Class Action Litigation Report® Index-Summary

NATIONAL ORIGIN DISCRIMINATION

NATURAL DISASTERS

– Hurricane Katrina

– – Insurance suit filed by La. attorney general on behalf of state and private citizens properly removed (5th Cir.), 337
– – Nursing home owner sued for failing to protect residents, removed suit remanded to state court (E.D. La.), 238

– Toxic substances from aluminum plant released during hurricane, residents class seeking injunctive relief certified (D.V.I.), 503

NEGLIGENCE

– Attorney malpractice during antitrust counseling to drug firm, lawyer must defend claims (N.D.W. Va.), 57
– Medical center sued over credentialing of surgeon, plaintiffs' expert unqualified, suit dismissed (Tex.), 423
– Medical malpractice, noneconomic damages capped by state law, challenge suit filed (E.D. Tex.), 176
– Toxic torts, DuPont liable for creating industrial waste site (W. Va., rev sought), 541

NEW JERSEY

– Labor

– – Construction firm sued for hiring undocumented workers and misclassifying them as independent contractors (N.J. Super. Ct.), 228
– – Layoffs, trucking firm workers sue over lack of notice (N.J. Super. Ct.), 493

– Product liability

– – Aredia and Zometa bone-building drugs, suits designated as mass tort (N.J. Super. Ct.), 161
– – Brake defects in Kia Sephia vehicles, damages awarded (N.J. Super. Ct.), 507
– – Gadolinium contrast dyes used in magnetic resonance imaging, suits consolidated (N.J. Super. Ct.), 428
– – Stucco maker's nondisclosure of nationwide settlement to plaintiff, preclusive effect of (N.J.), 685

NEW MEXICO

– Arbitration, class action ban in Dell Computer sales contract unenforceable (N.M.), 540

NEW YORK

– Attorneys, files of lead counsel, absent class member lacks automatic right of access to (N.Y. App. Div.), 63
– Health insurance, prescription drug benefits management firm settles state employee health plan claims (N.Y. Sup. Ct.), 643
– Product liability, diesel fumes allegedly linked to illnesses of N.Y. City transit workers, bus and engine makers sued (N.Y. Sup. Ct.), 709
– Securities

– – Auction rate securities, UBS subsidiaries sued for fraud by N.Y. attorney general (N.Y. Sup. Ct.), 648
– – Limited liability company members may file derivative suits under state law (N.Y.), 162

NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINES

– Copyrights, electronic republication of freelance writers' articles, federal court lacked jurisdiction to approve settlement (U.S., rev sought), 638
– Inflated circulation figures, newspaper publisher not liable for securities fraud (7th Cir.), 343
– Overtime, newspaper workers awarded damages (C.D. Cal.), 202
– Subscription terms allegedly misrepresented by Best Buys retail sales clerks, customer class denied certification (S.D.N.Y.), 236

NORTH CAROLINA

– Loans, arbitration clauses

– – Ban on consumer class actions is unconscionable (N.C.), 102
– – Payday loans, trial court must reconsider unconscionability of mandatory arbitration clause (N.C. Ct. App.), 386

NOTICE

– Automated teller machines, customers received adequate notice of fees (6th Cir.), 735
– Discharge of workers

– – Trucking firm workers who did not receive prior notice of layoffs file suit (N.J. Super. Ct.), 493
– – Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, construction workers may proceed with suit over lack of notice of layoffs (W.D. Ark.), 243

– Health insurer sued for lack of notice of retired local coverage determination, suit dismissed (D.D.C.), 140
– Medicaid patients not notified of right to change or terminate health plan, suit filed (S.D. Fla.), 46
– Notice to class members

– – Nationwide settlements, Analysis and Perspective, 113
– – On-demand media, future role of, Analysis and Perspective, 307

– Pensions, workers not notified of conversion to cash balance plan, class certified (W.D. Wash.), 624

NUCLEAR ENERGY

– Emissions from processing facility, limitations period for individual suit tolled by pending class suit (9th Cir.), 415
– Job bias alleged by Westinghouse workers, class certification denied (4th Cir.), 183
– Plutonium releases from weapons facility, jury damages award against government contractors upheld (D. Colo.), 463

NURSES

– Meal and rest breaks, unpaid missed breaks

– – Catholic Healthcare West sued (Cal. Super. Ct.), 133
– – Sutter Health sued (Cal. Super. Ct.), 175

– Understaffing by hospital allegedly endangered patients, claims reinstated (10th Cir.), 457
– Wages

– – Hospitals' conspiracy to suppress, class certified (N.D.N.Y.), 672
– – Prevailing wages, recruitment firm sued for failure to pay (Cal. Ct. App.), 93