class action lawsuit when it was discovered that the company was receiving kickbacks in the millions of dollars from their suppliers.  The kickbacks allowed for inflated prices on goods sold to members, who sued for fraud.

Tags : DirectBuy class action, DirectBuy class action settlement, DirectBuy lawsuit settlement, DirectBuy settlement

A Pfizer settlement has been reached for about one third of the lawsuits involving hormone-replacement therapy drug lawsuits.  The drug company says it expects to pay about $772 million in Prempro settlements, but admit the product liability litigation could cost them even more.

They’ve already paid out $300 million in Pfizer settlements, and may have to set aside another $300 million for future cases and verdicts against them.  There are still several thousand pending cases against Pfizer.

The Prempro lawsuits were inherited when Pfizer took over another drug company, Wyeth, in 2009.  They acquired several hormone replacement therapy drugs, including Prempro, which is used to treat symptoms of menopause.  Almost ten years ago studies started to suggest that hormone replacement drugs such as Prempro are associated with a higher risk of breast cancer.

Pfizer hasn’t told the public how many cases still exist against their acquired hormone replacement therapy drugs, so we can only go on what Wyeth still had before it was acquired by Pfizer: almost 10,000 cases.

Tags : hormone drug settlement, hormone-replacement therapy lawsuit, Pfizer settlement, Prempro lawsuit, Prempro settlement

A retired plumber in California was awarded $41 million by a jury in a mesothelioma lawsuit against Kaiser Gypsum Company, Inc. and FDCC California.  This latest is just one of many abestos settlements in the United States’ longest running mass tort in history.   The plumber, whose name is John Casey, worked in skyscrapers for about forty years and developed a rare form of lung cancer, mesothelioma, which has been associated with exposure to asbestos since the 1920s.

The jury in San Francisco decided last March that the company was negligent and failed to warn its employees that exposure to asbestos dust and fibers could lead to mesothelioma and could be fatal.  They awarded him around $20 million in economic, non-economic, and loss of consortium damages.

Then last week they awarded Mr. Casey another $20 in putative damages in one of the largest asbestos settlements this year. This was after deciding that Kaiser Gypsum acted with malice, one prerequisite for awarding putative damages.

Asbestos has been in use for decades, and the first mesothelioma lawsuit was filed in 1929.  The disease can take a long time to appear after exposure, resulting in long-range implications and the longest-running mass tort in US history.

Tags : asbestos class action, asbestos lawsuit, asbestos settlements, mesothelioma class action, mesothelioma lawsuit, mesothelioma settlement

GlaxoSmithKline is getting very close to bringing to an end the long string of Super Poligrip lawsuits it has faced in the past two years.  GlaxoSmithKline’s denture cream settlements are rolling along quickly, and has settled scores of the lawsuits since July 2010.  The drug company, based in the UK, has faced multiple lawsuits over the use of zinc in its denture creams.  They have since agreed to remove zinc from their denture creams, and following lawsuits, one after another since 2009, they have moved aggressively to settle as many as possible as quickly as they can.

GlaxoSmithKline’s denture cream settlements have come to about $20 million so far, according to sources close to the matter.  They are eager to settle quickly as many lawsuits as they can, so they can classify themselves as a growth company again.  This is after posting losses.  They have settled around 100 poligrip lawsuits in the past nine months and are close to the end.

Zinc has been linked to neurological disorders, and the Denture cream lawsuits alleged that GlaxoSmithKline failed to warn its customers about the possible serious health risks of using Super Poligrip for prolonged periods of time.  The products that contained zinc were Super Poligrip Original, Extra Care and Ultra Fresh.  Zinc was added to these products to increase the adhesive function of the denture creams.

Tags : Denture Cream lawsuit, Denture CReam settlements, GlaxoSmithKline class action, GlaxoSmithKline lawsuit, GlaxoSmithKline settlement, Poligrip lawsuit, Super Poligrip Lawsuit, Super Poligrip Settlement

The DirectBuy class action settlement has been opposed by dozens of attorneys, in news published today.  The consumer fraud class action lawsuit alleged that DirectBuy received kickbacks from suppliers, which inflated the cost of goods sold on their website.  The DirectBuy lawsuit claims the company did not disclose this arrangement of kickbacks and incentives from suppliers, until early in 2009.

The  class action was brought to courts in late 2009 and now, about a year and a half later, the DirectBuy class action settlement has been opposed by 39 attorneys.  The reason cited by the group of class action lawyers is that the DirectBuy settlement poses no benefit to consumers.  Rejection of the DirectBuy settlement also stems from attorneys’ having no clear ision of how the agreement prevents DirectBuy from doing the same thing in the future.

DirectBuy markets itself as an insiders’ buying club, where members can buy anything from jewelry to refrigerators at huge discounts.  The discounts are supposedly available because consumers are purchasing goods directly from the wholesalers with no middleman.  Members pay up to $7000 to join, and then also pay annual fees.

In the proposed DirectBuy class action settlement, some members would collect up to $4000 back from the company, while others would get free memberships.  Attorneys could get anywhere from $350,000 to $1 million.

There have been several DirectBuy class action lawsuits over the past year, all accusing the company of failing to pass on savings to members, in case after case and multiple complaints of consumer fraud.

Tags : DirectBuy class action, DirectBuy class action settlement, DirectBuy lawsuit settlement, DirectBuy settlement