289 results for 'court:"USDC Northern District of California"'.
J. White allows some securities claims to survive against HP from investors who say the company was not fully transparent on the health of its supplies-centric business arm, which largely revolves around the selling of ink and toner. The company told investors that its supplies business was healthy and that any downward trends were for reasons outside the company's control, but investors say these statements undersold how badly its ink and toner market was suffering. While not all of the company statements are actionable or blatantly misleading, there is just enough on the record to show that investors could have been misled, allowing misrepresentation claims to survive to the next stage.
Court: USDC Northern District of California, Judge: White, Filed On: March 27, 2024, Case #: 4:20cv7835, NOS: Securities/Commodities/Exchange - Other Suits, Categories: Securities
J. Seeborg grants summary judgment on the last remaining claims in a contract dispute between guitarist Craig Chaquico and the band Jefferson Starship over Chaquico's royalties. After several proceedings over the years, the only issues remaining are an accounting claim against the band for financial documents and a counterclaim from the band over royalty cost deductions. The band prevails on both, as a 1991 termination agreement allows the band to deduct costs and expenses from Chaquico's royalties and he has already received all the accounting documents to which he is entitled.
Court: USDC Northern District of California, Judge: Seeborg, Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv4907, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Contract
J. Breyer dismisses claims from X Corp, formerly Twitter, alleging that the nonprofit published data on how much harmful content is on X in order to stop advertisers from working with the platform, which X claims cost it tens of millions in lost ad revenue. X Corp has not shown how the watchdog group is responsible for any alleged lost revenue stemming from the published data and its claims appear to be aimed only at "punishing" the nonprofit for its free speech.
Court: USDC Northern District of California, Judge: Breyer, Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv3836, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Anti-slapp, Privacy, Contract
J. Pitts allows several class action claims to proceed against Meta from consumers who say the social media company collected their personal tax data without permission using tracking tools on a handful of popular tax preparation websites. While several theft and theft-related claims are tossed due to the class not meeting the definition of "customers" under the law, many of their negligence claims survive. There are still several factual disputes over whether consumers were properly warned on the tax filing websites that Meta was using their sites to collect financial data.
Court: USDC Northern District of California, Judge: Pitts, Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: 5:22cv7557, NOS: Other Statutory Actions - Other Suits, Categories: Privacy, Class Action
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J. Breyer dismisses all claims from a resident who says the housing commission wrongfully denied her call for help in purchasing a home under a federal housing program that lets local housing groups help low-income families with buying a home. The program allows for "vast discretion" on what benefits are offered to whom, and there is no evidence the local housing commission violated that discretion. In fact, the commission has already helped the resident by offering her rental assistance.
Court: USDC Northern District of California, Judge: Breyer, Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv6827, NOS: Housing/Accommodations - Civil Rights, Categories: Ada / Rehabilitation Act, Housing
J. Gilliam allows claims to proceed against LinkedIn from users who say the company uses its control over the professional networking market to force users to spend more on its "LinkedIn Premium Career" services. There is enough on the record at this stage to properly allege that the company has almost “no competitive check" against what kind of prices it can set for its premium services. As a result, the court is also lifting a previously issued stay on discovery so that the case can proceed to the next stage.
Court: USDC Northern District of California, Judge: Gilliam, Filed On: March 21, 2024, Case #: 4:22cv237, NOS: Antitrust - Other Suits, Categories: Antitrust, Discovery
J. Gilliam dismisses privacy claims against Western Union Financial Services and a handful of other financial service companies over allegations that the companies have turned over private financial records to the Department of Homeland Security without permission. Those bringing the suit have not shown they are "customers" of any of the companies, and as a result, largely lack standing to continue their claims or request relief. Only a single unfair competition claim is allowed to continue.
Court: USDC Northern District of California, Judge: Gilliam, Filed On: March 21, 2024, Case #: 4:22cv7996, NOS: Other Statutory Actions - Other Suits, Categories: Unfair Competition, Privacy, Class Action
J. Davila dismisses all securities claims against Apple from shareholders who claim the company, starting as far back as 2004, entered into illegal agreements with other companies to not solicit each other's employees. A prior order from an appeals court in 2021 bars all of the current claims under the issue preclusion doctrine, leaving the claims dismissed with prejudice.
Court: USDC Northern District of California, Judge: Davila, Filed On: March 18, 2024, Case #: 5:14cv3634, NOS: Stockholders’ Suits - Contract, Categories: Securities
J. Gilliam dismisses securities claims against Ardelyx from investors who say the company didn't disclose that its proposed new treatments for hyperphosphatemia were unlikely to get approval from the FDA. A review of all the documents and press statements put out by the company shows it was very open with investors about the uphill battle with its new treatments, even going so far as to tell investors that its clinical data could be too lackluster for the FDA to issue approval. As a result, there are no false statements or misrepresentations strong enough to support securities claims.
