Federal District Court Judge King gave final approval Monday to a $410 million Bank of America settlement related to a class-action lawsuit that accused it of charging excessive overdraft fees to millions of debit-card customers. The settlement will give account holders as much as 45 cents on the dollar on their claims, according to co-lead counsel for the plaintiffs. Read more…
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Federal judge OKs Bank of America’s $410 million settlement
A Third Bank Agrees to Settle to Exit Overdraft MDL
On November 2, 2011, Iberia Bank agreed to pay $2.5 million to settle a class action against it that was pending in the Florida multidistrict litigation in which several banks are defendants in cases alleging that the banks breached the covenant of good faith and fair dealing when they unfairly charged customers exorbitant overdraft fees by reordering how the debit transactions were processed from highest to lowest.
Foreclosed homeowners file RICO class action against Wells Fargo and its law firm
A foreclosed homeowner filed a class action complaint on behalf of distressed homeowners residing in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The complaint was filed in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey against Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. and one of its principal foreclosure law firms. The caption of the Complaint, filed on October 24, 2011, is Giles v. Phelan Hallinan & Schmieg, LLP, 1:11-cv-06239 (D.N.J.).
The Complaint alleges that Wells Fargo and Phelan, Hallinan & Schmieg, a high-volume foreclosure law firm in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, engaged in a fraudulent scheme to “pile on” unlawful foreclosure fees from financially troubled families on the brink of losing their homes. The lawsuit contends that, to carry out the scheme, defendants systematically filed falsified complaints, affidavits and mortgage assignments to bring foreclosure actions in the name of parties without legal standing to sue. Read more…
Dukes v. Wal-Mart going state by state
I previously posted several blogs about the Dukes v. Wal-Mart case in which the U.S. Supreme Court said a national sex discrimination case was simply too large, and reversed class certification of a Rule 26(b)(2) injunctive class seeking to recover backpay. The holding by the Supreme Court was really limited to injunctive class actions.
In response to this ruling, the lawyers representing the female employees are now filing regional actions. A complaint was filed in federal court in Texas on October 28, 2011. The complaint is the second to be filed since a nationwide class action against the company was thrown out by the Supreme Court in June, 2011. On October 27, 2011, a similar set of claims was filed in federal court in California. In both Texas and California, plaintiffs are seeking class action status for female Wal-Mart workers in that state. Read more…
Class action against UPS for improperly measured packages settled
UPS agreed to pay $12 million to settle a lawsuit claiming they overcharged for shipping packages.
The class representative, Barber Auto Sales, will receive $10,000 in the settlement. Barber Auto Sales filed suit in federal court in Alabama in 2006 claiming that it had overpaid UPS more than $4,600 in shipping charges. The settlement allows anyone who shipped a package between May 15, 2006 and August 29, 2011 to file a claim if they had to pay additional charges because of the way UPS measured the size of packages.
UPS, which claimed no wrongdoing, has agreed to pay $4 million in legal fees, set aside $2 million in a settlement account, and establish a $10 million account for credits and future refunds.
A final approval hearing will be held in federal court in Birmingham on December 5.
Trial set for economic damages claims in Toyota class action
A proposed class action alleging economic losses on behalf of consumers in California and a few other states, caused by alleged sudden, unintended acceleration by Toyota vehicles, will begin in July 2013, the federal judge overseeing the multidistrict litigation said on October 11, 2011.
U.S. District Judge James Selna in Santa Ana, California, told the parties that a class action would be the second case to go to trial, following a personal injury and wrongful death action that he previously had scheduled for February 19, 2013. Read more…
