A U.S. district court recently granted in part and denied in part the New York Times’s motion to dismiss claims that its subscription renewal terms violated North Carolina’s little-used Automatic Renewal Statute. The plaintiff, on behalf of a putative class,
Inside Class Actions
The latest developments and trends affecting class actions
Latest from Inside Class Actions
“Money-Back Guarantee” Deprived Plaintiff of Standing to Bring a False Labeling Class Action
In recent years, sellers of consumer products have faced countless class action lawsuits alleging that their products are misleadingly advertised. Many motions to dismiss often turn on whether the product’s advertising is misleading to a reasonable consumer. But in Valiente…
Second Circuit Reiterates When Puffery Claims Can Be Dismissed at the Pleadings Stage
By Kaixin Fan & Cort Lannin
The Second Circuit recently revived a plaintiff’s false advertising claims under New York’s General Business Law (“GBL”), concluding that whether the particular statements at issue were non-actionable puffery requires a fact-intensive inquiry not suitable for resolution on a motion to…
The U.S. Supreme Court Punts on Section 230 in Gonzalez v. Google LLC
The Supreme Court recently issued its opinion in Gonzalez v. Google LLC, a case about whether Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (47 U.S.C. § 230) protected YouTube’s recommendation algorithms from a claim of secondary liability under the Anti-Terrorism Act…
Court Denies Remand of Privacy Suit, Finding Article III Standing Under TransUnion
By Ellen Choi & Megan Rodgers
A federal district court recently denied remand of a proposed class action against Twitter, Inc., rejecting plaintiff’s arguments, including that the removal was improper because his claim was limited to a “statutory damages remedy” that does not confer Article III…
New York and Minnesota Video Privacy Statutes Do Not Include Private Rights of Action for Retention of Rental History Data, Federal Court Holds
A court in the Northern District of California recently dismissed with prejudice a case that claimed a company violated the New York Video Consumer Privacy Act (“NYVCPA”) and the Minnesota Video Privacy Law (“MVPL”) by retaining consumers’ personally identifiable video…
Sixth Circuit Rejects Juridical Link Exception to Standing in Class Actions
The Sixth Circuit recently vacated a class certification order in a decision that may make it easier for defendants to defeat putative class actions where a named plaintiff asserts standing based on the injuries of absent class members. Under the…
Third Circuit Defends Ascertainability Requirement in Affirming Denial of Class Certification
The Third Circuit recently affirmed the denial of class certification to end-payor health plans that alleged that the defendant’s “pay-for-delay” settlement of patent infringement litigation inflated prices on a prescription drug. In doing so, the court reaffirmed that named plaintiffs…
Tenth Circuit Permits District Courts to Rely on Third and Seventh Circuit Ascertainability Precedent
By Isaac Chaput
The Tenth Circuit recently affirmed an order denying class certification, in an unpublished decision holding that district courts may rely on out-of-circuit precedent in deciding whether a proposed class is ascertainable.…
A Closer Look: Courts Reject California Wiretap Claims Based on Website Chat Features
By Amy Heath & Kathryn Cahoy
Late last year, our colleagues highlighted a wave of class action litigation asserting novel claims under state wiretap laws against website operators that use session replay software and chatbots on consumer websites. Federal district courts in California have now ruled…