Articles Posted in Consumer Law

The mother of an 18-year-old Juul user who passed away due to respiratory complications has filed what appears to be the first wrongful death lawsuit against vaping company Juul. The lawsuit alleges that the teen was first exposed to Juul's advertising in 2015, became strongly addicted to its nicotine vaping products, and in 2018 was found dead by his father.

Gigi Sohn, a former counselor to the Federal Communications Commission during the administration of President Barack Obama, has urged the federal government to pass a law to protect the privacy of consumers. Sohn argued that consumers may suffer more than just financial losses due to violations of their privacy. She noted…

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has filed a lawsuit against Match Group for fraudulent business practices. The agency alleges that Match, which owns most major online dating platforms, has knowingly profited from deceiving hundreds of thousands of users into purchasing subscriptions on Match.com, and also exposed them to potential fraud.

Governor Andrew Cuomo has issued an emergency executive order aiming to ban the sale of flavored e-cigarettes in New York. Announcing the action this past weekend, Cuomo accused e-cigarette manufacturers of recklessly and intentionally targeting young people with fruit and candy flavored e-cigarettes in an effort to get them addicted to nicotine. He also indicated that state health officials and police will be increasing enforcement efforts against retailers who illegally sell e-cigarettes to underage buyers.

Led by New York State Attorney General Letitia James, the attorneys general of eight states and the District of Columbia will investigate Facebook for possible violations of antitrust laws. The investigation arises from concerns over the dominance of Facebook in its industry, and it will examine whether Facebook may be restricting the choices available to consumers.

The technology giant could face billions of dollars in damages after a panel of federal judges allowed a class action lawsuit by Illinois users to move forward.

In the aftermath of a March 2019 Capital One data breach that reportedly compromised the data of over 100 million Capital One customers and credit card applicants, plaintiffs are suing not only the credit card company but also the software development platform where the alleged perpetrator posted information about the breach. The hack is said to have exposed the social security numbers, bank account numbers, and credit card applications of millions of people in the US and Canada.

Recent investigations have revealed that telecommunications companies have sold the real-time location data of their customers without the informed consent of the customers. In other situations, AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, and Sprint simply have allowed third parties to access the data, rather than actively selling it to them. As a result, a group of parties include…

On Monday, May 13, 2019, the United States Supreme Court granted certiorari in Apple, Inc. v. Pepper, 587 U.S. __ (2019). Four iPhone users sued Apple, Inc., alleging that the company monopolized the app market, which resulted in higher-than-competitive prices for apps. Apple argued that the consumer-plaintiffs were barred from suing Apple since the consumer-plaintiffs were not "direct purchasers" from Apple, as defined in Illinois Brick Co. v. Illinois, 431 U.S. 720, 745-746 (1977). The District Court agreed with Apple, while the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed and concluded that the consumer-plaintiffs were direct purchasers because they purchased the apps directly from Apple. 

On April 2, the US House Ways and Means Committee passed H.R.1957, the Taxpayer First Act of 2019 (the “Act”). Widely cited as a win for private online tax preparation companies such as TurboTax, opponents claim it will prohibit the IRS from creating competing free software to assist citizens in tax preparation and filing…