Monthly Archives: November 2011

Universal Responds to Lawsuits by Filing Lawsuit of Its Own

On the same day that a federal judge in California allowed one class action lawsuit against Universal Music Group (UMG) to go forward, another class action lawsuit was being filed against the against the largest of the “big three” record companies. The Hollywood Reporter published a story on November 2, 2011, saying that US District Judge Susan Illston decided to move forward on a class action spearheaded by White Zombie founder Rob Zombie and the estate of singer and songwriter Rick James. Reuters published a story that same day saying that a similar class action seeking $100 million had been filed against UMG in U.S. District Court in Northern California by Public Enemy frontman Chuck D. One week later, UMG itself filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court. After Universal was one of four record labels agreeing to pay more than $50 million in May 2011 to settle the…
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Will Obama’s Executive Order Help Mesothelioma Patients?

President Barack Obama has issued an executive order that aims to prevent shortages and price fixing of life-saving prescription drugs, the Washington Post reported on October 31, 2011. The order instructs the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to broadly enforce reporting of potential shortages of certain prescription drugs, expedite reviews of applications to begin or alter production of such drugs and work with the Justice Department to prosecute instances of collusion or price gouging. The executive order could also be a boon for mesothelioma sufferers as Cisplatin, the chemotherapy drug that is a part of the standard care treatment used for mesothelioma patients and also appears on the FDA’s Current Drug Shortages list. The website Asbestos.com also noted that Alimta, “the other most commonly-used chemotherapy drug,” does not appear on the FDA’s shortages list but the estimated $1,700 per vial price could be reduced as a result of the executive…
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Is Bank Of America Underpaying In Overdraft Settlement?

One attorney estimated that Bank of America raked in $4.5 billion by processing its debit card transactions in the order of highest to lowest dollar amount so it could maximize the overdraft fees customers paid. That figure caused some to object or opt out of a $410 million settlement in a class action lawsuit that was given final approval by U.S. District Judge James Lawrence King, the Associated Press reported on November 7, 2011. According to the AP, more than 13 million Bank of America customers who had debit card overdrafts during the past decade were affected by the overdrafts. Customers who had debit cards between January 2001 and May 2011 would get some payment, with those still having accounts getting an automatic credit and the others having a check mailed to them. No one would have to take any action or fill out any paperwork, the AP said. While…
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Phony Claims Lead To Real Trouble

After William Burch was fired from his job as a division sales manager at Champion Laboratories Inc. for expense report fabrications in January 2006, he did not file just a wrongful discharge lawsuit. Bloomberg reported on November 7, 2011, that Burch also alleged that the world’s largest supplier of filters and its competitors engaged in price-fixing. His lawsuit filed under the False Claims Act in March 2008 led to more than 50 class action lawsuits based upon on a “smoking gun” Burch was using to prove his claims, a 2004 price-increase letter on Honeywell International Inc. stationary. In April 2008, the 53-year-old Burch was interviewed by Justice Department prosecutors and in June 2008, the agency’s antitrust division opened a grand jury investigation. Three months later, Burch settled his wrongful termination case with Champion paying him $450,000. On October 26, 2011, Burch was sentenced to two years in federal prison for…
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