Week Adjourned: 4.26.13 – Vitamin Shoppe, Acer, Sony TV

The weekly top class action lawsuit & settlement wrap for the week ending April 26, 2013. Top class actions include Vitamin Shoppe, Acer and Sony.

vitamin shoppe logoTop Class Action Lawsuits

True Athlete Training Formula Making Some Untrue Claims? Em, maybe. At least the folks who filed a consumer fraud  class action lawsuit against Vitamin Shoppe Inc, who make and market a pre-workout muscle building and performance enhancing product called True Athlete Training Formula, believe so.

The True Athlete class action lawsuit, entitled Steven Hodges v. Vitamin Shoppe Inc., Case No. 13-cv-02849, U.S. District Court, Central District of California, contends that the Vitamin Shoppe “knowingly and/or recklessly ignored” all relevant scientific evidence which shows that L-Arginine Alpha Ketoglutarate, the main ingredient in True Athlete Training Formula, does not enhance athletic performance, build muscle, or improve cardiovascular function, as advertised. Well, it does sound a bit too good to be true. But hey—I’m an optimist.

However…the lawsuit also contends that the defendant “knowingly under-doses the remaining active ingredients to save money but still entice consumers by using efficacy claims for the compounds Creatine Monohydrate, Beta-Alanine (as Carnosyn), and AstraGin”, compounds well-known within the sports industry, according to the class action lawsuit. Specifically, the lawsuit states: “Defendant unapologetically, and with no remorse, boasts the inclusion of these popular ingredients in the Product, and then under doses them in the formula to make the Product useless.” And: “The inclusion of the ingredients at levels under the clinical dosage is nothing more than a new tactic at selling consumers ‘snake oil.’” Snake oil? I’ve had that stuff before!

Here’s the straight dope…the consumer fraud class action was filed on behalf of a proposed class of all California residents who purchased True Athlete Training Formula from the Vitamin Shoppe within the last four years.

Top Settlements

How’s your RAM these days? That would be Random Access Memory—the kind in your computer…(I don’t know about you, but the kind in my head is full and dates back to last century.) Well, it seems that Acer has decided to end a consumer fraud class action lawsuit alleging its RAM wasn’t up to the job either.

The official scoop on the Acer RAM class action— “The parties have reached a settlement in a nationwide class action lawsuit alleging that Acer America Corporation (“Acer”) advertised and sold Acer notebook computers that did not contain enough Random Access Memory (“RAM”) to support certain pre-installed versions of the Microsoft Windows Vista operating system. Acer denies the claims, but has agreed to the Settlement to avoid the costs and risks of a trial.“

And yes folks—you are a member of the class if you are a US resident who purchased a new Acer notebook computer that: (1) came pre-installed with a MicrosoftWindows Vista Home Premium, Business, or Ultimate operating system; (2) came with 1 gigabyte (“GB”) of RAM or less as shared memory for both the system and graphics; (3) was purchased from an authorized retailer; and (4) was not returned for a refund.

Class Members may claim either: (a) a 16GB USB Flash Drive with ReadyBoost technology; (b) a check for $10.00; (c) a check for up to $100.00 for reimbursement of any repair costs that were incurred before April 25, 2013 in an effort to resolve performance issues related to insufficient RAM; or (d) for Class Members who still own their computer, a 1GB or 2GB laptop memory DIMM that will allow the Acer notebook to operate with 2GB of RAM.

Any class member may seek to be excluded from the settlement by filing a notice of “opt out.” Class Members who remain in the settlement, either by submitting a claim or doing nothing, have the right to object to the settlement or ask to speak at the hearing. Opt out notices, objections, and any requests to appear are due by July 24, 2013. In order to get any benefits from the settlement, Class Members must submit a Claim Form by July 24, 2013. Claim forms will also be mailed and emailed to those class members for whom Acer has contact information. For more information about the settlement or to file a claim, visit www.AcerLawsuit.com.

