Class Actions Brief Blog

Not every class action court filing in North and South Carolina becomes a full-length post on our blog. Here is a recap of October's filings:

Ringel v. Care Improvement Plus Group Management, LLC, No. 7:14-cv-04232 (D.S.C. Oct. 30, 2014) (alleging breach of contract against health care administrator on behalf of class of medical providers who had reimbursements for treating Medicare Advantage Plan recipients erroneously coded as services at skilled nursing facilities instead of services at medical practitioner’s office).

Jones v. Dancel, No. 14-2160 (4th Cir. Oct. 28, 2014) (appeal docketed from order and memorandum of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland denying motion to vacate, in part, arbitrator’s decision not to award actual damages to class or attorneys’ fees to class counsel in action filed for violation of Credit Repair Organizations Act).

Houser v. Syngenta, No. 3:14-cv-04163 (D.S.C. Oct. 24, 2014) (alleging Lanham Act violations, negligence and other claims for marketing and selling to farmers genetically engineered seeds for corn that was not approved for export to certain countries). This case has since been stayed pending a likely transfer, along with more than 100 similar cases filed across the country, to federal Multidistrict Litigation.

Browder v. Peninsula Grill, LLC, No. 2:14-cv-04135 (D.S.C. Oct. 23, 2014) (alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act and the South Carolina Payment of Wages Act for failing to pay servers hourly wages and tip pool violations at Hank’s Seafood Restaurant in Charleston).

Rivera v. WVVA Properties, LLC, No. 2:14-cv-04138 (D.S.C. Oct. 23, 2014) (alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act and the South Carolina Payment of Wages Act for failing to pay a Charleston club’s employees minimum wages and overtime pay and for making improper deductions from wages).

Hankins v. Electric-Rooterman and Handyman, Inc., No. 7:14-cv-04094 (D.S.C. Oct. 21, 2014) (alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act and South Carolina Payment of Wages Act for failing to pay plumbers minimum wages and overtime pay and for making improper deductions from wages).

Calderon v. GEICO General Ins., Co., No. 14-2111 (4th Cir. Oct. 16, 2014) (appeal docketed from order and memorandum of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland granting plaintiffs summary judgment on liability in class action for GEICO’s misclassification of investigators as exempt from overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act).

Berry v. Hardway Objectors, No. 14-2101 (4th Cir. Oct. 15, 2014) (appeal docketed from order by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia approving a 200 million member, nationwide class action settlement with Reed Elsevier Inc. for selling certain Accurint brand reports to debt collectors without treating them as consumer reports under the Fair Credit Reporting Act). We previously reported on Adam Schulman’s and the Aaron Objectors’ (see below) appeals, and these appeals have been consolidated.

Watkins v. Courtney Bay Seafood Restaurant & Lounge, LLC, No. 2:14-cv-03976 (D.S.C. Oct. 13, 2014) (alleging violations of the Federal Labor Standards Act and the South Carolina Payment of Wages Act for failing to pay servers hourly wages and tip pool violations at the restaurant’s Yemassee and Walterboro locations).

Adesina v. ACN, Inc., No. 3:14-cv-00562 (W.D.N.C. Oct. 10, 2014) (alleging fraudulent and deceptive sales statements regarding Xoom Energy’s variable rate plans). For more information, see our recent post on this case.

T.M. v. Haley, No. 3:14-cv-03933 (D.S.C. Oct. 9, 2014) (alleging Constitutional violations of foster children’s rights to a safe and secure foster placement and to basic medical treatment; case brought on behalf of a purported class of all foster children in the care of the South Carolina Department of Social Services who have been sexually abused, physically abused, or severely neglected prior to or while in the care of SCDSS).

Keith Bunch Assocs., LLC v. La-Z-Boy Inc., No. 1:14-cv-00850 (M.D.N.C. Oct. 7, 2014) (alleging violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, as amended by the Junk Fax Prevention Act, for sending unsolicited facsimiles). Plaintiff also filed a motion to certify the purported nationwide class and a brief in support thereof “to prevent the defendants from ‘picking off’ the named plaintiff with an offer of individual judgment under Fed. R. Civ. P. 68 in an attempt to moot the case.”

Berry v. Aaron Objectors, No. 14-2050 (4th Cir. Oct. 6, 2014) (appeal docketed from order by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia approving a 200 million member, nationwide class action settlement with Reed Elsevier Inc. for selling certain Accurint brand reports to debt collectors without treating them as consumer reports under the Fair Credit Reporting Act). We previously reported on Adam Schulman’s appeal.

McClaran v. Carolina Ale House Operating Co., No. 3:14-cv-03884 (D.S.C. Oct. 3, 2014) (collective action under the Fair Labor Standards Act alleging unpaid minimum wages based on tip credit violations in Carolina Ale House restaurants across the Southeast).

Saltzman v. Pella Corp., No. 2:14-cv-03885 (D.S.C. Oct. 3, 2014) (case transferred to MDL from U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois).

Fitzhenry v. Lily Mgmt. and Mktg. Co., No. 2:14-cv-03866 (D.S.C. Oct. 3, 2014) (alleging violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act for autodialed and prerecorded messages soliciting vacation stays at Westgate Resorts, Ltd. properties).

Matthews v. Guthy Renker Fulfillment Servs., LLC., No. 3:14-cv-00547 (W.D.N.C. Oct. 3, 2014) (collective and class action lawsuit alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act and North Carolina Wage and Hour Act for unpaid wages and overtime for off-the-clock time worked by home-based customer service representatives). This case has been transferred to the Asheville division under Case No. 1:14-cv-00260.