Class Action Suits

Federal class-action suits have been filed by lawyers representing inmates in Yolo and Placer counties, contending that jails in the two counties are overcrowded and violate prisoners' constitutional rights. Placer County Sheriff Donald Nunes and Yolo County Sheriff Gary Lipelt are named in the suits, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court by the Prisoners Rights Union, a statewide advocacy group.

WASHINGTON -- A class-action lawsuit was filed Wednesday against Facebook Inc., Morgan Stanley & Co., and the other Wall Street banks that underwrote the Facebook's initial public offering, alleging they misled most shareholders about revenue projections for the social network. The suit, filed in federal court in New York, alleged that the IPO prospectus and registration statement were "false and misleading" and violated the Securities Act.

A judge Wednesday gave preliminary approval to distribute as much as $5 billion in coupons good toward the purchase of new General Motors vehicles to settle a class-action lawsuit over pickup truck fuel tanks. The terms of the deal, however, appeared identical to a previous settlement--rejected by a federal court in Pennsylvania--of lawsuits over the same side-mounted gas tanks on GM pickups. The connection between the two court actions was not clear.

Sprint Nextel Corp. is being sued for $300 million by New York Atty. Gen. Eric T. Schneiderman, who is accusing the wireless carrier of tax fraud. Schneiderman called Thursday's suit - which alleges, based on a whistle-blower's tip, that Sprint underpaid sales tax on some of its wireless plans for the last seven years - a “groundbreaking” filing. The complaint alleges that Sprint's debt to New York is growing by $210,000 a week. Schneiderman claims the company already owes more than $100 million.

The House took aim Thursday at what Republicans called abuses in class-action lawsuits, passing legislation that would move most such suits into federal courts. Most Democrats, federal judges and the White House opposed the measure, saying it would make it harder for individuals to seek redress for wrongdoing by companies and clog the federal court system.

Congress took its first big step Thursday to implement President Bush's plan to overhaul the nation's legal system, approving a measure long sought by business to impose new restrictions on class-action lawsuits. Republicans hailed the lopsided vote in the Senate -- the bill passed 72-26 -- as an important legislative victory in their campaign against what they call "lawsuit abuse." The legislation has strong support in the House, which is expected to pass it next week.

Westwood One, the nation's second-largest operator of radio networks, disclosed Tuesday that stockholders filed three class-action suits against it last Thursday. The firm's stock lost more than 25% of its value in a single day's trading earlier last week. The Culver City company said the "identical" suits alleged that persons who bought its stock between Jan. 12 and May 31 "received inaccurate financial information."

Republicans on Wednesday pushed through the House legislation to move many class-action lawsuits out of state courts and into federal courts, where businesses say they are more likely to get a fair trial. The bill, which the Bush administration supports, sparked a sharp partisan debate.

Sending a stern warning to plaintiffs' attorneys, Chrysler Corp. on Tuesday took legal action against five lawyers who allegedly acted improperly in filing what the auto maker claims are frivolous class-action lawsuits. Chrysler portrayed its unusual move as a corporate call to arms against baseless class-action suits, which officials say cost U.S. companies and consumers billions of dollars a year. The company said it is preparing more such actions.

McDonald's Corp.can keep including toys in Happy Meals in most parts of California after a San Francisco judge threw out a proposed class-action lawsuit seeking to ban the practice in the state. Superior Court Judge Richard Kramer did not give a reason in his decision for dismissing the suit, initially filed in 2010 by the consumer advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest and Monet Parham, listed in the suit as a California mother. Michael F. Jacobson, the group's executive director, said in a strongly worded statement Thursday that using toys to lure kids to unhealthy fast food was "a predatory practice" that involves "unscrupulous marketing techniques.