Sony Display Resolution Class Action Resolved…And while we’re on the subject of technology—remember this one? The Sony Grand Wega SXRD rear-projection television defective products class action? (Sony Electronics, entitled Date v. Sony Electronics, Inc. & ABC Appliance, Inc., Case No. 07 CV 15474,United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan). Filed some time ago, granted, it does appear that a resolution may finally be in sight.

A proposed settlement has been granted preliminary approval, which includes all United States end user consumers who purchased, or received as a gift from the original retail purchaser, a KDS-R5OXBR1 or KDS-R6OXBR1 television.

The backstory—short version—allegations that Sony et al falsely advertised the display resolution of its Sony Grand Wega SXRD rear-projection television models KDS-R5OXBR1 and KDS-R6OXBR1, because the televisions were incapable of accepting input of 1080p signals and could not accept and display video content at 1080p resolution via the televisions’ PC and HDMI Input. Not good.

Here’s what you need to know if you are eligible for part of the settlement:

All class members who send in a valid claim form establishing that they own both (1) one of these televisions and (2) a 1080p output device like a Blu-ray player or 1080p-capable laptop computer or gaming device will be eligible to receive a $60.00 gift card that does not expire and is redeemable for the purchase of any item available on the store.sony.com website or at a Sony retail store.

If you do not own a 1080p output device, you will not be eligible to receive a benefit, but you will remain in the settlement class (and release your claims in this litigation, all of which relate to the 1080p capabilities of the televisions) unless you choose to opt out of the settlement.

All claim forms must be received by the claims administrator at the address provided in the claim form by no later than June 10, 2013 to be valid. To download claim forms, review your rights and find out more information on the settlement, visit http://esupport.sony.com.

Ok—that’s a wrap. See you at that bar…and Happy Friday Folks!

Week Adjourned: 4.19.13 – Kashi, Bankers Life, Bank of America

Hot Class Action Lawsuit News Update: Week Adjourned: 4.19.13 – Kashi, Bankers Life, Bank of America

Kashi CerealTop Class Action Lawsuits

What’s in your cereal? Kashi Co, and parent company Kellogg are facing a class action lawsuit over allegations their cereal is mislabelled, effectively hiding the amount of sugar in the products.

And it’s not just cereal, apparently. According to the Kashi class action lawsuit, dozens of Kashi products are allegedly mislabeled, including cereal, chips, crackers and bars, pasta and frozen entrees.

The lawsuit, entitled Nadine Saubers v. Kashi Co., Case No. 13-cv-00899, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, states “Nearly all of Kashi’s products’ labels list ‘evaporated cane juice’ as an ingredient despite the fact that the FDA has specifically warned companies not to use the term because it is ‘false and misleading,’ is not ‘the common or usual name of any type of sweetener,’ and the ingredient is not, in fact, juice.”

Lead plaintiff Nadine Saubers, alleges Kellogg and Kashi are in violation of consumer protection laws which regulate food labeling, specifically by their use of the term “evaporated cane juice” instead of sugar, and by failing to disclose that the ingredient is still considered to be processed sugar. Yes, you have heard this one before …

The Kashi class action lawsuit seeks to represent a proposed class of all US residents who purchased Kashi mislabeled products since October 1, 2009, including a subclass of California purchasers.

Long Term Care Falls Short. Heads up to anyone with elderly parents who have paid into Chicago-based insurance company Bankers Life and Casualty long-term health benefits plans. The insurer is facing a bad faith insurance class action lawsuit alleging the company is denying benefits to those who paid for long term health care insurance so they would have security in their old age.

The Bankers Life class action, alleging elder abuse, was filed on behalf of four individuals (two harmed families) who have made claims as representatives of the class. Hundreds, possibly thousands of elderly customers are estimated to be affected by this action. The Oregon action is similar to other lawsuits against Bankers Life in other states.

Grants Pass resident Dennis Fallow, a plaintiff if the lawsuit, claims his mother has paid their premiums for years, counting on having support if she became ill. “That time came and all she got from Bankers Life was a cold shoulder, rejection and red tape. It was a total rip off,” he said in a statement to the press.

