Class Action News 13th August 2015

Govt files class action suit against Nestle on behalf ofMaggi consumers for Rs. 640 crores

The Department of Consumer Affairs, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution has in apress release informed that it has filed a complaint under section 12(1)(d) of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 in the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) against ‘Nestle India Ltd.’

The Department has filed the case claiming that Nestle is liable to pay a sum of Rs. 284.55 crores (Rs 2,845.50 million) and punitive damages amounting to Rs. 355.40 crores (Rs 3,554.07 million) on account of the gross negligence, apathy and callousness on its part. Thus a total amount of of Rs. 639. 96 crores (Rs 6,399.57 million) has been demanded from Nestle.

The Department says that it has filed this class action suit on behalf of the large number of consumers of Maggi in the country on grounds of unfair trade practices, sale of defective goods and sale of Maggi Oats Noodles to the public without product approval. As per TOI, after discussing it for weeks, consumer affairs minister Ram Vilas Paswan had cleared the proposal to file the case on 10 August 2015.

GE RetireesSeek Class Action Status for Lawsuit

A lawsuit against General Electric is being closely watched in boardrooms around America, as the company defends its decision to shut down its retiree health care plan.

In 2012, GE announced to its some of its retirees that they would no longer be part of its GE Medicare Benefits Plan. In 2014, the entire plan was scrapped. Instead, the conglomerate would give them a thousand dollars each year, with which they could purchase coverage through Towers Watson – a private health exchange plan. 

But according to Tom Geoghegan, the attorney for the plaintiffs, earlier in 2012, GE had issued a key promise.

“GE in its summary plan description repeatedly said that it both expected and intended to continue the benefits, as described in those handbooks, indefinitely,” Geoghegan told WNPR. His clients are two former GE workers in Milwaukee, Dennis Rocheleau and Evelyn Kaufman.

Geoghegan said that promise in the handbook, that GE would do its best to continue the plan, is the basis of the suit.

Olsen TwinsRespond to Class Action Lawsuit From 40 Interns

Unpaid internships are no fun, but 40 current and previous interns of "Full House" alumni Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen are now suing the twins' Dualstar Entertainment Group for wage theft. How rude! (Sorry.)

According to USA Today, the class action suit alleges Dualstar should have paid interns minimum wage because they were doing similar jobs as paid employees without receiving any academic or vocational credit. However, the Olsens have now responded to the lawsuit, via a statement from Dualstar's rep Annett Wolf to USA Today:

Vivendisquelches big investor’s $57 million claim in class action

The French media company Vivendi proved Tuesday that it is possible to rebut theinfamous presumption in securities class actions that investors relied on market-distorting corporate misrepresentations. U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin of Manhattan grantedVivendi’s motion for summary judgment against claims by the institutional investor Southeastern Asset Management, or SAM, concluding that the evidence – including a five-hour deposition of the analyst who oversaw SAM’s Vivendi stake – showed SAM did not make investment decisions based on Vivendi’s supposedly fraudulent statements.

That’s quite a win for Vivendi and its lawyers at Weil Gotshal & Manges. Vivendi was found liable to a class of investors back in 2010, after a rare securities class action trial. Last December, Judge Scheindlin entered a partial final judgment against the company, awarding investors about $50 million in damages and interest. But Vivendi retained the right to challenge claims by some big investors. SAM was the biggest of them. It held more than 45 percent of Vivendi’s American Depository Receipts during part of the alleged fraud. If Vivendi had lost summary judgment, it would have been on the hook for $57 million in damages – more than it owes the rest of the investor class.