Articles Posted in Consumer Law

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear Apple Inc. v. Pepper, a case that has the potential to impact consumers and other companies, such as Amazon.

When Laura Murray was 10 years old, she received a small glass vial containing light-gray dust from an old friend of her father’s: Neil Armstrong. The vial was paired with a note that said “To Laura Ann Murray — Best of Luck — Neil Armstrong Apollo 11.” Laura, who’s now Laura Cicco, found the vial years later in her parents' home after they had passed away. The note has since been authenticated by a handwriting expert to belong to Neil Armstrong. Cicco filed the lawsuit against NASA to get ahead of any potential legal issues since the space agency has a history of confiscating suspected lunar material from citizens.

Square, which owns meal delivery service Caviar, has reached a $2.2 million settlement with customers in a class action lawsuit claiming that the company collected gratuities from them when they placed food orders but didn't share the money with delivery drivers. Patrons who used Caviar between January 2012 and August 2015 are included in the class.

The largest social media company in the world faces another legal battle. On Monday, April 16, 2018, US District Judge James Donato ruled in San Francisco federal court that a class action lawsuit could proceed with the allegation that Facebook illegally collected and stored its users biometric data without their permission.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra has announced a high-profile lawsuit against Sutter Health for allegedly engaging in anticompetitive conduct that has driven up health care costs for patients and employers across the state. Sutter is one of the largest health care systems in California, and one study has shown that its hospital costs are 25% higher than other providers.

On Tuesday, March 20, 2018, Facebook Inc. was sued by its investors in San Francisco federal court over a claim that the social media company failed to uphold privacy for its users. Investors stated that they faced losses due to the company’s connection to a UK-based research firm, Cambridge Analytica, that collected data for 50 million users without their permission. The same research firm is also connected to President Donald Trump.

Senior United States District Judge Jack D. Weinstein of the New York Eastern District Court ruled on March 6th that virtual currencies, such as Bitcoin, are commodities, and that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has authority along with other state and federal administrative agencies and civil and criminal courts over dealings in virtual currency.

The Ninth Circuit denied AT&T's motion to dismiss an action brought by the FTC to hold the communications company accountable for allegedly "throttling" consumer data. This practice may have affected 3.5 million consumers on 25 million different occasions.