On December 5, 2023, the Ninth Circuit vacated a decision by a district court approving a $5.2 million class action settlement between plaintiff Lisa Kim and Tinder, Inc., a mobile dating app. The case alleged that Tinder’s pricing scheme—which charges users over the age of 29 more for its premium packages than users under the age of 29—is discriminatory and violates California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act, Cal. Civ. Code §§ 51 et seq, and California’s unfair competition law, Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §§ 17200 et seq. This was the second time the Ninth Circuit reversed the district court’s approval of a class settlement in this case. Continue Reading Ninth Circuit Rejects Class Action Settlement in Tinder Case for the Second Time
California Superior Court Certifies Class of Android Users
A California Superior Court recently certified a putative class action of California residents “who have used mobile devices running the Android operating system to access the internet through cellular data plans provided by mobile carriers.” See Order Concerning: (1) The Parties’ Expert Exclusion Motions; and (2) Plaintiffs’ Class Certification Motion
Continue Reading California Superior Court Certifies Class of Android UsersCalifornia Federal Court Throws Out Carbon Offset Class Action Against Etsy
We are seeing a growing number of class actions alleging consumer harms from corporate carbon offset policies. On October 13, a California federal court threw out such a case (albeit with leave to amend) against e-commerce site Etsy.
The lawsuit, Blackburn v. Etsy, Inc., No. 2:23-cv-05711 (C.D. Cal. 2023), stemmed from a number of carbon offset promises Etsy has made since 2019—that the company engages in “100% offsetting [of] all carbon emissions from shipping[,]” that it was “the first major online shopping destination to offset 100% of carbon emissions generated by shipping[,]” and that its “goal [is] to run a carbon neutral business[.]” Dkt. No. 20 at 1. Plaintiffs alleged that the carbon offset promises were false “due to endemic methodological errors and fraudulent accounting on behalf of offset vendors.” Id. Plaintiffs claimed that Etsy’s false promises caused them harm because they paid more for products on the site than they otherwise would have under the mistaken belief that Etsy’s shipments were carbon neutral. Continue Reading California Federal Court Throws Out Carbon Offset Class Action Against Etsy
Court Denies Remand of Privacy Suit, Finding Article III Standing Under TransUnion
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 standing under TransUnion LLC v. Ramirez. See Order Denying Plaintiff’s Motion to Remand, Morgan v. Twitter, Inc., No. 2:22-cv-00122-MKD (E.D. Wash. May 5, 2023).Continue Reading Court Denies Remand of Privacy Suit, Finding Article III Standing Under TransUnion
Court dismisses class claims related to cyber vulnerability embargo
After several twist and turns, on July 7th Intel Corp. succeeded in achieving final dismissal of class claims alleging that Intel knew about purported security vulnerabilities in its microprocessors and failed to disclose or mitigate those vulnerabilities. The case, In Re Intel Corp. CPU Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation, 3:18-md-02828, had a long history—a narrowed set of class claims had survived three prior rounds of motions to dismiss. Had the claims been allowed to go forward a fourth time, businesses may have faced additional liability concerns for attempting to address cyber vulnerabilities in their products before those exploits became public and susceptible to exploitation by hackers.Continue Reading Court dismisses class claims related to cyber vulnerability embargo
Court Grants in Part Dismissal of Certain Privacy Claims, Including CCPA Claim, Against The Retail Equation and Retailers
A California federal district court recently granted in part the dismissal of certain federal and state privacy claims, including a California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) claim, in Hayden v. The Retail Equation, Inc., No. 8:20-cv-01203 (C.D. Cal.). Plaintiffs in Hayden alleged that twelve retailers unlawfully shared customer data with a computer software firm, The Retail Equation (“TRE”), which in turn created “customer risk scores” to identify potentially fraudulent customer returns. This customer risk score was alleged to include information about the customers’ purchase histories, information gleaned from social media, as well as personal information, including name, government identification card or passport information, address, sex, race, and date of birth. TRE and the retailers sought dismissal of: (1) the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) claim; (2) the CCPA claim; (3) the California invasion of privacy claim; (4) the Unfair Competition Law (“UCL”) claim; and (5) unjust enrichment claim. The Court dismissed all but the invasion of privacy claim.Continue Reading Court Grants in Part Dismissal of Certain Privacy Claims, Including CCPA Claim, Against The Retail Equation and Retailers
California District Court Dissects Data Breach Claims, Allowing Some To Proceed
Courts across the country continue to grapple with thorny questions surrounding the legal implications of cyber-attacks. Recently, a federal court in California considered whether a plaintiff could assert a claim against a company when a cyber-criminal acquired his personal information from the company and then used that information to steal
Continue Reading California District Court Dissects Data Breach Claims, Allowing Some To Proceed