This page has a list of lawsuits brought as class actions.
Lawsuit | Subject of lawsuit | Court of decision | Year of decision |
---|---|---|---|
Alperin v. Vatican Bank | conversion, unjust enrichment, restitution, the right to an accounting, human rights violations and violations of international law | U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit | |
In re American Realty Capital Properties, Inc. Litigation | violations of Section 11 of the Securities Act of 1933 | U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York | |
Anderson v. Jackson | demolition of public housing damaged by Hurricane Katrina | United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit | 2009 |
Cobell v. Salazar | Indian trust assets | United States District Court for the District of Columbia | 2009 |
Collins v. United States | honorable discharge under "Don't ask, don't tell" | United States Court of Federal Claims | 2013 |
Conant v. McCaffrey | right to recommend medical marijuana | United States district court | |
Daniels v. City of New York | racial profiling and unlawful stop and frisk | ||
Daniela Apostol v. Eastman Kodak Company | false advertising, unfair enrichment, fraudulent concealment, unfair competition [1] | ||
De Beers Diamonds Antitrust Litigation | U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey | ||
Doe v. Chiquita Brands International | funding and arming known terrorist organizations | ||
Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores | discriminating against women in promotions, pay, and job assignments | United States Supreme Court | 2011 |
EEOC v. Mitsubishi Motor Manufacturing of America [2] | creation and long-term toleration of a sexually hostile work environment | United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois | 1998 |
EEOC (Janice Smith) v. Wal-Mart Stores | hiring decisions based on gender | ||
Fraley v. Facebook, Inc. | misappropriation of users' names and likenesses | United States District Court for the Northern District of California | |
Gonzalez v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores | racial and gender discrimination in employment and marketing | ||
Gratz v. Bollinger | undergraduate affirmative action admissions policy too mechanistic in its use of race as a factor in admissions | Supreme Court of the United States | 2003 |
Greek Cypriots v. TRNC and HSBC Bank USA | denial of access to land and property | United States District Court for the District of Columbia | |
GM Instrument Cluster Settlement | owners of vehicles with faulty instrument clusters receive "special coverage" | U.S. District Court in Seattle | 2008 |
Hepting v. AT&T | surveillance of telecommunications | ||
James v. Meow Media | video game responsibility for murders | ||
Jenson v. Eveleth Taconite Co. | sexual harassment, abusive language, threats, stalking and intimidation | ||
Jewel v. NSA | surveillance | 2010 | |
Lane v. Facebook, Inc. | internet privacy and social media | United States District Court for the Northern District of California | 2010 |
Luévano v. Campbell | racial bias in written test for employment | ||
Madrigal v. Quilligan | involuntary sterilization | ||
Mauldin v. Wal-Mart Stores | health insurance not covering prescription contraceptives | United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia | |
Mochizuki v. United States | forcible kidnapping and imprisonment | ||
Morgan v. Hennigan | racial segregation and school busing | ||
Nasdaq Market Makers Antitrust Litigation | stock market collusion | ||
National Federation of the Blind v. Target Corporation | e-commerce website accessibility | ||
National Organization for Women v. Scheidler | anti-abortion activities | Supreme Court of the United States | 1994 |
Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation | price fixing and other allegedly anti-competitive trade practices in the credit card industry | 2012 | |
Pigford v. Glickman | racial discrimination in its allocation of farm loans and assistance | 1999/2010 | |
Price v. Philip Morris, Inc | cigarette company advertising class action led by plaintiff's attorney Stephen Tillery resulted in $10.1 billion judgement [3] | Madison County, Illinois | 2003/2006 |
Ritalin class action lawsuits | promoting disorder ADHD to increase drug profits | ||
Robbins v. Lower Merion School District | charged schools secretly spied on students through surreptitiously and remotely activated webcams embedded in school-issued laptops the students were using at home; privacy rights | U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania | filed 2010 |
Ruiz v. Estelle | prisoners' rights | United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas | 1979 |
Scheidler v. National Organization for Women (2003) | anti-abortion activities | Supreme Court of the United States | 2003 |
Scheidler v. National Organization for Women (2006) | anti-abortion activities | Supreme Court of the United States | 2006 |
Shell Canada lawsuit | gasoline additive damaging fuel supply systems of cars | ||
Shyamala Rajender v. University of Minnesota | employment discrimination based on sex | United States District Court for the District of Minnesota | 1980 |
Smiley v. Citibank | limiting credit card late fees and other penalties | Supreme Court of the United States | 1996 |
