Plaintiffs Accuse Drywall Manufacturers of Price-Fixing

By Anne Bucher

In the U.S., the drywall market is a multi-billion dollar industry that is controlled by just nine manufacturers. In 2012, just as the nation’s housing market began to recover from the recession, the price of drywall increased by as much as 35 percent. Some experts believe this sudden price increase was the result of a coordinated effort from distributors. As a result, many lawsuits have been filed by plaintiffs who are seeking to hold the companies accountable for violating the antitrust laws. Because the demand for drywall in the U.S. is substantial, these price increases have had a huge impact on the construction industry. An average new home in the U.S. will contain more than seven tons of drywall.

Class Action Lawsuits Filed Over Unlawful Early Termination Fees

By Anne Bucher

The early termination fee (ETF) has become a common practice for many service providers in a variety of industries, including wireless carriers, home security and payment processing companies.

The ETF is used to penalize customers who cancel their contracts early. Recently, California courts have determined that certain types of ETFs violate the law. As a result, an increasing number of Californians are taking action against companies who charge illegal ETFs. So far, these plaintiffs have received millions of dollars in settlements. These ETF lawsuits help to ensure that customers are treated fairly and that companies follow the law when imposing ETFs on customers who choose to end their contracts before the term is up.

TCPA Class Action Lawsuits On the Rise Across the Country

By Amanda Antell

In a recent TCPA lawsuit heard in a Federal Court in Wisconsin, plaintiff Heather Nelson alleged that a debt collector called her more than 1,000 times; she sued the debt collector for violating the TCPA, and was awarded $571,000 in statutory damages. Nelson’s argument was that the debt collector called her cell phone using a dialer preview mode, which is illegal under the TCPA. The court agreed and awarded her damages for these violations of the law.

In dialer preview mode, a company’s computer system uses an algorithm to predict when an agent will become available to receive the next call, based on the number of times the receiver has answered the phone and not answered the phone. In other words, with preview dialing, all an employee from the company would have to do is choose a telephone number from a computer screen, which violates the TCPA.

Judge Approves Distribution of De Beers Consumer Class Action Settlement Checks

By Mike Holter

We finally have some good news for members of the De Beers Indirect Purchaser Consumer Subclass – U.S. District Judge Stanley R. Chesler has officially signed an order authorizing the distribution of settlement checks to consumers.

In an order signed May 13, 2013, but filed with the court yesterday, Judge Chesler approved distribution of the De Beers class action settlement fund to consumers who submitted a valid Claim Form by the original deadline of May 19, 2008 and for those who submitted late claims on or before March 1, 2013. That means consumers should be expecting settlement checks in the mail soon.