Frosted Mini-Wheats Class Action Settlement Approved – Again

By Kimberly Mirando

A California federal judge on Friday granted preliminary approval to a $4 million class action lawsuit settlement between Kellogg Co. and consumers who allege the company falsely advertised the brain-boosting power of its Frosted Mini-Wheats cereal.

U.S. District Judge Irma E. Gonzalez preliminarily approved the Kellogg Frosted Mini-Wheats settlement on May 5, which will establish a $4 million fund to pay out Class Members who submit valid claims. Any remaining money not claimed will be distributed equally among charities.

The settlement resolves a 2009 class action lawsuit by consumers who claim that Kellogg’s Frosted Mini-Wheats ads and product labels made false and unsubstantiated representations that the cereal was clinically proven to improve children’s attentiveness by nearly 20 percent. This assertion was supposedly based on a study of kids who ate Kellogg’s Frosted Mini-Wheats for breakfast compared to children who did not eat breakfast.

Homeowners Say Foreclosure Settlement Checks are Smaller than Promised

By Sarah Pierce

UPDATE 5.9.13: Federal Reserve announces additional checks will be mailed to 96,000 borrowers due to errors that caused them to receive checks that were too low.

Two weeks after homeowners reported they were having problems cashing their checks from the $9.3 billion bank foreclosure abuse settlement comes reports of a new injury: the checks are much smaller than regulators promised.

Federal regulators announced the settlement in March following a lengthy investigation into allegations that Bank of America, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase and nine other banks engaged in improper foreclosure methods in 2009 and 2010. The first wave of settlement checks were mailed starting April 12 and will continue through July 2013.

Second H&R Block Tax Refund Class Action Lawsuit Filed

By Kimberly Mirando

H&R Block Inc. has been hit with a second class action lawsuit from customers who say errors in the firm’s software led to certain 2012 tax return refunds being delayed by over a month. 

Federal Law Prohibits Unwanted Cell Phone Calls from Companies

By Robert J. Boumis

Under federal law, it is illegal for a company to call or text you on your cellular phone without your permission. Under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act or TCPA, a violator can be fined as much as $500 dollars per violation. At the same time, cell phone users who can prove the violation was intentional may sue for up to 1,500 dollars for every time a company unlawfully contacted them.

The TCPA was passed by the United States Congress in 1991, and signed into law by President George Herbert Walker Bush. This act was intended to limit the use of automatic dialing systems, SMS text messages, and recorded messages to contact consumers. If you’ve been contacted via one of these methods, you may have a case to file a class action lawsuit against the offending company and receive compensation for these violations.

Sega 'Aliens: Colonial Marines' False Advertising Class Action Lawsuit

By Matt O'Donnell

An angry gamer has filed a false advertising class action lawsuit against Sega of America and Gearbox Software for allegedly lying about the quality of their new game “Aliens: Colonial Marines” before it was released.

Lead plaintiff Damion Perrine accuses Sega and Gearbox of perpetrating a “bait-and-switch” scheme to induce consumers into buying “Aliens: Colonial Marines” by giving bogus gameplay demonstrations at video game expositions and trade shows leading up to its February 2013 release.

"Each of the 'actual gameplay' demonstrations purported to show customers exactly what they would be buying: a cutting edge video game with very specific features and qualities. Unfortunately for their fans, Defendants never told anyone -- consumers, industry critics, reviewers or reporters -- that their 'actual gameplay' demonstration advertising campaign bore little resemblance to the retail product that would eventually be sold to a large community of unwitting purchasers," the class action lawsuit states.

Dealers Accuse Carfax of Monopoly in New Class Action Lawsuit

By Mike Holter

Over 120 car dealers have filed a $50 million class action lawsuit against Carfax, alleging it is monopolizing the vehicle history report industry and forcing dealers to use Carfax instead of cheaper competitors.

Appeals Court Limits Cy Pres Class Action Settlement Awards

By Robert J. Boumis

Cy pres awards have become a popular way to distribute money from a class action lawsuit settlement, but they’ve come under scrutiny lately from critics who say they unfairly give money to charities that should be going to injured Class Members. Several high-profile consumer class action settlements have been rejected over the past year by judges who ruled the proposed cy pres distributions were unfair.

A recent decision in the Toys “R” Us class action lawsuit In Re: Baby Products Antitrust Litigation has put a limit on the use of cy pres awards in class action settlements – a decision that will set a precedent in future class action lawsuits.

Midland Credit Call Recording Class Action Settlement

By Matt O'Donnell

Midland Credit Management Inc. has reached a $4.5 million class action lawsuit settlement with consumers who say the debt collection agency illegally recorded phone calls with them. If you received a telephone call from Midland between 2006 and 2011, you may be eligible to receive debt forgiveness or a cash award of up to $1,000 from the class action settlement.