On January 10, 2018, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia denied Plaintiff Tiffanie Branch’s renewed motion for class certification in Branch v. Government Employees Insurance Company, No. 3:16-cv-1010, 2018 WL 358504 (E.D. Va. Jan. 10, 2018). In particular, the Court found that the facts underlying her allegations were too individualized
Class Notice
#OptIn #OptOut — UPDATE
Back in March we wrote about the group of former unpaid interns from Gawker Media’s Manhattan office suing to recover back pay under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), and their desire to use social media to encourage plaintiffs to opt-in. After the Court ultimately denied their request, the plaintiffs submitted yet another plan…
You Are Invited! Upcoming Webinar: Hot Topics and Trends in Consumer Class Action Law
On Tuesday, May 26, 2015 at 12:00 p.m. Central, Jason P. Stiehl, Giovanna A. Ferrari and Jordan P. Vick will present the first installment of the 2015 Class Action Webinar series. They will provide a summary of key decisions from 2014, identify key trends for companies to watch for in 2015, as well as practical…
#OptIn #OptOut
Regardless of whether a class is opt-in or opt-out, providing class notice is a challenge. As technology evolves, so does the ability to reach class members who would otherwise be unreachable. But as attorneys increasingly seek to utilize non-traditional methods of class notification, such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, courts have struggled to draw appropriate…
Seventh Circuit Slams Class Action Settlement in Consumer Fraud Case as a “Selfish Deal” and Sets New Rules for Judging the Reasonableness of Class Settlements.
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently invalidated a nationwide settlement agreement covering six consumer fraud class actions (“Settlement Agreement”) brought against NBTY, Inc., Rexall Sundown, Inc., and Target Corporation (“Defendants”). See Pearson v. NBTY, Inc., No. 14-1198 (decided Nov. 19, 2014). Each case was premised on Defendants’ allegedly deceptive marketing and sale of…
Second Circuit Decision Underscores Risk Of Aggressive Settlement Class Notice Programs
Although defendants settle class actions to “buy peace” through class-wide releases, it is well-established that class releases will not be enforced in certain situations, such as when notice to the settlement class was constitutionally inadequate. In Hecht v. United Collection Bureau, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 17374 (2d Cir. Aug. 17, 2012), the Second Circuit…