Fallow’s 79-year-old mother, Katherine Fallow, needed an in-home caregiver when she came home in 2009 following multiple hospitalizations. The family hired a caregiver certified as a home health aide by the State of Washington and an Oregon certified home health aide to care for Mrs. Fallow. Dennis Fallow began submitting the bills for that care to Bankers Life, anticipating payment under terms of his mother’s policy. What followed were several months of wrangling over aides’ qualifications, long delays in communications and denials of payments. Bankers Life eventually made payments in the amount of $11,388, far short of the $51,667 the family paid for Mrs. Fallow’s care. Mrs. Fallow died on July 6, 2011.

In 2011, Grants Pass attorney Christopher Cauble filed a lawsuit against Bankers Life on behalf of the Fallows. He soon learned the Grants Pass family wasn’t alone. “Bankers Life has likely refused long term health care benefits to many, many Oregonians,” Cauble told reporters. “I began hearing about other families with experiences similar to that of the Fallows. What we have in Bankers Life is a company with a history of raising premiums, delaying payments and denying legitimate claims.” Cauble’s findings prompted him to join with Portland attorney Mike Williams and his firm to file the federal class action against Bankers Life on behalf of all Oregon consumers.

FYI—in 2011, Bankers Life ranked worst (19th out of 19 companies) in the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services’ (DCBS) consumer complaint index. In fact, DCBS figures show Bankers Life ranked worst for consumer complaints every year from 2005 to 2011. Now there’s something to aspire to.

Top Settlements

News in the never-ending saga of mortgage-backed securities—this one was all over the wires this week—Bank of America reached a tentative settlement in the pending securities fraud class action lawsuit brought by investors who purchased mortgage investments from Countrywide Financial. BofA acquired Countrywide in 2008.

The proposed settlement would see BofA pay $500 million to settle the lawsuit, which would be paid out to plaintiffs that include Dubai’s Mashreq Bank and public and union pension funds in California, Maine, Nevada, Vermont and Washington states. The plaintiffs claimed they were misled about the risks of securities they bought from California-based Countrywide between 2005 and 2007.

The settlement surpasses the $315 million accord reached with Merrill Lynch in May 2012, making it the largest to resolve federal class-action litigation over mortgage-backed securities since the financial crisis began. The accord requires court approval.

Ok—that’s a wrap. See you at that bar…

Week Adjourned: 4.12.13 – Apple, Skechers, Path, Fisker

This week, the top class actions in the news are Apple, Skechers, Path and Fisker. Week Adjourned is your weekly wrap of class action lawsuits and settlements for the week ending April 12, 2013.

Week Adjourned Apple Fisker Path SkechersTop Class Action Lawsuits

No, the Path to Profit is not through Spam…as Path social media can now attest to. The mobile social network got hit with a potential class-action lawsuit this week for allegedly sending unsolicited text ads to people’s cell phones, in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).

Filed in Illinois, by Kevin Sterk, the Path lawsuit alleges that Sterk received an unsolicited SMS message in March from Path. The message stated that someone else wanted to show Sterk photos on the service, and contained a link to a site where he could register to join. Sterk claims he never authorized Path to contact him via SMS. Further, the lawsuit alleges the company has sent similar text messages to “thousands” of other cell phone users.

“By making these unauthorized text message calls, [Path] has caused consumers actual harm, not only because consumers were subjected to the aggravation that necessarily accompanies the receipt of unauthorized text message calls, but also because consumers frequently have to pay their cell phone service providers for the receipt of such unauthorized text message calls,” the TCPA lawsuit states.

The Path class action lawsuit contends that these unsolicited messages violate the TCPA, which prohibits companies from using automated dialing services to send SMS messages without the recipients’ consent. The law provides for damages of $500 per incident. Sterk, who is seeking class-action status, is asking for monetary damages and an order prohibiting Path from sending unsolicited text messages.

I wish someone would come up with an app that would enable the average Joe to spam the spammers. Now, that could be fun!

