Hospitals charge a standard evaluation and management services fee (“EMS”) for patients seen in the emergency room, in one of five amounts, depending upon the severity of the visit. This EMS fee is listed in the hospital’s...more
2/3/2025
/ California ,
Class Action ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Disclosure ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
EMTALA ,
Healthcare ,
Hospitals ,
Management Fees ,
Pricing ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Unfair Competition Law (UCL)
In recent years, website operators have increasingly used chatbots to improve customer engagement and provide customer support. In the past several months, however, the plaintiffs’ bar has expressed concerns about the privacy...more
Arbitration clauses with class action waivers remain one of the most effective lines of defense against consumer class actions. They are also one of the most challenged. As we have discussed in prior posts, including here,...more
In prior posts..., we raised questions that companies may want to ask when evaluating their arbitration clauses and making changes to them. In this third installment, we look at what companies should be doing to ensure that...more
In a prior post , we highlighted some questions that companies may want to ask when evaluating whether their arbitration clauses are enforceable. If changes need to be made to those clauses, then companies should consider...more
Arbitration clauses with class action waivers remain one of the most effective tools that consumer-facing companies can employ to fend off consumer class action litigation. Yet many companies stumble both in getting their...more
In a recent decision, the California Court of Appeal reaffirmed and clarified how the “reasonable consumer” standard must be applied at the pleadings stage to mislabeling claims. In simplest terms, if the packaging makes a...more
9/13/2018
/ Appeals ,
Breach of Warranty ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Consumers Legal Remedies Act ,
Deceptively Misdescriptive ,
Dietary Supplements ,
False Advertising ,
Labeling ,
Pleadings ,
Product Packaging ,
Reversal ,
Unfair Competition Law (UCL)
Over the past two years, class actions have been filed against nearly every major retailer challenging various sales and pricing practices. Many of these have focused on outlet stores (sometimes called “factory” stores)....more
The internet continues to expand into every aspect of our lives. With it, many companies have collected, tracked, and used an enormous amount of data. All of this has given rise to class action lawsuits challenging the...more
9/7/2017
/ Class Action ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Cy Pres Funds ,
FRCP 23(b)(3) ,
Google ,
Internet ,
Privacy Concerns ,
Search Engines ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Web Browsers ,
Websites
The U.S. Supreme Court has closed a loophole that class action plaintiffs in the Ninth Circuit had been exploiting to obtain immediate appellate review of a district court’s denial of class certification. The decision –...more
Covered entities have a long list of laws and regulations governing their conduct, including their communications with patients, customers, and members. Specifically, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act...more
1/19/2017
/ Auto-Dialed Calls ,
Blue Shield ,
Class Action ,
Covered Entities ,
Customer Information ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Summary Judgment ,
TCPA ,
Telecommunications ,
Telemarketing
Plaintiffs across the country have continued to file class actions against companies of all stripe for violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”), often for communications far afield from the classic...more
1/19/2017
/ Auto-Dialed Calls ,
Blue Shield ,
Class Action ,
Covered Entities ,
Customer Information ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
TCPA ,
Telecommunications ,
Telemarketing
On May 11, 2015, in an opinion written by Judge Posner, the Seventh Circuit reversed an order denying Sprint’s motion to compel arbitration in a class action allegation violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act...more
Back in February, the California Court of Appeal in Hataishi v. First American Home Buyers Protection Corp., 223 Cal. App. 4th 1454 (Feb. 21, 2014), dealt a significant blow to call recording class actions across California. ...more
In the past four years, droves of call recording class actions have been filed in state and federal courts across California. The gist of each is that a company violates the law when its customer service department records...more