Category: Week Adjourned

Week Adjourned: 8.27.10

Cookie-cutter Nurse, circa 1945 Top Class Actions

Care Doesn’t Discriminate? You would think that healthcare might be the one environment in which race would not be the priority. Not so, apparently. One of San Francisco’s biggest hospitals, Sutter Health’s California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC), which also operates St. Luke’s Hospital, is facing a class action over allegations that it is engaged in systematic discrimination against the hiring of Filipino registered nurses. The suit, brought by the California Nurses Association (CNA), alleges contract violations in a systematic policy of discrimination.

The CNA held a press conference over the matter during which former nursing supervisors and nurses of CPMC spoke out about the discrimination they themselves had faced. The CNA have also made public data from a review they conducted which show that in early 2008 there was a major demographic shift among the nurses being hired at St Luke’s. “Before February 2008, 65% of St Luke’s RNs were Filipino. After February 2008, only 10% of RNs hired were Filipino,” the press releases states.

“St. Luke’s and CPMC RNs, many of them Filipino, have been outspoken in defense of their patients, and in opposition to Sutter and CPMC’s plans to reduce services to the largely lower income, minority community depending on St. Luke’s from SOMA to the Excelsior,” said CNA Co-president Zenei Cortez, RN.

“Rather than respond to the concerns of the community, CPMC and Sutter have chosen instead to retaliate by carrying out a punitive, illegal, and immoral campaign of discrimination,” said Continue reading “Week Adjourned: 8.27.10”

Week Adjourned: 8.21.10

Top Class Actions

No Sweet Deal for Suite Attendants in Georgia. A class action lawsuit was filed this week on behalf people who worked as Suite Attendants at Philips Arena, The Georgia Dome, and/or the Atlanta Motor Speedway (collectively the “Venues”) from January 1, 2006 to the present.

The suit is filed against Levy Premium Foodservice Limited Partnership d/b/a Atlanta Sports Catering, and Compass Group North America d/b/a Levy Restaurants in Atlanta, Georgia.

And the allegations? The defendant’s wrongful failure to pay the suite attendants service charges—the 20% service charge they automatically add to each bill for food and beverages purchased by suite owners and patrons at the hundreds of events held each year from 2006 to present at these venues. So, if you were expecting to get your tips while working as a ‘suite employee’ at any of these places, and didn’t—you’re not alone. Sadly. But—you know the old saying—there’s strength in numbers…you just want them on your side. 

Top Settlements

To the Aid of Medicaid Recipients. Money finally started to flow this week from two settlements that will have reaching effects in the way Medicaid is administered, apparently.

The two cases are Janigian v. District of Columbia (in the District) and E. Smith, et al. v. John Continue reading “Week Adjourned: 8.21.10”

Week Adjourned: 8.13.10

Top Class Actions

No Answer for No Answer Charges? A couple of major players in the telecommunications game got hit with class actions this week. First up—AT&T. The suit alleges violations of federal truth-in-billing laws, false advertising and deceptive trade practices under New York law, and breach of contract, among other things. 

Lead plaintiff, Los Angeles resident Kenneth Thelian, claims he was charged $12.90 partly for calls that he did not answer. He allegedly complained to AT&T who reversed $8 of the charges, but the company representative “did not adequately explain why these charges were incurred.”

Thelian faced a further $15.81 in roaming charges while traveling in Montreal, Canada in August 2005, again for calls he did not answer. Then, in February and March of 2007, Thelian was billed $92.72. “The bill did not indicate which of these charges were for calls that he did not answer while traveling abroad,” the suit alleges. 

So, maybe time to be checking those phone bills…

And, second up—T-Mobile. This class action alleges that the company puts limits on its unlimited data plan. Ummm. who would have thought…

The suit claims that advertisements for T-Mobile’s “Unlimited Web & E-mail” plans, offered for both Blackberry and other brands of smartphones, promise the consumer access to Continue reading “Week Adjourned: 8.13.10”

Week Adjourned: 8.6.10

Top Class Actions

Could Say He was Over his Overdraft Fees. I think these guys deserve a Business As Usual, As Usual award. Commerce Bancshares, a Kansas City-based financial institution operating simply as Commerce Bank in the state of Missouri is being sued by a client who claims the company’s bank overdraft fees violate state law.

