Ruby Life, Inc., the parent company of online dating website Ashley Madison, reached an $11.2 million deal to resolve a class action in which users alleged that Ashley Madison had failed to use proper care to secure their personal information after a data breach allegedly disclosed information regarding 37 million users. Ashley Madison is known as being an adultery website.
The case is In re: Ashley Madison Customer Data Security Breach Litigation, case number 4:15-md-02669 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.
On July 10, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced a new rule to ban companies from using mandatory arbitration clauses to deny groups of people their day in court. Many consumer financial products like credit cards and bank accounts have arbitration clauses in their contracts that prevent consumers from joining together to sue their bank or financial company for wrongdoing. By forcing consumers to give up or go it alone – usually over small amounts – companies can sidestep the court system, avoid big refunds, and continue harmful practices. The CFPB’s new rule will deter wrongdoing by restoring consumers’ right to join together to pursue justice and relief through group lawsuits.
On April 26, 2017, Chipotle Mexican Grill announced that it had detected a breach of the system it uses to process customers’ payment card information. Last week, a second financial institution filed a proposed class action in Colorado federal court accusing the restaurant chain of failing to maintain adequate security measures.
Lawyers for automobile purchasers asked a Michigan federal judge to approve a proposed $7.6 million deal to settle claims in multidistrict litigation that an automotive bearings supplier and its Swedish affiliates participated in a price-fixing scheme with manufacturers in the U.S., Japan and Germany. The settlement, if approved, would resolve allegations that SKF USA, Inc. and its Swedish affiliates unlawfully colluded with other manufacturers to fix the prices of automotive devices including ball bearings, tapered roller bearings, roller bearings, mounted bearings, and parts and components for ball and roller bearings.