Forewarned isn’t Forearmed at Fisker? The folks at Fisker are facing an employment class action lawsuit filed over allegations it failed to provide 60 days notice to employees who were part of recent mass layoffs. Those layoffs are allegedly in violation of US and California labor laws.

FYI—the US Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, a federal law, stipulates that companies with over 100 employees must provide 60 days notice prior to laying off their employees. There is also a similar requirement in place under California state law.

The employment lawsuit against Fisker alleges the company failed to pay the employees their 60 days pay and benefits that they would have been received had they been provided their duly entitled 60-day notice. Further, the lawsuit claims Fisker failed to notify California’s state Employment Development Department of its layoff plans, as well as the local workforce investment board, as well as the top elected officials in Anaheim and Orange County.

Top Settlements

A bit Sketchy on Skechers? Well, it’s official, but not approved. Confused? Don’t be. Last September we reported that Skechers has agreed to a preliminary $40 million settlement of a consumer fraud class action brought by disgruntled customers who claim the company misrepresented the benefits of the “toning shoes.”

Entitled Grabowski v. Skechers U.S.A., Inc., No. 3:12-cv-00204 (W.D. Ky.), the lawsuit concerns claims that Skechers violated certain state laws and consumer protection statutes in connection with the marketing and sale of its toning shoes. Not surprisingly, Skechers denies those allegations.

It looks as if final approval may be at hand, as the fairness hearing was scheduled for mid-March 2013. This matters to you purchased eligible Skechers toning shoes from August 1, 2008, up to and including August 13, 2012 in the United States.

To find out more information and to download claims forms, visit: http://www.skecherssettlement.com/

Bad Apples, eh? This one is all over the wires today…Apple—the faltering god of all things techno—has reportedly agreed to a $53 million settlement in the class action lawsuit pending over alleged defective iPhones and iPod Touch.

The unfair business practices class action was originally filed against Apple in 2010, and centered around claims that the company failed to honor its warranty obligations by fixing or replacing defective devices.

According to a report by CNET, thousands of owners of the original iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, or the first three generations of the iPod Touch who were unsuccessful in getting Apple to honor its warranty related to repairs and replacements, can submit claims in the suit. These devices carried one-year standard and two-year extended warranties.

The settlement has yet to be approved, and full details have not been made public. Wired is reporting that depending on how many people submit claims, individual payouts could be approximately $200. Stay tuned for more on this one.

Ok—that’s a wrap. See you at that bar…

Week Adjourned: 4.5.13 – H&R Block, JP Morgan Chase, Asbestos

Just in time to send in those tax returns, H&R Block is hit with a class action lawsuit. That leads off our weekly top class action lawsuit and settlement news for the week ending April 5, 2013.

H R BlockTop Class Action Lawsuits

Just in Time for Taxes! Oops…talk about adding insult to injury…A consumer fraud class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of individuals who allege that their tax refunds were delayed due a tax return error by H&R Block.

“These individuals trusted and paid H&R Block to file their tax returns accurately so they could receive their refunds as soon as possible,” said Jordan L. Chaikin, a partner with Parker Waichman LLP, one of the law firms representing the plaintiffs. “However, H&R Block has made an error that has delayed thousands of people from receiving their tax refunds on time. Furthermore, consumers paid this company under the promise of a 100 percent guarantee for their services, yet they have not been justly compensated for this error.”

According to the H&R Block lawsuit filing, the Defendants erroneously and negligently prepared Form 8863 included with 600,000 tax returns. As a result, the suit alleges, tax refunds have been delayed up to six weeks past when they would have been paid. The lawsuit alleges, among other things, that H&R Block has breached its contract. According to the allegations, H&R Block promised its customers a “100% Satisfaction Money Back Guarantee” which states that if the consumer is dissatisfied for any reason within 60 days, they are entitled to a refund for the full purchase price. Despite this promise, the lawsuit alleges, H&R Block has failed to offer compensation to the Plaintiffs or any putative class members for the error caused solely by the company and its subsidiaries.

