A class action filed on January 21, 2011 in federal court in California alleges that the fast food chain, Taco Bell, is using false advertising when it says its tacos acies are filled with “ground beef” or “seasoned ground beef.” The complaint alleges that the taco meat filling” used by Taco Bell contains only about 35% beef, with binders, extenders, preservatives, additives and other agents making up the other 65%. Read more…
Class Actions Blog
Toyota Settles Class Action Regarding Prius Headlights
Toyota Motor Corp. agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit with U.S. owners over headlights that shut off without warning in its 2006-2009 Prius hybrids. Under the terms of the settlement, eligible Prius owners will be reimbursed for the cost to fix the headlight systems, and warranties for headlight problems will be extended to five years or 50,000 miles from the standard three years or 36,000 miles. Read more…
Students’ Lawsuit Seeking Refund of Wrongful Tuition Hikes Is Certified as a Class Action
A legal complaint by five students who accused California State University trustees of illegally raising tuition in 2009 is now an official class-action lawsuit on behalf of 200,000 students demanding their money back. At stake is $40 million in refunds for students at a time when CSU is facing at least a $500 million cut in state funding that could bring on layoffs, course reductions and even higher tuition. Read more…
Elderly apartment residents in Des Moines seek class action status for bedbug lawsuit
Lawyers for roughly 300 current and former residents of two Des Moines, Iowa apartment buildings for the elderly and disabled filed court papers January 18, 2011, alleging that managers knew about a massive bedbug infestation for more than two years but refused to warn tenants or to properly treat it until they were sued. The documents, filed as part of a March 2010 Polk County lawsuit, ask a judge to kick-start the slow-moving case by formally certifying it as a class action and pushing it closer toward trial. Read more…
Hard Rock Cafe servers and bartenders sue for minimum wage
Two Hard Rock Cafe (“Hard Rock”) employees, who worked in the Hard Rock Cafe at Universal Studios in Orlando, filed a class action lawsuit against Hard Rock for the company’s alleged failure to pay minimum wages that were required under Florida law. The Orlando Hard Rock Cafe is the largest Hard Rock Cafe in the world. The case was brought under the minimum wage provisions of Florida’s Constitution, which was passed by citizen’s initiative and became effective as of May 2, 2005. Read more…
U.S. Supreme Court to consider securities class action
On January 7, 2011, the Supreme Court agreed to hear Erica P. John Fund, Inc. v. Halliburton Co. (No. 09-1403). This case presents the Court with an opportunity to resolve a split in the Circuits about an important issue in how securities fraud cases are litigated. Specifically, the Supreme Court will consider the extent to which courts must resolve issues of “loss causation” – i.e., whether the alleged fraud actually caused a company’s stock price to decline and thereby caused investors to suffer losses – at the class certification stage. Read more…