Like any concerned mother, Athena Hohenberg wanted to be sure her 4-year-old was getting a good breakfast. So she served up Nutella, a hazelnut and cocoa spread marketed as part of a balanced breakfast. "Start your day with Nutella spread," urge the TV ads. But Hohenberg was shocked to learn, she said in a lawsuit filed in February, that the sandwich spread is chock full of fat and sugar — "the next best thing to a candy bar," she alleged. Nutella manufacturer Ferrero USA Inc. has agreed to settle the suit brought by the San Diego mother on behalf of hundreds of thousands of consumers who may have been similarly deceived, even though the ads specified that fruit, milk and whole wheat bread were also part of that balanced meal.

A Chicago group has filed a class-action lawsuit in federal court against the Department of Homeland Security, charging that its practice of asking local police to detain immigrants when there's no evidence of illegal activity is unconstitutional. At issue is the use of an immigration detainer, a key component of Homeland Security's Secure Communities program. It is a request from the department's Immigration and Customs Enforcement to another law enforcement agency to hold people so that ICE can investigate their immigration status and potentially take over custody.

Has the Supreme Court lost faith in the American court system? That is a strange question to ask about the justices who sit at the top of the country's judicial hierarchy. But in case after case in the just-completed term, the court, usually in 5-4 decisions with the conservatives in the majority, denied access to the courts. Consider just a few of the examples: • The court ruled that patients who suffer devastating injuries from generic prescription drugs cannot sue the manufacturers for failing to provide adequate warnings even when drug companies making the non-generic versions of the same drugs can be sued on the same basis.

Women and minorities who think they are underpaid will find it nearly impossible to band together to sue employers for discrimination under a Supreme Court ruling against 1.5 million female Wal-Mart employees in the most important job-bias case in a decade. Only if there is proof a company has a policy of paying less to women or minorities can the employees get together in a class-action suit, the court said in an opinion Monday by Justice Antonin Scalia. Statistics showing that a company's female workers earn far less and get fewer promotions than men will not suffice, the court said.

The Supreme Court's recent 5-4 decision preventing consumers from bringing class-action suits against corporations is part of a disturbing trend of the five most conservative justices closing the courthouse doors to injured individuals. This is nothing other than a conservative majority favoring the interests of businesses over consumers, employees and others suffering injuries. The case involved Vincent and Liza Concepcion, who purchased a cellphone from AT&T Mobility. The form contract they signed provided for arbitration of all disputes between the parties.

Shares of major health-maintenance organizations and health insurers fell sharply Thursday after a report that prominent lawyers planned to file class-action lawsuits o compel HMOs to provide better health care or risk massive court judgments. Among the attorneys taking aim at HMOs is David Boies of New York, the man now heading the federal government's antitrust action against Microsoft Corp., and Richard Scruggs, a Pascagoula, Miss.

A federal judge in New York ruled Wednesday that a lawsuit against Nasdaq dealer firms can go forward as a suit on behalf of investors nationwide, greatly increasing chances that Wall Street brokerage firms will have to pay major damages in connection with allegations of conspiring to inflate the cost of trading Nasdaq stocks. U.S. District Judge Robert W.

Wal-Mart may or may not have a policy of discriminating against women in pay and promotion, but establishing the truth will require a trial. The Supreme Court this week wrestled with whether it should clear the way for a class-action lawsuit brought by a handful of women on behalf of as many as 1.5 million others. The case for doing so is strong. The plaintiffs insist that Wal-Mart is "rife with gender stereotypes demeaning to female employees" and link that assertion to lower pay and the fact that "while women comprise over 80% of hourly supervisors, they hold only one-third of store management jobs.

Toyota Motor Corp. is using a new NASA study finding no fault with its electronics as evidence that a sudden-acceleration class-action suit against it should be dismissed. In a filing in federal court in Santa Ana this week, the Japanese automaker argued that the study, conducted at the request of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and released Feb. 8, was proof that its vehicles had no defects and that therefore the class-action suit is without merit. "Plaintiffs are chasing a phantom theory of defect that only last week NASA and NHTSA, after an extensive investigation, jointly confirmed does not exist," Toyota outside counsel Lisa Gilford wrote in a motion filed Monday.