The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that vaccine manufacturers are shielded against certain types of personal injury lawsuits due to a 1986 law that established a no-fault compensation system for injuries linked to childhood vaccines. The case of Brueswitz v. Wyeth LLC involved a Pennsylvania family that sued drug manufacturer Wyeth, alleging that their daughter…
In the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Judge James V. Selna has issued a preliminary opinion denying Toyota Motor Corporation’s motion to dismiss several key causes of action in 51 lawsuits claiming negligence, design defects, failure to warn and fraudulent concealment by the Japanese automaker. Toyota had argued that the plaintiffs…
We won’t know what the Supreme Court has to say until some time next year, but most attorneys and consumer advocates are breathing a sigh of relief after recent arguments heard by the court. For now it doesn’t appear that the line of questioning by the justices will lead them to prohibit the state of…
Forty-two migrant workers have filed a class action lawsuit against Wal-Mart claiming that Wal-Mart knowingly hired them as undocumented workers through outside contractors and then proceeded to exploit them for the profit of the company. The complaint says Wal-Mart attempted to cut costs, duck federal taxes, and avoid paying health insurance and other benefits required…
A recent study released by the University of California, Davis Olive Center revealed that 69% of imported olive oils and 10% of California olive oils tested were erroneously labeled as “extra virgin olive oil.” The oils that were mislabeled did not meet the International Olive Council (IOC) and US Department of Agriculture’s standards for extra…
Despite an appeal by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has once again denied federal disaster aid to the victims of the San Bruno, California gas line explosion. Thirty-five homes were destroyed and eight people killed when the PG&E gas line exploded in September of this year. FEMA maintains that local resources…
Ralphs and Albertsons supermarkets find themselves on the defensive end of two class action employment lawsuits brought by 9,000 union workers. The worker say they were illegally denied millions of dollars in benefits while on strike in 2003. The cases challenge decisions made by the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board that allowed the grocery stores…
In an unusual ruling, a Missouri judge issued a permanent injunction against the standard “non-compete” clause signed by Individual Taxes Etc. Inc. employees who were hired as temporary workers to prepare seasonal tax returns. Individual Taxes is a franchised subsidiary of New Jersey-based Jackson Hewitt. As a course of the hiring process, Individual Taxes has…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) new guidelines for Olive Oil labeling went into effect on October 24th, 2010. The new standards define grades of olive oil and establish chemical and sensory guidelines for determining each grade, including “extra virgin.” Bottles of olive oil should also now have a “best by” date printed on them…
The 99¢ Only Store was fined this week for illegally selling misbranded toxic products in violation of federal law. The 99¢ Only Store’s violations were discovered in multiple inspections by federal officials in California, Arizona and Nevada between 2004 and 2008. A federal judge ordered the retail chain to pay nearly $410,000 in penalties for…
