Class Action

Subscribe to Class Action

Plaintiff. a neighbor of a chemical plant in Delaware, sued the plant alleging that it had released carcinogenic ethylene oxide gas into the air; plaintiff proposed a class action, asserting claims for strict liability, negligence, and private and public nuisance. The United States District Court for the District of Delaware granted plant’s motion to dismiss…

Readers know of our interest in medical monitoring, an interest which dates back to trying a medical monitoring class action to a defense jury verdict decades ago. Your humble blogger co-authored the Medical Monitoring chapter in American Bar Association’s A Practitioner’s Guide to Class Actions, Third Edition.

Our friends at the highly regarded Drug…

The Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA) extends federal diversity jurisdiction to certain “mass actions” involving “100 or more persons.” 28 U.S.C. § 1332(d)(11)(B)(i). One might think that since CAFA was passed in 2005, the notion of mass action would have been fully analyzed. The Supreme Court has long construed jurisdictional statutes like CAFA to establish…

Today’s case involves a New York federal court dismissing a proposed class action alleging that the labeling on  “slightly sweet” chai tea lattes misleads consumers into thinking the drinks are low in sugar. Brown v. Kerry Inc., No. 1:20-cv-09730 (S.D.N.Y. 3/7/22).

Plaintiff asserted claims under the NY General Business law, and common law negligent misrepresentation,…

Cases out of New York involving food products catch our eye these days, as NY threatens to become the new “food court.”  Today’s post involves Eric Parham  v. ALDI, Inc., No. 19 CIV. 8975 (PGG), 2021 WL 4296432 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 21, 2021).

Plaintiff asserted false advertising claims under New York General Business Law (“GBL”) §§…

The Class Action Fairness Act has had a noticeable effect on class action practice.  One aspect of CAFA involves the need to assert jurisdictional minimums, as recently reaffirmed by the Eighth Circuit in Penrod v. K&N Eng’g, Inc., No. 20-1355, 2021 WL 4177761 (8th Cir. Sept. 15, 2021). The appeals court concluded that the plaintiffs…

The Ninth Circuit recently decertified a class of consumers claiming Coca-Cola falsely labelled its drinks as having no artificial flavors when they contain phosphoric acid.  In re Coca-Cola Prod. Mktg. & Sales Pracs. Litig. (No. II), No. 20-15742, 2021 WL 3878654, at *1 (9th Cir. Aug. 31, 2021).  Plaintiffs had sought injunctive relief, and the…

Words matter, and never is that more accurate than in a breach of express warranty claim. Plaintiffs were current and former employees of Delta Air Lines who wore uniforms manufactured by defendant Lands’ End. Plaintiffs originally alleged that the uniforms were defective because they transferred dye onto clothing and other property, and because they caused…

Readers may be interested in the new U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform report, “The Food Court: Developments in Litigation Targeting Food and Beverage Marketing.”  The paper was authored by my colleagues Cary Silverman, Jim Muehlberger, and Adriana Paris.

It can be found online and deals with the increasing number of consumer class actions targeting…