Facing yet another issue involving the arbitration of consumer disputes, the United States Supreme Court on December 14, 2015 held that a class action waiver clause was valid even when the contract incorporated state law standards that would have voided the waiver. The decision continued the Court’s trend toward enforcement…
The US Supreme Court’s October 2015 term includes three cases that may have important implications for class action litigation: Spokeo Inc. v. Robins et al., 13-1339, Campbell-Ewald Co. v. Gomez, 14-857, and Tyson Foods, Inc. v. Bouaphakeo, 14-1146. In each case, the Court will consider a procedural question whose answer…
From origination through final payoff, plaintiffs’ counsel look for claims in just about every aspect of the relationship between borrowers and their mortgage lenders. Recently, scrutiny has turned to property inspections carried out during default servicing. Plaintiffs’ lawyers have filed several class-action suits alleging that inspection fees violate mortgage terms, state…
Earlier this month, the CFPB announced that it may propose rules designed to curtail or eliminate class-action waivers from arbitration clauses. Arbitration clauses appear in most financial-services contracts to provide both parties with a cheaper alternative to litigation. Dubbing such clauses “a free pass [to] sidestep the legal system, avoid…
**EDITOR’S NOTE: This post was guest-authored by Goodwin Procter partner Joe Yenouskas and associate Alyssa Sussman. Both are members of Goodwin Procter’s Consumer Financial Services Litigation Group.** A series of putative class actions have been filed recently in New York federal courts by borrowers alleging that their mortgage satisfactions were not timely…
Whole Foods Market Group, Inc. (Whole Foods) recently settled a putative class action relating to Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) disclosures that were allegedly deficient. In Speer v. Whole Foods Market Group, Inc., the plaintiff—a Whole Foods employee—filed suit in the United States District Court for the Middle District of…
On August 3, 2015, the 11th Circuit held in Ewing Industries Corp. v. Bob Wines Nursery, Inc., No. 14-13842, 2015 WL 4605234 (11th Cir. Aug. 3, 2015) that the pendency of a purported class action does not toll the limitations period for a later class action seeking to represent the same…
Last week, the Seventh Circuit reversed its prior circuit precedent regarding whether a Rule 68 offer of judgment moots a case. In Chapman v. First Index, Inc., the Seventh Circuit considered the question of mootness as well as whether the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois erred…
On June 8, 2015, the 8th Circuit reversed the Eastern District of Missouri and revived class claims in Golan et al. v. Veritas Entertainment, LLC et al. In Golan, the plaintiff alleged that the defendants—producers of the movie, “Last Ounce of Courage”—robo-called consumers to promote the film in violation of…
Last week, the United States Supreme Court granted cert in Bouaphakeo v. Tyson Foods, Inc., a Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) case with potentially wide reaching implications in federal class actions. In Bouaphakeo, plaintiffs alleged that they were entitled to overtime for time spent putting on (“donning”) and taking off…
A national bank can charge an interest rate that exceeds state law maximums, but the bank’s assignee cannot, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled recently, in a decision that could impact the ability of debt purchasers and others to rely on an originating bank’s federal preemption. The…
On June 1, 2015, the Northern District of California granted AOL’s motion to dismiss a class action Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) suit premised on four text messages received by the named plaintiff in Derby v. AOL, Inc. The plaintiff’s claims arose from two different types of text messages: the first consisted of a…
An Illinois federal district court held on March 20, 2015 that California law protects T-Mobile from having to turn over the names and addresses of thousands of its California customers without their consent in response to a third-party subpoena in a nationwide class action. The case, Birchmeier v. Caribbean Cruise Line,…
In November 2014, we reported that class action lawsuits were being filed across the country by consumers against large banks regarding their involvement with short term loans. These actions allege that lenders were engaging in unlawful practices relating to online short-term, small dollar – or “payday” – loans, and were…
On March 10, 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released its Arbitration Study, which concludes that arbitration agreements in contracts associated with consumer financial products constrain consumers’ ability to assert their rights if a dispute arises. The study, which the CFPB was directed to carry out under Section 1028(a)…
As we have previously opined, the decision of whether to remove a case can be critically important in state-court-filed class actions. Despite the importance of this decision, the time afforded defendants to weigh their options—thirty days—is minimal. In that short time, defendants must weigh the costs and benefits of both…
On November 10, 2014, the Ninth Circuit reversed a district court’s order dismissing and directing to arbitration a putative nationwide class action alleging Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) violations, finding that the Customer Agreement containing the arbitration clause was unenforceable for lack of mutual assent. Knutson v. Sirius XM Radio…
In recent months, a number of class actions have been filed across the country against large banks in an attempt to hold those banks accountable for debiting consumers’ deposit accounts for payments to certain companies offering short-term, small dollar loans – often called “payday loans” – online. In all of…
A recent South Carolina district court decision further strengthens the line of cases which allow a realigned defendant to remove a case to federal court. District courts around the country are generally split on this issue, and there is no Fourth Circuit precedent. On July 30, 2014 however, South Carolina…
Employers use a number of tools to assess any potential hire, and to evaluate existing employees. When using a credit report for these purposes, employers need to be wary of the Fair Credit Reporting Act’s (“FCRA”) (15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) provisions. The FCRA has strict procedures, requiring that employers…