The plaintiff, Harold J. Joseph Jr., has accused the banking chain of manipulating the sequence of debit card purchases in an attempt to maximize the number and size of overdraft fees that they can impose. 

Any of this sound familiar? Excessive bank overdraft fees lawsuits have been filed and/or settled against a variety of banks, including Wells Fargo, Bank of America, M&T Bank and Wachovia. The lawsuits allege that banks charge excessive overdraft fees when customers’ accounts go into overdraft. They further allege that the banks use a number of unethical practices to push their accounts into overdraft, such as misrepresenting customers’ account balances and reordering debits and credits to accounts.

New regulations that will take effect by mid-August seek to rectify this problem by making overdraft protection an opt-in service and by regulating the terms of the action.

FYI: Information about Commerce Bancshares second quarter earnings were posted in a press release July 21. Those of you hit with excessive overdraft fees may find the numbers interesting…”Commerce Continue reading “Week Adjourned: 8.6.10”

Week Adjourned: 7.31.10

Top Class Actions

Another Bite out of Apple. So, Apple is in the news this week, as it was last week, this time over allegations that its iPad is not up to scratch. Essentially, the proposed class action alleges that the smash hit techno gizmo “overheats and fails to operate properly in warm conditions.”

The complaint reportedly states that the iPad “does not live up to the reasonable consumer’s expectations created by Apple” because it “overheats so quickly under common weather conditions.” And, “that in direct sunlight, the iPad turns itself off after just a few minutes of use.” 

FYI—Apple said that customers bought 3.27 million iPads last quarter. It was only introduced at the beginning of April. So, no surprise it has outsold the iPod outsold revenue-wise: $2.17 billion in the quarter ended June 10 compared with $1.54 billion for the iPod. Well, if there is a problem, at least we know they can afford the fix. 

C’mon, Smile and Say “Fleeced!” What would the week be without a wages class action? This one pertains to back wages reportedly owed to thousands of employees of Consumer Programs Incorporated (CPI) who work at Sears Portrait Studios and Wal-Mart Picture Me Portrait Studios. 

BTW—CPI states it is the largest portrait studio operator in North America, with photography services in over 3,000 locations nationally. Umm. That’s a lot of overhead…

The specific allegations include failure to pay employees for all the time they work, Continue reading “Week Adjourned: 7.31.10”

Week Adjourned: 7.23.10

Top Class Actions

HiPhone, HiPhone, it’s Off to Court we Go…Well, all you iPhone enthusiasts are clearly disappointed with the new iPhone 4 and its apparent lack of receptivity—would that be an appropriate term to describe an alleged antenna design flaw?

Let’s get to the point. Apple and AT&T got hit with a class action lawsuit filing this week, “seeking relief for consumers who purchased iPhone 4 cellular phones.” 

To be blunt, the only way you could not know about the iPhone 4 antenna problem is if you live on another planet—or in a cave in some remote corner of the world that is not part of AT&T’s network. No doubt all you diehard Blackberry fans must be lovin it!

According to the complaint, the new iPhone 4 sold 1.7 million in its first week of sales, a figure that reportedly comes from Apple. That’s a loyal fan base. And woe betide you if you piss them off. 

Here’s the skinny—”the phone retails for $199.00 for the 16GB model or $299.00 for the 32GB model with a 2-year contract (or $599.00 16GB / $699.00 32GB without a contract). Users pay Continue reading “Week Adjourned: 7.23.10”

Week Adjourned: 7.17.10

Top Class Actions

Recall on a Rolling Basis. This week’s pharmaceutical lawsuit is against Johnson &Johnson (J&J) alleging fraud and racketeering and demanding compensation for recalled children’s allergy and cold medicines—you remember—the recall that kept going and going—first on April 30th concerning over 40 different types of kiddies cold meds, and then again in June—’oops—we maybe should have recalled these also…’ and once more for good measure in July.

But it’s not the recall that’s the problem apparently, it’s the fact that J&J’s McNeil Consumer Healthcare and McNeil-PPC had offered consumers coupons for refunds of the recalled products, which consumers have rejected, according to the suit.

According to a report on Bloomberg’s Businessweek, the complaint states the coupons are worthless because McNeil has stopped making the medicines and “wrongly assumes that all consumers will want to purchase the company’s children’s products at some uncertain future date.”

So, the suits seek to proceed on behalf of plaintiffs’ groups for residents of Illinois, Texas and Florida, as well as consumers in the U.S. and Canada, who have bought the drugs since December 2008.

