Judge Approves $158.5M Southeast Raw Milk Class Action Settlement

By Kimberly Mirando

A federal judge has approved a $158.5 million class action lawsuit settlement over an alleged price-fixing conspiracy to control the raw milk market in the Southeast United States.

On May 17, 2013, U.S. District Judge J. Ronnie Greer approved the raw milk class action settlement as fair and reasonable.

"The quality of the work done by class counsel has been exceptional, not only with respect to the pleadings filed but also the oral advocacy during oral argument on various motions," Judge Greer wrote in his approval order.

Crate & Barrel Call Recording Class Action Lawsuit Survives Dismissal Bid

By Mike Holter

Crate & Barrel must face a privacy class action lawsuit accusing the retailer of unlawfully recording customer phone calls after a California federal judge rejected its argument that customer service calls are exempt from state privacy laws.

On May 16, U.S. District Judge Virginia A. Phillips denied Crate & Barrel’s motion to dismiss the class action lawsuit, saying the plaintiff met the minimum pleading requirements to allege a claim under California’s Invasion of Privacy Act.

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.