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Sunday, July 19, 2015

Class Action News 19th July 2015


Former Herbalife distributors who objected to an approved class-action settlement have asked a federal judge in Los Angeles to reconsider her decision.
Herbalife Ltd. last year agreed to reserve US$15 million for distributors and abide by other terms including a number of corporate reforms to settle a class-action lawsuit that alleged the multilevel marketer (MLM) was a pyramid scheme.
Judge Beverly Reid O’Connell concluded in May that the settlement was fair, adequate, and reasonable. But lawyers representing 18 distributors who previously objected to the agreement aren’t done contesting its adequacy. A motion for reconsideration was filed Wednesday, asking the judge to vacate the final judgment and order of dismissal in the case.
Massachusetts lawyer Douglas Brooks argued the notice to the class was inadequate and that the named plaintiffs in the lawsuit didn’t have the right or “standing" to seek injunctive relief because they are no longer active participants in the MLM. And the judge erred by failing to independently evaluate the value of the plaintiffs’ lawsuit, according to Brooks’ 29-page memorandum.

Apple Store employees who sued Apple Inc (AAPL.O) over bag searches at the iPhone maker's 52 brick and mortar outlets in California had their case certified as a class-action by a federal judge on Thursday.
The ruling, from U.S. District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco, is part of a 2013 lawsuit alleging Apple should compensate thousands of store employees for the time taken to search their bags to ensure they did not steal any merchandise.
At least two Apple retail store workers complained directly to Chief Executive Tim Cook that the technology company's policy of checking retail employees' bags as a security precaution was embarrassing and demeaning, according to court filings made public earlier in the case.
Lawsuits certified as class actions allow plaintiffs to sue as a group and generally give them more leverage to negotiate a settlement. Class members in the bag search case include more than 12,000 current and former employees, the ruling said.

A MULTI-MILLION dollar class action has kicked off against the firm overseeing collapsed property lender Wickham Securities, marking the latest lawsuit targeting alleged breaches of trustee duties.
Brisbane-based Wickham lent money to property developers at sky high interest rates, having taken money from investors to pour into real estate. Overseeing Wickham was Sandhurst Trustees, owned by Bendigo and Adelaide Bank.
But Wickham went bust in December 2012, owing at least $28 million. Now Shine Lawyers has filed a lawsuit on behalf of roughly 150 investors, mostly elderly retirees representing about $22 million, alleging Sandhurst fell short of its responsibilities.
“The commencement of proceedings is really the most significant step we can take,” Shine lawyer Jan Saddler said.
Sandhurst, which has previously denied failing to exercise its duties, declined to comment.

SAN DIEGO, Jul 17, 2015 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP announced a $388 million recovery on behalf of a class of investors in nine 2007 residential mortgage-backed securities (MBS) offerings issued by J.P. Morgan – bringing to a successful conclusion one of the last remaining MBS purchaser class actions arising out of the global financial crisis. The settlement represents, on a percentage basis, the largest recovery ever achieved in an MBS purchaser class action.
“We’re pleased with the record-setting recovery for our participants and the class,” stated Ed Smith, Fund Manager for lead plaintiff Laborers Pension Trust Fund for Northern California. “Our lawyers at Robbins Geller were tireless in their efforts, and the result is a significant victory for the class.”
Lead plaintiffs and court-appointed class representatives Laborers Pension Trust Fund for Northern California and Construction Laborers Pension Trust for Southern California played a key role in achieving the remarkable result, said Robbins Geller partner Luke Brooks, one of the lead attorneys on the case. “We couldn’t have achieved such a stellar recovery without the leadership of the Northern and Southern California Laborers Pension Funds,” Brooks said. “These Funds not only stepped forward to protect their participants’ hard earned retirement savings, but equally important they committed themselves to the trial of this action, which allowed us to maximize the recovery for the class.”

A federal judge approved a $60 million settlement for college athletes in a class-action lawsuit filed against the NCAA and video-game maker Electronics Arts.
Steve Berman, a Seattle-based attorney for the plaintiffs confirmed Friday that U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken had approved the settlement during a hearing Thursday. Wilken also ruled against the NCAA in the O'Bannon case, which challenges the NCAA's use of the names, images and likenesses of college athletes. That ruling is being appealed by the NCAA.
The plaintiffs in the case against the NCAA and EA claimed they illegally used college football and basketball players' names and likenesses in video games for years. Players who have appeared in EA's NCAA football and basketball games have until July 31 to make a claim as part of the settlement.
"This landmark decision marks the first time student-athletes will be paid for the likeness or image, and stands as a huge victory in the ongoing fight for student-athletes' rights," Berman said in statement.
Berman said the maximum an individual can claim from the settlement is $7,026.


NEW YORK: TD Bank has agreed to pay US$20 million to settle a class action lawsuit accusing it of aiding a Ponzi scheme that allegedly bilked over a thousand European investors of more than US$223 million, a lawyer for the investors said on Friday.
The preliminary settlement, subject to court approval, resolves accusations that TD Bank, part of Canada's Toronto-Dominion Bank , failed to properly monitor trust accounts that held investors' money and ignored its duty to investigate suspicious activities under U.S. anti-money laundering rules.

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