March was a busy month in the class action world. Here is a summary of a few of the most notable cases.
Finding NeMo, But in Court
Nvidia, the $2 trillion chipmaker powering the AI boom, joins the likes of OpenAI, Microsoft, and others who are facing class action lawsuits from authors alleging copyright infringement. Those cases, however, have not gone all that well for the human authors involved. One of the major lawsuits against ChatGPT was largely dismissed last month when a judge found that the group of authors failed to show how the AI bot’s output was “similar” to any of their works. Nvidia’s lesser-known NeMo AI platform will, however, be hoping for a “similar” judgment.
Disney’s Dreams Don’t Come True
Disney has seen its stock price fall steeply in the last few years. Now, adding to box office flops and failed theme park attractions, Disney is facing a class action lawsuit, alleging that it violated a number of California labor laws. Allegedly, maintenance employees at Disneyland hotels were not given their requisite rest and meal breaks, provided necessary tools for the job, paid overtime, or paid final paychecks in a timely manner. And maintenance workers are not the only folks disgruntled with Disney’s business practices. In a class action settled in early March, the 103,431 purchasers of the $1,399 “Dream Key ” in 2021 will each receive a $67 refund to settle claims that Disney misled them in promising no block-out dates. Unfortunately, holders of the annual pass found that they were unable to schedule visits to the California parks on certain dates. Disney’s new re-branded highest tier annual pass, the “Inspire Key”, which goes for $1,649, has added block-out dates for Christmas.
Snowflake’s Investors Cool on Executives
But why spend Christmas in California when you could invest your money along the wintery slopes of Montana-based cloud-computing company Snowflake. Like Disney, Snowflake has seen its stock fall since its 2021 highs, and this time, disgruntled investors are taking action.
A recent securities class action alleges that the once fast-growing tech company made “false and misleading statements” suggesting the company’s business environment was far more favorable than it actually was. Investors were sucked in as executives pumped the stock price, allowing them to sell their shares at those high valuations–cashing out over $1 billion–before dramatically cutting forecasts, which sent the stock price plummeting off a cliff. The suit further alleges that the company gave customers short term deals to boost momentum and growth rates, which they knew or should have known would not be sustainable.
Juul Going Poof by Billions
Snowflake investors aren’t the only ones feeling like they overpaid. The latest class action against Juul has finally been settled for a whopping $300 million. Over the last few years, the e-cigarette company has agreed to pay out well over $3 billion to settle various claims that it marketed nicotine to minors and concealed how dangerous vaping could be. This latest payout is to settle claims that the company engaged in false advertising–that had the product’s addictiveness been properly disclosed, consumers would not have been willing to pay as much for it.
Maybe Suave Isn’t So Suave
Unilever will pay $2 million to settle a class action lawsuit that alleged it may have harmed consumers of its Suave aerosol deodorants which were found to contain the carcinogen benzene. Buyers of Suave’s 24-Hour Protection Powder Aerosol Antiperspirant and Suave 24-Hour Protection Fresh Aerosol Antiperspirant may not feel all that protected, so to speak, but they will receive refunds of their purchase. If you are worried that you may have purchased one of those products recently, don’t sweat it–they were discontinued in October of 2021, before being recalled in March 2022.
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