Steve Larson has been representing investors, consumers and employees in class actions in Oregon for over 20 years. He is a shareholder at the law firm of Stoll Berne in Portland, Oregon.
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This blog is intended to provide information to the general public and to practitioners about developments that may impact Oregon class actions.
A motion for preliminary approval of a class action settlement was filed in California federal court on December 19, 2017 by investors in Marvell Technology. Under the deal, Marvell will pay pay $72.5 million to end an investor class action alleging the company’s stock dropped 16 percent after inflated revenue projections proved false.
Harvey Weinstein and the studio he co-founded have been named in a class action lawsuit filed by six women. The class action seeks to represent hundreds of women allegedly sexually assaulted or harassed by the movie mogul during his decades in Hollywood.
Costco, Target and Wal-Mart have been named in a class action brought by sewage treatment facilities. The retailers manufacture and sell wipes that allegedly are misrepresented as safe to flush, but damage sewage systems, the complaint alleges.
21st Century Fox recently announced that it was agreeing to pay $90 million to resolve a derivative suit against the corporation’s management arising out of sexual harassment allegations.
U.S. District Judge Marianne O. Battani, in the district of Michigan, gave initial approval to a $12.16 million proposed settlement that would end claims in multidistrict litigation that a Japanese auto parts supplier participated in a wide-ranging conspiracy to hinder competition by fixing the prices of ceramic substrates sold to U.S. automakers.
A class of direct purchasers who allege that Pfizer used fraudulent patents to delay generic competition for its anti-inflammatory drug Celebrex have reached a $94 million settlement agreement with Pfizer.
Here is a link to a well written article by Daniel Karon, a plaintiff’s lawyer, on why destroying the CFPB is bad for big business.
Richard Cordray was appointed the lead in the newly created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau by President Obama.
On November 1, 2017, plaintiffs in a class action against 24 Hour Fitness moved for preliminary approval of a $1.5 million settlement over allegations that the fitness center chain carried out a fraudulent and misleading sales campaign related to its prepaid memberships.
The leader of the nation’s largest veterans’ service organization expressed concern over the loss of financial protections for veterans and service members in the wake of a U.S. Senate late night vote on Wednesday.
In Robins v. Spokeo, the U.S. Supreme Court reaffirmed that plaintiffs seeking to sue in federal court must have a concrete, actual injury; a mere statutory violation is not enough.
Senate Republicans narrowly passed a resolution to kill a recently adopted Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rule prohibiting financial firms from requiring customers to resolve any disputes with the firms through individual arbitrations.
Please contact your senator and ask them to vote against S.J. Resolution 47 — Equifax and Wells Fargo’s get-out-of-jail-free card.
In an opinion article in The Hill, CFPB Chairman Richard Cordray explains why the statements being made by OCC head Noreika are false. Here is the link.
Bridgestone has agreed to pay $29.6 million to settle price-fixing allegations in multidistrict litigation in Michigan federal court contending that the company colluded with other companies to rig the market for certain rubber vehicle components.
Wells Fargo has been sued again, this time the complaint alleges that it bilked home loan borrowers by charging them extra fees when their applications were delayed — even when it was the bank’s fault.
A poll conducted by Morning Consult found that after the Equifax Data Breach, 68% of Americans would join a class action against Equifax. Here is a link to the article.
The National Consumer Law Center issued a brief explanation as to why Congress should not bar CFPB forced arbitration ban. Here is a link to the brief.
Here is the quote from the end of an article about the Wells Fargo and Equifax scandals.
Here is a link to an article in the Washington Post about Senator Wyden’s new bill:
