Jacqueline Matthews

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Sixth Circuit Requires Actual Economic Injury for Price Comparison Class Actions

By Jacqueline Matthews on August 21, 2017 Posted in Advertising Class Action, Consumer Class Action

Earlier this week, the Sixth Circuit flatly rejected a bid by a consumer to recover damages allegedly caused by Wish.com’s advertised price comparisons (opinion available here). The online marketplace uses struck-through manufacturers’ suggested retail prices next to products’ purchase prices, which plaintiff Gerboc alleged are misleading and caused him injury when he purchased a pair … Continue Reading

‘Excessive’ Shipping Fees May Be Next Target of Consumer Class Actions

By Jacqueline Matthews and Rand L. McClellan on May 30, 2017 Posted in Consumer Class Action

Retailers offering online, telephone or catalog purchases may want to review the shipping fees charged to their customers in the wake of several class actions recently filed in California. Multiple retailers have been hit with consumer class actions challenging their shipping fees as exceeding the actual shipping costs incurred by retailers in fulfilling customer orders. … Continue Reading

Sanctions Imposed on Five Attorneys for Class Settlement Forum Shopping

By Jacqueline Matthews on August 15, 2016 Posted in Injunctions

Five Arkansas attorneys have been formally reprimanded by a federal judge in the Western District of Arkansas after stipulating to dismissal “for the purposes of seeking a more favorable forum and avoiding an adverse decision” in connection with the approval of a class settlement. The court had initially considered harsher injunctive sanctions, including requiring the … Continue Reading

Circuits Clash Over Ascertainability Standard

By Jacqueline Matthews on April 6, 2016 Posted in Class Certification

The Third and Seventh circuits have reached a sharp divide during the past year over the meaning of the implied “ascertainability” prerequisite to class certification. The Third Circuit affirmed a narrow version of ascertainability in Byrd v. Aaron’s Inc., 784 F.3d 154, 168 (3d Cir. 2015), but several months later the Seventh Circuit refused the … Continue Reading

Price Comparison Class Actions Against Retailers Heat up in New York

By Jacqueline Matthews on March 17, 2016 Posted in Class Action Trends, Consumer Class Action

The common retail practice of comparing an item’s current price with a higher “original,” “regular,” or “MSRP” price has recently come under increasing fire from consumers, who say the higher comparison price is often fictitious and misleads shoppers into believing they are getting a better bargain than they really are. Over the past two and … Continue Reading

Supreme Court Nixes Defendants’ Attempts to Get Rid of Class Actions by Making “Pickoff” Offers to Settle Named Plaintiffs’ Individual Claims

By Jacqueline Matthews on March 11, 2016 Posted in TCPA

Editor’s Note: Originally published by the Columbus Chamber of Commerce, this article appeared on their website March 10 2016. It is republished to BakerHostetler’s Class Action Lawsuit Defense blog with their permission. The Supreme Court recently held that a defendant cannot get rid of a class action by merely offering to settle with the named plaintiff on … Continue Reading

Supreme Court Holds Unaccepted Offers for Full Relief Do Not Moot Class Actions

By Rand L. McClellan and Jacqueline Matthews on January 21, 2016 Posted in TCPA

Relying on “basic principles of contract law,” the Supreme Court on Wednesday held that an unaccepted settlement offer and offer of judgment under Rule 68 are “legal nullit[ies]” that have no effect on whether a live controversy remains between the parties. Campbell-Ewald Co. v. Gomez, No. 14-857. The upshot of the Court’s decision is that … Continue Reading

JCPenney Advertising Class Settlement Calls for $50 Million Payment for a California-Only Class

By Rand L. McClellan and Jacqueline Matthews on November 12, 2015 Posted in Class Action Trends, Class Certification

Retailers have been under siege, particularly in California, by putative class actions involving allegations of “false or misleading” advertising practices. Generally, the crux of the allegations is that retailers are inducing customers to make purchases by overstating or fabricating the amount that a customer will save by purchasing an item. In the past two years, … Continue Reading

Class Certification of California Price Advertisement Case Gives Cause for Concern

By Rodger Eckelberry, Jacqueline Matthews and Rand L. McClellan on June 30, 2015 Posted in Class Certification

Spann v. JCPenney and People of California v. Overstock.com By Rodger L. Eckelberry, Rand L. McClellan, and Jacqueline K. Matthews June 30, 2015 A recent class certification decision in California involving challenges to a retailer’s price comparison advertisements should prompt retailers to carefully evaluate their sale advertising practices. Whether comparing to “regular” or previous prices, or to the sale … Continue Reading

Third Circuit Clarifies Standard for Ascertainability

By Jacqueline Matthews on May 12, 2015 Posted in Class Certification

In a recent ruling vacating denial of class certification, the Third Circuit provided guidance on the scope of the implied “ascertainability” requirement under Rule 23. Byrd v. Aaron’s, Inc., 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 6190 (3d Cir. April 16, 2015) involved a putative class action against Aaron’s, which leases, among other things, laptop computers to consumers. … Continue Reading