Many Celebrities Named in Class-Action Lawsuits for Touting Cryptocurrency on Social Media

Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen join Kim Kardashian and Floyd Mayweather as defendants. Read More ›

103 Year-Old Supreme Court Precedent Cited to Reduce Damages in Class Action from $91.4 Million to $12.8 Million

* Taylor Lodise is a law clerk in the Litigation practice group.

In one of several related class-action lawsuits against the maker of a drink marketed under the brand name Joint Juice, Chief Judge Richard Seeborg of the United States District Court, Northern District of California, applied case law from 103 years ago to reduce statutory damages in a consumer class action from the $91.4 million seemingly required by a New York statute to just $8.3 million plus pre-judgment interest of $4.5 million. The August ruling was based on Fourteenth Amendment due process protections as interpreted by the Supreme Court in the 1919 case St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway Co. v. Williams (“St. Louis”). Read More ›

Panera Faces Class Action Lawsuit Over Misleading Subscription Program

* Rachel Gold is a law clerk in the Corporate/Securities Law practice group.

Panera Bread Company (“Panera”) is facing a class action lawsuit that alleges its Unlimited Sip Club (“Club”) is in fact not so unlimited. According to Panera’s own promotional materials, the Club is a refill program where members pay $10.99 per month for access to lemonade, soda, coffee, and tea drinks of “any size” at “any time.” Read More ›

Federal Court Dismisses Claims Against Coinbase of Illegal Lottery

Sweepstakes entrants’ lack of knowledge of free method of entry insufficient to constitute violation of California Penal Code.

A Northern District of California case styled Suski v. Marden-Kane, Inc. (decided August 31, 2022) has resulted in a significant ruling in the field of sweepstakes law. A sweepstakes sponsored by Coinbase, a popular cryptocurrency exchange, and administered by Marden-Kane offered the chance to win valuable prizes to Coinbase users who bought or sold Dogecoin, a well-known “meme” token, on Coinbase for a total of $100 or more. The sweepstakes offered an alternative method of entry that did not require the trading of Dogecoin or incurrence by the entrants of any other expense. However, this free alternative method of entry was not well-publicized. Read More ›

California Court Considering Awarding $141.5 Million Over Falsely Marketed Health Drink

Juice Joint facing catastrophic liability after jury decides against it on the merits

Faced with a series of class-action lawsuits over its Joint Juice drink, Premier Nutrition Corp. has lost the first jury trial and is now fighting back against what could be a devastating financial blow if it loses a post-trial motion scheduled to be heard next month in the Northern District of California. The company was found by a jury to have falsely touted the health benefits of the drink, so the issue is no longer whether the claims were defensible, but how much the marketer will have to pay to the class of purchasers. Read More ›

Data Entry Error on Phone Number Blocks Class Certification

TCPA liability reduced to $500 for Gold’s Gym

A recent ruling out of the Central District of California will prove to be very useful for telemarketers faced with class actions under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”). In Bustillos v. West Covina Corporate Fitness, Inc., United States District Judge Stanley Blumenfeld, Jr. denied an order seeking class certification where it was clear that the call in question violated the TCPA. Read More ›

Class Action Moves Ahead Over Dogecoin Sweepstakes

Defendants plagued by failure to include arbitration clause in sweepstakes rules

A class-action lawsuit against an online sweepstakes operator will go forward despite the plaintiffs’ admitted agreement to an arbitration clause. The sweepstakes offered the chance to win $1.2 million in Dogecoin, a type of cryptocurrency. The plaintiffs in the Northern District of California district court action, styled Suski v. Marden-Kane et al., initially agreed to arbitrate all disputes at the time they opened their online accounts with defendant Coinbase Global, Inc. Read More ›

New Jersey State Court Dismisses Consumer Fraud Act Class Action Suit Against Olshan Client

As reported in The New Jersey Law Journal (subscription required), Olshan partner Scott Shaffer achieved a full dismissal with prejudice of a class-action lawsuit filed under New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act. Read More ›

New Jersey State Court Successfully Dismisses Consumer Fraud Act Class Action Suit on Behalf of Olshan Client

The New Jersey Law Journal (subscription required) reported that Olshan partner Scott Shaffer achieved a full dismissal with prejudice of a Consumer Fraud Act class action suit on behalf of Pure Radiance, a distributor/manufacturer of wellness products. The suit was dismissed because the lawyer-plaintiff, Harold Hoffman, claimed that the purchased nutritional product did not perform as advertised. The lawyer-plaintiff asserted that the advertising for the consumer product made claims that were not substantiated by research, but in a first-of-its-kind state court decision, the court ruled that sort of claim is reserved for the attorney general, not a private plaintiff. The Court further ruled that the lawsuit failed to allege sufficient facts to state a claim under New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act.  Scott Shaffer was quoted as saying that “the judge’s ruling is correct in assessing the Consumer Fraud Act, and on behalf of the client, I’m pleased with the ruling.”

Record-Breaking Settlement Reached In Dietary Supplement Suit Regarding Pain Claims

Reckitt Benckiser agrees to pay $53 million to end class actions regarding dietary supplement pain relief claims. Read More ›