Sullivan v. Zebley | Social Security regulation on determining disability for children | Supreme Court of the United States | 1990 |
Swift v. Zynga | misleading advertising | United States District Court for the Northern District of California | |
TNA Entertainment, LLC v. Wittenstein and World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. | use of secret contact information to steal talent | ||
Turkmen v. Ashcroft | unlawful detainment | ||
Vroegh v. Eastman Kodak Company | false advertising, unfair business practices, breach of contract, fraud, deceit and/or misrepresentation | ||
World Jewish Congress lawsuit against Swiss banks | retrieving deposits from dormant bank accounts | 2000 |
Lawsuit | Subject of lawsuit | Court of decision | Year of decision |
---|---|---|---|
AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion | contracts that exclude class action arbitration | Supreme Court of the United States | 2011 |
Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. v. Dabit | SLUSA preempting state law class action claims | Supreme Court of the United States | 2006 |
West v. Randall | required parties to class action | United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit |
A class action, also known as a class action lawsuit, class suit, or representative action, is a type of lawsuit where one of the parties is a group of people who are represented collectively by a member or members of that group. The class action originated in the United States and is still predominantly an American phenomenon, but Canada, as well as several European countries with civil law, have made changes in recent years to allow consumer organizations to bring claims on behalf of consumers.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is a federal agency that was established via the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to administer and enforce civil rights laws against workplace discrimination. The EEOC investigates discrimination complaints based on an individual's race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, disability, genetic information, and retaliation for participating in a discrimination complaint proceeding and/or opposing a discriminatory practice.
A consent decree is an agreement or settlement that resolves a dispute between two parties without admission of guilt or liability. Most often it is such a type of settlement in the United States. The plaintiff and the defendant ask the court to enter into their agreement, and the court maintains supervision over the implementation of the decree in monetary exchanges or restructured interactions between parties. It is similar to and sometimes referred to as an antitrust decree, stipulated judgment, or consent judgment. Consent decrees are frequently used by federal courts to ensure that businesses and industries adhere to regulatory laws in areas such as antitrust law, employment discrimination, and environmental regulation.
The multinational technology corporation Apple Inc. has been a participant in various legal proceedings and claims since it began operation and, like its competitors and peers, engages in litigation in its normal course of business for a variety of reasons. In particular, Apple is known for and promotes itself as actively and aggressively enforcing its intellectual property interests. From the 1980s to the present, Apple has been plaintiff or defendant in civil actions in the United States and other countries. Some of these actions have determined significant case law for the information technology industry and many have captured the attention of the public and media. Apple's litigation generally involves intellectual property disputes, but the company has also been a party in lawsuits that include antitrust claims, consumer actions, commercial unfair trade practice suits, defamation claims, and corporate espionage, among other matters.
Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman, PLLC is a US plaintiffs' law firm, established in 1965 and based in New York City. It has mounted many class action cases on behalf of investors.
Mauldin v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. was a sexual discrimination class action lawsuit filed on October 16, 2001, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, seeking back pay and an injunction. The suit challenged Walmart's denial of health insurance coverage for prescription contraceptives. The case was granted class action status with an estimated 400,000 women eligible for participation in the lawsuit.
Tort reform consists of changes in the civil justice system in common law countries that aim to reduce the ability of plaintiffs to bring tort litigation or to reduce damages they can receive. Such changes are generally justified under the grounds that litigation is an inefficient means to compensate plaintiffs; that tort law permits frivolous or otherwise undesirable litigation to crowd the court system; or that the fear of litigation can serve to curtail innovation, raise the cost of consumer goods or insurance premiums for suppliers of services, and increase legal costs for businesses. Tort reform has primarily been prominent in common law jurisdictions, where criticism of judge-made rules regarding tort actions manifests in calls for statutory reform by the legislature.
