Class Actions Class Arbitration Employment Class Actions Massachusetts Decisions
August 9, 2022 by Melanie Conroy
On July 27, 2022, in Archer v. Grubhub, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court considered whether Grubhub delivery drivers within the Commonwealth are exempt from arbitration under Section 1 of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). FAA Section 1 exempts “seamen, railroad employees, or any other class of workers engaged in foreign or interstate commerce.” The SJC […]
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Appeals Class Actions Consumer Class Actions Privacy Class Actions Standing Supreme Court
June 28, 2021 by Melanie Conroy
On June 25, 2021, the Supreme Court issued its much-anticipated 5-4 ruling in TransUnion LLC v. Ramirez. In a 27-page decision by Justice Kavanaugh, the Court reversed the Ninth Circuit’s decision upholding the certification of a class of 8,185 consumers whom the credit reporting agency TransUnion had mistakenly labeled as potential terrorists and drug traffickers. […]
Class Actions First Circuit Decisions Privacy Class Actions
April 3, 2020 by Melanie Conroy
On March 25, 2020, the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Squeri v. Mount Ida College upheld the lower court’s dismissal of prospective and former Mount Ida College students’ claims against the college and its Board of Trustees arising from the college’s abrupt closure and sale of its campus to UMass Amherst in May 2018. […]
Arbitration Consumer Class Actions US District Court - Mass
December 11, 2019 / January 3, 2020 by Melanie Conroy
It is a legal maxim that arbitration is a creature of contract. A recent District of Massachusetts decision explores critical questions about when that creature can exist outside of the confines of a binding agreement to arbitrate among the parties. The November 27, 2019 decision by Senior U.S. District Judge George A. O’Toole ordered that […]
Arbitration Consumer Class Actions Privacy Class Actions US District Court - Mass
November 15, 2019 / November 18, 2019 by Melanie Conroy
On November 4, 2019, in Wainblat v. Comcast Cable Communications, LLC, et. al., No. 19-cv-10976, the District of Massachusetts ordered that a consumer privacy class action against Comcast must be arbitrated on an individual basis because the claims are subject to a valid and enforceable arbitration provision. Against a backdrop of rapidly expanding consumer class […]
Consumer Class Actions Privacy Class Actions US District Court - Mass
October 1, 2019 by Melanie Conroy
On September 24, 2019, the District of Massachusetts held in Katz v. Liberty Power Corp., LLC that the government debt collection exemption to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”), 47 U.S.C. §§ 227 et seq., is an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment. No. 18-cv-10506-ADB, 2019 WL 4645524 (D. Mass. Sept. 24, 2019). Following the […]
Class Certifications Class Representative Consumer Class Actions US District Court - Mass
August 20, 2019 by Melanie Conroy
Earlier this month, in Plastic Surgery Associates, SC v. Cynosure, Inc., United States District Judge Denise Casper denied plaintiffs’ motion for class certification and allowed Cynosure’s motion for summary judgment on claims arising from the marketing of a medical device intended to reduce body fat. The decision provides a searching and instructive analysis of the […]
Class Representative Lead Plaintiff Securities Class Actions Standing US District Court - Mass
May 20, 2019 / May 22, 2019 by Melanie Conroy
On May 16, 2019, the District of Massachusetts denied a lead plaintiff’s motion to amend a complaint that sought to overcome standing deficiencies of the original class representative by adding a new named plaintiff. The Court dismissed the putative class action without prejudice, holding that if a class action has only one representative, and that […]
Class Arbitration Supreme Court
April 24, 2019 by Josh Dunlap
Class arbitration came back before the Supreme Court this term in Lamps Plus, Inc. v. Varela. Today, the Supreme Court issued a 5-4 decision in Lamps Plus, holding that, under the Federal Arbitration Act, “courts may not infer from an ambiguous agreement that parties have consented to arbitrate on a classwide basis.” Rather, class arbitration […]
Class Action Settlements Supreme Court
March 20, 2019 / March 20, 2019 by Josh Dunlap
Today, in a case that was being watched closely for its potential ramifications for class settlements, the Supreme Court opted not to address the merits of the cy pres issues that were presented to it. Frank v. Gaos involved a settlement that would have distributed millions of dollars to cy pres recipients and class counsel, […]
