Federal Court News
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Federal law shields Grindr from lawsuit over underaged rapes arranged on app, appeals court says
A federal appeals panel says Section 230 - a legal provision protecting social media companies from many lawsuits - protects gay dating and sex hookup app Grindr from a lawsuit from a man who claims he was raped four times by men using the app when he was 15, because Grindr didn't verify his age
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Changes from 2023 didn't take Roundup plaintiffs' 'shaky' causation experts
SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) - Experts once called "shaky" by the federal judge hearing thousands of Roundup cases can continue to testify, as the latest wave of plaintiffs make their way through a multidistrict litigation proceeding.
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Judge in Meta class-action lawsuit: Expert's 'guesswork' must be excluded
A federal judge has rejected the certification of a class-action lawsuit against Facebook’s parent company that challenged how Meta uses people’s personal data, calling the arguments of the plaintiffs’ expert witness unreliable and inadmissible.
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Huntington Beach asks courts to end California 'Sanctuary State' law, let cops deal with criminal illegal immigrants
The lawsuit asserts California's so-called "Sanctuary State" law has not only harmed California residents and their communities, but has placed the city in the position of having to choose between obeying state or federal laws. The lawsuit asserts the state law violates the U.S. Constitution's federal supremacy clause
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Ex-law firm CFO, ex-president of LGBTQ chamber of commerce pleads guilty to embezzling $1.3M
Tony Archuleta-Perkins who served as chief financial officer at The Veen Firm and served as president of the Golden Gate Business Association pleaded guilty to bank fraud and money laundering, according to federal prosecutors, who said he admitted to stealing at least $1.3 million from law firms for which he worked from 2018-2023
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Judge gives win to Meta in court fight over use of Pegasus spyware to monitor Whatsapp users
A federal judge found Israel-based NSO liable for installing its Pegasus spyware program to intercept messages sent by about 1,400 users of Meta's Whatsapp messaging platform. The judge said the parties will face a trial over how much in damages NSO may need to pay to resolve the case
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Retirement plan contributions can be excluded from Chapt 13 income: Appeals panel
A federal appeals court in San Francisco has ruled that contributions to a qualified retirement plan through an employer can be excluded from "disposable income" reported by people seeking to file Chapter 13 bankruptcy
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Grand Canyon University wins appeal over feds' efforts to block return to nonprofit status
One of the country's largest Christian colleges and universities has said it has been the target of a "coordinated" campaign by federal agencies, particularly under President Biden. Federal appeals court judges said the Education Department overreached its authority under the law in denying GCU's application for nonprofit status
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SCOTUS ends Uber's challenge to the lingering effects of AB5, won't hear appeal
The U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition to overturn an appeals court's decision that California lawmakers didn't violate the constitutional rights of Uber, Postmates and similar companies by targeting them with AB5, a labor law that would have exposed the companies to massive liability over the employment classification of drivers
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Appeals court: ADA doesn't nix Montana state law blocking 'vax discrimination'
The federal appeals judges said a Montana federal judge overreached in declaring that the Americans with Disabilities Act all but required health care organizations to require workers to be vaccinated against Covid and other communicable diseases to protect 'immunocompromised disabled persons'
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Judge: San Francisco sheriff violating order against warrantless searches on pretrial detainees
Miyamoto pauses the program, but defends heightened standards as essential to public safety
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Appeals panel: 2020 oil price deal brokered by Trump with Saudis, Russia off limits to court review
A federal appeals panel agreed with oil companies that it needed to shut down a lawsuit accusing energy companies of allegedly colluding to persuade former President Trump to strike an oil production deal with Russia and OPEC to boost the price of oil and gasoline in 2020
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'Confusing and vague': Secret-witness strategy doesn't help class action lawyers suing Atlassian
SAN FRANCISCO - Class action lawyers who hoped they'd found a savior for their case against a software company have been rebuffed by a federal judge who found his testimony confusing and inconsistent.
Federal Court
Appeals panel resurrects class action accusing Bank of America of overcharging ATM fees
Customers say out-of-network machines trigger $5 fee for every balance inquiry instead of $2.50
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Ex-Pleasanton cop can't sue city, police chief for firing him after he attended 'Stop the Steal' J6 rally
A federal judge said it is enough the city can claim they fired the officer for policy violations, not for political speech. The officer has appealed the ruling
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Falconers can continue suing California over permit requiring them to submit to warrantless inspections
A federal appeals panel says a lower court judge was wrong to toss a lawsuit from a group of falconers accusing the state of violating the Fourth Amendment protections against illegal property searches by requiring falconers to agree to "unannounced warrantless inspections" as a condition of their state license
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Oregon Christian broadcaster says new FCC diversity reporting rules illegally designed to 'shame'
The Dove Media, which operates three dozen radio and TV stations, has asked the Ninth Circuit appeals court to toss out a resurrected Federal Communications Commission rule, saying the FCC overreached and merely seeks to shame broadcasters into complying with federal race- and sex-based hiring goals
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Stitch Fix class action needs fixing, judge tells Bernstein Litowitz
Class action lawyers who sued clothing company Stitch Fix over a drop in its stock face a giant hurdle if they want to keep their case alive.
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GOP states: California climate-change lawsuit will jack up energy costs, threatens America's 'basic way of life'
Attorneys general from 19 Republican-led states have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to step in and block California and other Democrat-dominated states from using lawsuits against oil and gas companies to essentially sidestep the federal process and set nationwide energy and climate policies
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Appeals court: Federal law that doesn't allow food labeling suits doesn't stop class actions under identical CA state law
The ruling will allow a class action lawsuit to proceed vs baby food maker Sprout Foods under California's Sherman Law, even though the state law merely copies a federal food labeling law that doesn't allow such class actions. The company and a dissenting judge said it amounts to a sidestep of Congress