On August 16, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York issued a summary order in favor of the plaintiff, allowing a breach of contract claim to go forward based on a bank’s assessment of non-sufficient funds (NSF) fees. The ruling continues a trend of NSF fees coming under heavy scrutiny by
Recently, the Ninth Circuit joined its sister circuit, the Eleventh, in vacating class settlements on standing grounds. In Harvey v. Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, the court vacated the district court’s approval of the settlement agreement and remanded with instructions that the district court assess each individual class member for sufficient injury.
The litigation
Class-action plaintiffs do not get a free pass on constitutional standing requirements, as the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals reminded litigants sua sponte in Drazen and Godaddy.com, LLC v. Pinto last week when it vacated a district court’s approval of a $35 million class-action settlement. Although the parties had not briefed the issue before the
On July 18, a New Jersey district court ruled that a customer’s contract termination with a merchant does not also terminate the “established business relationship” (EBR) exception for purposes of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). The decision sheds light on an exception to the TCPA that likely will take on increasing importance, following the
On July 19, the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware issued a decision that should draw the attention for banks that charge overdraft fees for overdraft protection.
In Miller v. Del-One Federal Credit Union, plaintiff Joanne Miller alleged that the defendant credit union violated Regulation E, promulgated under the Electronic Fund Transfers
On July 6, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida granted final approval of a multimillion-dollar, class-action settlement in Parker v. Stoneledge Furniture, LLC, et al., No. 21-740 (M.D. Fla.) to resolve claims brought under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) against furniture companies Stoneledge Furniture LLC and Southwestern Furniture of
On May 26, preliminary approval was sought to resolve a proposed class action, pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, against background screening company Inflection Risk Solutions LLC (Inflection). The proposed settlement seeks to resolve claims that Inflection violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act by allegedly reporting misdemeanor convictions as felonies
On May 3, Judge Grimm of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland issued a class certification decision in a consumer data breach multidistrict litigation case against an international hotel and resort management company, becoming one of the few district courts to certify Rule 23(b)(3) classes in this type of case. The litigation
Last June, the Supreme Court issued a noteworthy decision in the TransUnion v. Ramirez case, holding that the vast majority of an 8,000-plus member Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) class lacked standing because they had not suffered a concrete injury. TransUnion LLC v. Ramirez, 141 S. Ct. 2190 (2021). On February 3, after returning
On February 3, a New York magistrate judge recommended dismissing a class action against medical management company, Professional Business System d/b/a Practicefirst Medical Management Solutions in Tassmer v. Professional Business Systems. Judge Michael J. Roemer recommended dismissal because plaintiffs’ allegations failed to constitute an injury under the Supreme Court’s ruling in TransUnion v. Ramirez