Court: USDC Northern District of California, Judge: Gilliam, Filed On: March 18, 2024, Case #: 4:21cv5868, NOS: Securities/Commodities/Exchange - Other Suits, Categories: Securities
J. Chen allows some wrongful death claims to continue against an ambulance company and officials from Richmond in a dispute stemming from the death of a man who was injected with a chemical restraint after he was arrested. There is conflicting evidence on the record as to whether decedent was complying with commands when he was injected with the restraint, so several of the claims can proceed on the grounds that the injection may have been unnecessary and given without consent.
Court: USDC Northern District of California, Judge: Chen, Filed On: March 15, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv2130, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Wrongful Death
J. Chhabria allows some narrow negligence and product liability claims to proceed against Apple in a complaint alleging that its AirTag products do not have enough safeguards against stalkers. A handful of stalking victims have properly alleged at this early stage that when they were being stalked by people using AirTags, problems with the AirTags' safety features led to their injuries. Apple's argument that California law does not require the company to be more proactive in protecting users from stalkers can be made at a later stage.
Court: USDC Northern District of California, Judge: Chhabria, Filed On: March 15, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv7668, NOS: Other Statutory Actions - Other Suits, Categories: Privacy, Product Liability
J. grants final approval to a $45 million settlement between consumers and Altria Group in a class action over the marketing and sales of JUUL products, which consist of electronic cigarettes and nicotine packs, to minors. This settlement follows a settlement with JUUL Labs for $255 million. Although attorney fees have not yet been decided, “the amounts requested do not undermine the court’s conclusions that the Altria class settlement is as a whole fair and reasonable.”
Court: USDC Northern District of California, Judge: Orrick, Filed On: March 14, 2024, Case #: 3:19md2913, NOS: Personal Injury - Product Liability - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Settlements, Product Liability, Class Action
J. Gilliam allows a single securities claim to survive against Tricida, a pharmaceutical company, over its proposed kidney disease drug Veverimer. Investors claim that the company misrepresented how well the drug was doing during clinical trials and didn't tell them soon enough that it was unlikely to get FDA approval, but the investors have not shown how the company's press statements and earnings calls were deliberately misleading. The only claim that survives is one based on the company's decision to cancel an advisory meeting under the guise of Covid-19 issues, when it appears to have been canceled because of word from the FDA that the drug's clinical trials were having major issues.
Court: USDC Northern District of California, Judge: Gilliam, Filed On: March 11, 2024, Case #: 4:21cv76, NOS: Securities/Commodities/Exchange - Other Suits, Categories: Securities
J. Gilliam allows some claims to proceed against Humboldt County and California's Social Services Department in a dispute over tribal foster care benefits. A former tribal youth and her tribe, the Bear River Band of Rohnerville Rancheria Tribe, claim that they have been denied certain extended foster care benefits that are intended to help youth transition out of foster care. The former youth and her tribe have a potentially tricky legal road ahead, as they have no standing to seek injunctive relief and their complaint leans too strongly on conclusory claims, but some damage and due process claims may proceed to the summary judgment stage to determine if extended foster care benefits have been improperly allocated.
Court: USDC Northern District of California, Judge: Gilliam, Filed On: March 11, 2024, Case #: 4:23cv1809, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Native Americans
J. Chhabria grants final approval of a $6 million settlement that will bring an end to a class action against Tesla from consumers who say they were forced to pay more to maintain their solar roof products after they were installed. The settlement is fair, as each class member's recovery will be determined pro rata in proportion to their individual losses at issue. Class counsel is entitled to $1.5 million in fees, equivalent to 24.7% of the settlement fund.
Court: USDC Northern District of California, Judge: Chhabria, Filed On: March 8, 2024, Case #: 3:21cv3577, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Settlements, Class Action, Contract
J. Chen dismisses employment claims against Darden Restaurants, the parent company of several restaurant chains, that allege the company used restrictive wage and tipping policies for their employees that amounted to race and gender discrimination. One Fair Wage took specific issue with Darden's policy of requiring managers in each state to pay their tipped employees the lowest but still legal wage possible. After a series of appeals and remanding orders, the court is reinstating its initial decision that One Fair Wage lacks statutory standing to sue a company that is not its employer for workplace discrimination.
Court: USDC Northern District of California, Judge: Chen, Filed On: March 5, 2024, Case #: 3:21cv2695, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment, Employment Discrimination
J. Illston allows class privacy claims to proceed against Meta from a class of Illinois consumers who say Meta took their voiceprints without permission. California and Illinois law conflict with each other somewhat in terms of what voiceprint privacy measures are protected, but there are enough allegations at this stage that Meta is using its Messenger app, Facebook or other third parties to collect personal information from consumers without their knowledge or consent. Claims that Meta does not properly protect their private data once collected and leaves the data open to cyber-attacks are tossed, however, because the class has not put forward any evidence that ties to how Meta stores their biometric information, ill-gotten or otherwise.