The lawsuit points out that H&R Block has admitted to making an error on Form 8863 that has led to a delay in tax refunds. According to the Complaint, Form 8863 is used to claim tax credits for qualified expenses paid to post-secondary education institutions. According to the lawsuit’s allegations and a report in Kansas City Business Journal, H&R Block mistakenly left a mandatory field blank instead of answering “yes” or “no” for questions #22 through 26. The lawsuit alleges that the error had delayed tax returns of Plaintiffs and putative members beyond the 21 day turnaround represented by the Defendants.

The lawsuit was filed on March 29, 2013 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Eastern Division (Case No.1:13-cv-00698-CAB). H&R Block, Inc, HRB Tax Group, Inc. and HRB Technology LLC have been named as Defendants.

Property Appraisers at JP Morgan Chase are Chasing their Unpaid Overtime. California Appraisers in the commercial lending division of JP Morgan Chase have filed an unpaid overtime class and collective action lawsuit, seeking to recover millions of dollars in unpaid wages based on the financial services giant’s practice of misclassifying these employees as “exempt” from overtime pay, among other violations of California and federal law.

Chase’s “Production Appraisers” complete form valuations of commercial and multi-unit residential properties based on well-defined criteria, allowing Chase to issue loans and refinancing secured by the properties. Chase’s “Review Appraisers” then proofread the appraisals based on Chase’s criteria.

The lawsuit, filed in the Los Angeles-based U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, alleges that Appraisers have unlawfully been deprived of overtime pay and meal and rest period premiums, itemized wage statements and certain reimbursements required under California law. The Appraisers allege that they are subject to detailed standards and internal guidelines for the production and review of each appraisal, placing the Appraisers squarely outside of the so-called “white collar” exemptions to the Fair Labor Standards Act and California wage and hour protections.

The California overtime lawsuit, filed by Long Beach residents Kenneth Lee and Mark Thompson, seeks to represent approximately 150 appraisers, who were or are classed as Administrators. Go get’em!

Top Settlements

Another large asbestos lawsuit settlement to report this week. A verdict was reached in March in the case of Michael Sutherland, a former drywaller diagnosed with mesothelioma, a cancer caused by asbestos. The Los Angeles Superior Court jury that heard the case returned its an asbestos verdict awarding $26.6 million to Michael and his wife Suszi.

Mike testified that he worked as a drywaller in northern San Diego County from 1967, while he was still attending Madison High School, through 1993—with frequent breaks for extended surfing trips to Hawaii and Mexico. He worked at countless residential and commercial jobsites during the construction “boom” that occurred in north county in the 1970s, the same time that cancer-causing asbestos was used in many construction products including joint compound, fire-rated drywall, caulk, stucco, roofing mastic and asbestos cement pipe.

“With all the trades working on top of each other trying to finish one job and move on to the next, it was always dusty,” Mike recalled, “It wasn’t until I became a lead maintenance mechanic at UC San Diego and attended a class on job safety in 2003 that I learned that so many of the materials used on the jobs back then contained asbestos.”

The Sutherlands’ case (LASC case # BC486980) was filed on June 20, 2012. Over 30 defendants were named in the case. Settlements were reached with a number of defendants prior to trial. Stucco manufacturer, Highland Stucco and Lime Products, Inc., the sole remaining defendant at trial, argued that other companies and even Mr. Sutherland himself were responsible for his exposure to asbestos. But the jury ultimately assessed blame on Highland for its role in subjecting Mr. Sutherland and other members of the public to its dangerous products.

“I was surprised to learn at trial just how much asbestos was in stucco,” Mike stated, “even though I rarely worked hands-on with the stuff, I was exposed to dust when the bags were dumped into large mixers and when we had to scrape off areas of over-spray that came into the homes through windows and doors.”

Mike is grateful for the jury’s award and for the hard work of his legal team, but would gladly trade it for the return of his health. Prior to his diagnosis in May 2012, Mike enjoyed his job at UCSD and had no plans of retiring. He also continued to indulge his life-long passion for surfing, hitting the waves on the iconic surf breaks of north county San Diego two or more times a week.

Ok—that’s a wrap. See you at that bar…