Sweating the Glass Ceiling? 24-hour Fitness also got hit with a class action this week brought by its employees over allegations of discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin and gender.

Apparently this very large chain of fitness facilities—as in 400 fitness centers, Continue reading “Week Adjourned: 7.17.10”

Week Adjourned: 7.9.10

Top Class Actions

And the Winner is… It’s nice to know that in these tumultuous times wracked with financial uncertainty that some things remain constant. That we can rely on our institutions to proudly defend their position as looking out for our best interests, when in fact they are looking out for their own. Business as usual. As usual.

This week, the Business as Usual unofficial award goes to City National Bank of Charleston WV. They are facing a class action lawsuit based on allegations that they manipulate debit card transactions so as to maximize overdraft fees.

Now, I realize that this practice is hardly original practice, but it’s reassuring to see that smaller institutions are taking up the larger banks business strategies, following their lead so-to-speak. After all, shareholders may benefit.

So, I’m going to assume that the fellow who filed the lawsuit is not a shareholder. Correct me if I’m wrong. Here’s his beef:

“The plaintiff alleges, among other things, that City National: (a) engages in a systematic policy of re-ordering debit card transactions from highest dollar amount to lowest dollar Continue reading “Week Adjourned: 7.9.10”

Week Adjourned: 7.2.10

Top Class Actions

Remember Zicam? The homeopathic cold remedy that claims to “knock out sinus congestion fast.” Well, speaking of knock-outs—the makers of Zicam got hit with a class action lawsuit this week, alleging injuries including loss of sense of smell and diminished sense of taste as a result of using Zicam Cold Remedy Gel.  

Russell Surette, the lead plaintiff, claims use of the product caused him diminishment of the senses of smell and taste and economic damage in the amount of the purchase price paid for the product. And it seems he’s not the only one. LawyersAndSettlements.com has interviewed a number of Zicam-users who have suffered similar adverse effects after using these products.  

In fact, the US Food and Drug Administration has issued a warning to consumers to stop using three Zicam Cold Remedy Products after the products were linked to the loss of the sense of smell (anosmia). The FDA made the announcement after receiving more than 130 reports of anosmia linked to the products. 

Russell and the class are seeking compensation and other for permanent loss of the sense of smell and diminishment in his sense of taste, pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life and recovery of the price paid for the product. 

Top Settlements 

Call Center Called on the Carpet? I gave my head a shake when I read this one. A company based in Bakersfield, CA—Spherion Pacific Workforce—settled a wages and overtime class action brought Continue reading “Week Adjourned: 7.2.10”

Week Adjourned: 6.26.10

Top Class Actions

Anadarko Petroleum. Who? Just know, if you don’t own shares in Anadarko Petroleum breathe easy. If you do own shares, you better strap yourself in.  A shareholder lawsuit seeking class action status was filed against the petroleum company this week, on behalf of anyone who purchased company common stock of between June 12, 2009 and June 9, 2010, inclusive—otherwise known as the “Class Period”. 

Anadarko, it seems, owns 25 percent of the Macondo/Deepwater Horizon well—you know—the gusher currently leaking millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico with ramifications so far reaching it’s impossible to get your head around the scope of the disaster.

The suit alleges that Anadarko and certain of its officers, failed to disclose, “among other things:

1)    that there was no effective Exploration and Oil Spill Response Plan for Macondo/Deepwater Horizon;

2)    that BP implemented drilling procedures solely to cut costs at the expense of safety;

3)    that the Company lacked adequate systems of internal, operational or financial controls to maintain adequate insurance reserves or to meet the known or foreseeable risks associated with its deepwater drilling liabilities; and

4)    that defendants lacked any reasonable basis to claim that Anadarko was operating according to plan, or that Anadarko could achieve guidance sponsored and/or endorsed by defendants.”

And the allegations go on, mentioning false and misleading statements that were issued concerning the amount of the clean-up, and the company’s liability etc, all which culminated in massive drops in share prices. So it’s off to court they go. 

Only one problem, if the company is stripped of millions of dollars in lawsuits, and this goes for BP as well, who’s going to pay for the clean-up, and all the other costs we haven’t even begun to see yet?

And it’s on from Big Oil to Big Banks…those leading lights of the international Continue reading “Week Adjourned: 6.26.10”