Court: USDC Northern District of California, Judge: Illston, Filed On: February 27, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv4181, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Privacy, Class Action
J. Chen finds in partial favor of California on its challenge to new regulations from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives regarding ghost guns. The ATF issued a rule in 2022 that provisions from the Gun Control Act apply to some of the parts used to build ghost guns and expanded the definitions of frames and receivers, but California claims the feds were still not classifying many products known to be used as gun receivers and frames as firearms themselves. The AFT acted arbitrarily when it failed to consider how easily available certain parts can be outside of distributors and sellers, so the rules governing that issue are vacated. It is noted, however, that with that narrow issue decided, the vast majority of ATF's regulations on ghost guns are untouched by the ruling.
Court: USDC Northern District of California, Judge: Chen, Filed On: February 26, 2024, Case #: 3:20cv6761, NOS: Administrative Procedure Act/Review or Appeal of Agency Decision - Other Suits, Categories: Civil Rights, Firearms
J. Freeman denies a motion from Vidul Prakash, former CFO of a "Smart Window" company called View, to toss a complaint filed against him by the SEC. The SEC claims that the former CFO hid $28 million of warranty liabilities from investors and tried to downplay how much money the company owed to replace defective windows. The SEC has shown he had a responsibility to investors as CFO to ensure company liabilities were being reported correctly, a responsibility he did not honor.
Court: USDC Northern District of California, Judge: Freeman, Filed On: February 26, 2024, Case #: 5:23cv3300, NOS: Securities/Commodities/Exchange - Other Suits, Categories: Fraud, Securities
J. Martinez-Olguin allows some civil rights claims to continue against the City of Antioch regarding the death of Angelo Quinto, who died after being placed in a prone restraint hold by police during a domestic dispute call. Officials are shielded by immunity regarding some of the denial of medical care claims, but the bulk of the wrongful death claims proceed because conflicting testimony and other uncertain details on the record make it unclear if the officers' use of force was justified.
Court: USDC Northern District of California, Judge: Martinez-Olguin, Filed On: February 25, 2024, Case #: 3:21cv6094, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Immunity, Police Misconduct
J. Beeler grants the USDA's motion to dismiss claims from a group of nonprofits regarding rules to chicken-slaughter line speeds allowed at certain slaughterhouses. The nonprofits challenged new waiver rules laid out in 2018 that could allow for chickens to be slaughtered at 175 chickens per minute, but since then, the USDA has had a change of leadership and those waiver rules were set aside. Given the changed landscape and the fact the waivers are not in place anymore, the groups lack standing to continue their suit.
Court: USDC Northern District of California, Judge: Beeler, Filed On: February 22, 2024, Case #: 3:20cv1395, NOS: Administrative Procedure Act/Review or Appeal of Agency Decision - Other Suits, Categories: Administrative Law, Agency
J. Gilliam Jr. allows a few narrow securities claims to proceed against C3, an AI software company, and Baker Hughes, an oil company, from investors who say the two companies entered into a software services agreement with each other without telling investors about certain sales issues or that it would result in a restructuring of C3's own salesforce. The bulk of the claims fail for not showing any proof of what exactly investors lost or what securities laws were violated during the software agreement. The only claims that proceed are those premised on the claim that investors were not fully informed on how much of Baker Hughes' salesforce was going to be involved in selling C3's software.
Court: USDC Northern District of California, Judge: Gilliam Jr. , Filed On: February 22, 2024, Case #: 4:22cv1413, NOS: Securities/Commodities/Exchange - Other Suits, Categories: Securities
J. Tigar allows some claims to move forward against Telsa from car owners who say the company released software updates to reduce the battery life of Model S and X Tesla vehicles. The unfair competition claims fail for not showing how Tesla plans to continue these practices in the future or that Tesla broke through security measures to get its updates downloaded. The remaining claims survive because the consumers plausibly allege that Tesla intentionally released a series of software updates that resulted in immediate battery degradation.
Court: USDC Northern District of California, Judge: Tigar, Filed On: February 20, 2024, Case #: 4:23cv2321, NOS: Other Statutory Actions - Other Suits, Categories: Vehicle, Unfair Competition, Class Action
J. Martinez-Olguin allows some class claims to continue against Simpson Imports from consumers who say the company sells canned tomatoes that are labeled as being higher-end San Marzano tomatoes, when they are actually standard tomatoes. The products are sold with "SMT" on the label that the company claims stands for San Merican tomato, and while that interpretation may hold up later in court, at this early stage it is plausible that consumers are being duped into believing that the label is referring to the more expensive San Marzano.
Court: USDC Northern District of California, Judge: Martinez-Olguin, Filed On: February 20, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv2214, NOS: Other Fraud - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: Consumer Law, Class Action, False Advertising