HP’s motion to dismiss a fraud case over defective track pads in its Omen laptop computers is "the latest step in its campaign to sweep consumer complaints about the Defect under the rug,” said plaintiffs Justin Davis and Gary Davis’ response (docket 4:23-cv-02114) Tuesday to HP’s June motion to dismiss (see 2307030008) in U.S. District Court for Northern California in Oakland.
Rankin County, Mississippi, which reached a compromise with Verizon last week over its denial of the carrier’s application to build and operate a cell tower (see 2307130004, is being sued by AT&T for refusing its payment demands for relocating a cell tower to accommodate a county project, said a Monday complaint (docket 3:23-cv-00457) in U.S. District Court for Southern Mississippi in Jackson.
A group of commercial fishing companies is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to do away with the Chevron doctrine, in a brief filed Monday in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo. Many observers consider SCOTUS likely to eliminate or severely limit Chevron deference (see 2306290063). The lead lawyer on the brief (docket 22-451) is Paul Clement, U.S. solicitor general under George W. Bush.
The FTC will appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Tuesday’s decision by the U.S. District Court for Northern California in San Francisco to deny the agency’s motion for a preliminary injunction to block Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard buy from proceeding to its completion, said the agency’s notice of appeal Wednesday (docket 3:23-cv-02880). The appeal was docketed Thursday as case number 23-15992.
A March data breach at PharMerica led to “concrete injuries” for some 5.8 million customers, alleges a Tuesday privacy class action (docket 3:23-cv-00353) against the pharmacy services company in U.S. District Court for Western Kentucky in Louisville. Plaintiff Frank Raney of Port Bolivar, Texas, alleges the data breach at PharMerica resulted in his personally identifiable information (PII) being disseminated on the dark web; an increase in spam calls, texts and emails; lost or diminished value of his PII; lost opportunity costs and time from attempting to mitigate consequences of the breach; invasion of privacy; loss of benefit of bargain; and continued risk to his PII, which “remains unencrypted and available for unauthorized third parties to access and abuse.” Raney’s PII “remains backed up” in PharMerica’s possession and is subject to further unauthorized disclosures as long as the company fails to undertake appropriate and adequate measures to protect it, alleges the complaint. An undated and untitled notification letter is listed on the Maine attorney general’s website with May 12 and June 8 consumer notification dates. The letter informs unspecified recipients that their PII “may have been obtained” from their systems due to “suspicious activity” on PharMerica’s computer network. On March 21, the company determined that the data contained “your name, address, date of birth, Social Security number, medications and health insurance information.” PharMerica’s offer of 12 months of identity monitoring services “is wholly inadequate” to compensate Raney and class members who face “multiple years of ongoing identity theft, medical and financial fraud” as a result of the breach, said the complaint. The lawsuit claims negligence, breach of implied contract and fiduciary duty, and unjust enrichment. Plaintiff seeks an order enjoining PharMerica from engaging in wrongful conduct. He also seeks equitable relief requiring the company to use appropriate methods for data collection, encryption and safety; to establish a data protection program; restitution and disgorgement of revenue wrongfully gained; 10 years of credit monitoring services for plaintiffs and the class; awards of actual, compensatory, statutory and punitive damages; and attorneys’ fees and costs.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Chad Bryan for Middle Alabama in Montgomery recommends plaintiff Lee Cunningham’s Telephone Consumer Protection Act claims against Southern Power be dismissed or that the utility’s motion for summary judgment be granted, said his signed report Friday (docket 2:22-cv-00621). The utility contends Cunningham has no basis for believing, and in fact knows, that Southern Power isn’t the party that allegedly called him, in violation of the TCPA (see 2304280041). He’s also well aware his residential electrical service is with Alabama Power, not Southern Power, and it was Alabama Power that allegedly called him, it said. When a plaintiff is permitted to proceed in forma pauperis without prepayment of fees or security, as Cunningham was, the court is charged with “an affirmative duty” to dismiss the action if it’s determined to be frivolous, said Bryan’s report. Bryan is “of the view” that Cunningham’s “naked allegations” against Southern Power are “clearly baseless” and subject to “threshold dismissal,” it said. This isn’t an instance “where the court is required to weigh competing facts or make a credibility determination,” it said. Cunningham “has offered no facts to demonstrate that a claim lies against Southern Power,” it said.
With a week to spare before the July 18 termination date of Microsoft’s proposed Activision Blizzard buy, U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley for Northern California in San Francisco denied the FTC's motion for a preliminary injunction, ruling in a 53-page opinion Tuesday (docket 23-cv-02880) that the FTC didn't make a strong enough case to block the transaction (see 2307110031).
The Onix Group failed to secure and safeguard about 320,000 individuals’ personally identifiable information (PII) and personal health information (PHI) during a March data breach in its healthcare business, said plaintiffs Thomas Jones and Leah Simione in a class action (docket 2:23-cv-02621) Friday in U.S. District Court for Eastern Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. It's the fourth fraud complaint filed against Onix in less than a month.
U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley for Northern California in San Francisco denied the FTC’s motion for a preliminary injunction to block Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard buy from being consummated, said her signed opinion Tuesday (docket 3:23-cv-02880). The FTC hasn’t shown that it’s likely to succeed on its assertion that Microsoft/Activision “will probably pull” Call of Duty from Sony PlayStation, or that its ownership of Activision content “will substantially lessen competition in the video game library subscription and cloud gaming markets,” said Corley’s heavily redacted opinion.
Core Communications’ toll-free access charges are “improper” because Core doesn’t actually “perform the functions that are required” to bill those charges under its own tariff policies and applicable FCC rules and regulations, said AT&T’s June 30 memorandum (docket 2:21-cv-02771) in U.S. District Court for Eastern Pennsylvania in Philadelphia in support of its motion for summary judgment. Core is seeking to recover $11.4 million in unpaid access services charges from AT&T, which refused to pay, claiming nearly 100% of the calls that CoreTel affiliates in Delaware, New Jersey, Virginia and West Virginia connected were fraudulent (see 2212280001).