Larry Elliot Klayman is an American attorney, right-wing activist, and former U.S. Justice Department prosecutor. He founded both Judicial Watch and Freedom Watch.
Theodore Harold Frank is an American lawyer, activist, and legal writer based in Washington, D.C. He is the counsel of record and petitioner in Frank v. Gaos, the first Supreme Court case to deal with the issue of cy pres in class action settlements; he is one of the few Supreme Court attorneys ever to argue his own case. He wrote the vetting report of vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin for the John McCain campaign in the 2008 presidential election. He founded the Center for Class Action Fairness (CCAF) in 2009; it temporarily merged with the Competitive Enterprise Institute in 2015, but as of 2019 CCAF is now part of the new Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute, a free-market nonprofit public-interest law firm founded by Frank and his CCAF colleague Melissa Holyoak.
Equal Rights Advocates (ERA) is an American non-profit gender justice/women's rights organization that was founded in 1974. ERA is a legal and advocacy organization for advancing rights and opportunities for women, girls, and people of marginalized gender identities through legal cases and policy advocacy.
Edelson PC is an American plaintiffs' law firm that focuses on public client investigations, class actions, mass tort, and consumer protection laws. Edelson’s cases include class action settlements against Facebook for $650 million (2021), social casino apps for nearly $200 million (2021), and a $925 million verdict against ViSalus (2020.)
A private attorney general or public interest lawyer is an informal term originating in common law jurisdictions for a private attorney who brings a lawsuit claiming it to be in the public interest, i.e., benefiting the general public and not just the plaintiff, on behalf of a citizen or group of citizens. The attorney may, at the equitable discretion of the court, be entitled to recover attorney's fees if they prevail. The rationale behind this principle is to provide extra incentive to private attorneys to pursue suits that may be of benefit to society at large. Private attorney general suits are commonly, though not always, brought as class actions in jurisdictions that permit the certification of class action lawsuits.
Raymond Paul Boucher is an American trial attorney. Throughout his career, Boucher has represented clients in a wide range of matters including consumer litigation, construction defect litigation, product liability, toxic tort litigation and employment discrimination. He served as lead attorney in the landmark $660-million sexual-abuse settlement with the Catholic archdiocese where he represented over 250 abuse victims in the July 2007 settlement. He was able to help secure over one billion dollars in recovery for victims of abuse by Catholic Priests in Southern California.
Harvey Thomas Strosberg, is a Canadian lawyer. He is a senior partner at the law firm of Strosberg, Sasso, Sutts LLP.
Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP is an American law firm headquartered in San Diego, California. It is a plaintiffs law firm specializing in securities litigation and shareholder rights cases.
Eric Gibbs is an American attorney at Gibbs Law Group LLP in the United States. He is a member of the Board of Governors of the Consumer Attorneys of California. As a part of the American Association for Justice, he co-chairs the Consumer Privacy and Data Breach Litigation Group and the Lumber Liquidators Litigation Group, and serves as the secretary for the Qui Tam Litigation Group.
Baron & Budd, P.C. is an American plaintiffs' law firm headquartered in Dallas, Texas. Opponents of mass tort litigation have criticized the firm for the zealousness with which it represents its clients, and for the political activities of some of its attorneys.
Arbonne International, LLC, known as Arbonne, is an international multi-level marketing company founded in 1980 in the United States by Norwegian entrepreneur Petter Mørck. Its product lines include vegan skincare, cosmetics, and nutrition. Arbonne's CEO is Tyler Whitehead, who succeeded Jean-David Schwartz in April 2021. Arbonne is headquartered in Irvine, California, US, with US offices in Chatsworth, California, Greenwood, Indiana, Addison, Texas, and international offices in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Poland, and the United Kingdom.
Federal Express Corp. v. Holowecki, 552 U.S. 389 (2008), was a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States on February 27, 2008. The ruling provided guidance on what would constitute an adequate filing under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA).