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Listed below are the highlights from our evaluation of litigation throughout the week of Feb. 17:
► A string of sophistication actions accuses companies of mislabeling merchandise as ‘made within the USA.’
► Shareholder fits take goal at Fortune 500 firms for falling wanting income projections.
► Meals and beverage firms had been hit with a wave of sophistication actions.
► An environmental group goes after the Trump administration.
► Online game firms are cracking down on gross sales of counterfeit items.
Litigation Surge – Shopper Safety | Kazerouni Legislation Group
The Kazerouni Legislation Group is backing a flurry of shopper class actions in California federal courts alleging that ‘made within the USA’ or related labels on meals objects and shopper items are misleading as a result of the merchandise comprise components from different nations. For example, PepsiCo is accused of mislabeling Pure Leaf Tea as ‘brewed in USA’ despite the fact that tea and different components are usually not grown or sourced within the U.S., and It’s a New 10 LLC was sued for labeling its hair care merchandise as ‘made within the USA’ when the merchandise allegedly comprise overseas components like palm oil, tea leaf extract and hydrolyzed silk. Different defendants embody Goya Meals, McCormick & Co. and Mielle Organics.
Litigation Surge – Fortune 500 | Securities
Main firms had been hit with a swarm of federal securities lawsuits throughout the week of Feb. 17. No less than 9 securities instances focusing on Fortune 500 companies had been initiated in federal court docket, triple the same old weekly common. What triggered the surge? A number of lawsuits accuse firms of failing to reveal stock backlogs and declining gross sales attributable to weakening demand; as an illustration, reminiscence and storage machine producer Micron Know-how was hit with a pair of lawsuits claiming that the corporate hid a drop in income primarily based on gradual market exercise within the semiconductor business, and a Feb. 21 go well with in opposition to Hasbro alleges that the enterprise did not disclose a decline in demand for toys after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Litigation Surge – Meals, Beverage & Tobacco | Class Actions
Main meals and beverage firms had been swarmed with class actions, in accordance with Legislation.com Radar. Between Feb. 17 and Feb. 21, the platform surfaced 13 federal class actions focusing on companies on Radar’s sector watchlist, 4 occasions greater than the standard weekly common. A number of instances pursue false promoting claims, together with a pair of lawsuits introduced by the Kazerouni Legislation Group in California alleging that ‘made within the USA’ or related labels on PepsiCo’s iced tea merchandise and McCormick’s mustard merchandise are misleading as a result of the merchandise comprise components from different nations. PepsiCo was additionally hit with an antitrust class motion on Feb. 17 claiming that the corporate engages in illegal value discrimination by charging smaller comfort shops greater costs than it expenses bigger grocery chains for Frito-Lay merchandise.
Litigation Surge – Environmental | Middle for Organic Variety
The Middle for Organic Variety launched a cluster of environmental lawsuits in opposition to the Trump administration on Feb. 18 and Feb. 19. No less than 4 federal instances had been filed by the nonprofit group in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Texas. The claims range: One go well with challenges President Donald Trump’s current government order cancelling former President Joe Biden’s safety of sure areas from oil and gasoline improvement, whereas one other go well with contends that the growth of an open-pit mine in Idaho would eradicate native fish and wildlife habitats. Additionally, the U.S. Division of Agriculture is accused of failing to correctly assess the affect of predator killing on mountain lion and black pear populations in Texas, and the Nationwide Marine Fisheries Service was sued for allegedly failing to listing Chinook salmon as endangered.
Litigation Surge – Gaming & Esports | Illinois
Legislation.com Radar detected a cluster of lawsuits within the gaming and esports business in Illinois Northern District Courtroom. Six instances had been surfaced by the platform throughout the week of Feb. 17, greater than half of which search to enjoin e-commerce operators from promoting counterfeit merchandise and different items; plaintiffs embody Atari, Mob Leisure, P4S and Sony.
Additionally of observe, a Feb. 19 class motion accuses on-line on line casino platforms Zula On line casino and Sportzino of deceptively advertising and marketing their web sites as free-to-play ‘sweepstakes’ casinos when in actual fact the platforms are unlicensed playing platforms. The grievance alleges that whereas ‘Gold Cash’ bought by clients to play on line casino video games on the platforms can’t be redeemed for actual cash, the cash are unlawfully bundled with ‘Sweepstake Cash’ which might be wagered on casino-style video games and redeemed for money. The go well with is a part of a string of instances focusing on playing platforms: DraftKings was hit with an analogous swarm of lawsuits in January over allegedly deceptive promotional statements, and on Feb. 26, Underdog Fantasy was hit with a category motion claiming that its ‘interactive fantasy’ contests are literally unlicensed playing operations.
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