News in Brief September 28 – SiriusXM, Daily Fantasy Sports and More [UPDATE]
Last Updated on July 7, 2022
March 17, 2021 – DraftKings ‘Illegal Gambling’ MDL Settled for $720k, $7M in Site Credits
Long-running multidistrict litigation (MDL) centered on the allegation that DraftKings Inc. has essentially run an illegal gambling platform has been settled for $720,000 plus upward of $7 million in “DK Dollar” site credits and requires the company to make changes to help curb compulsive gambling.
According to a 32-page brief in support of a joint motion to preliminarily settle the MDL, the proposed deal, which was reached after a two-day mediation session, provides “significant” monetary and injunctive relief to class members, i.e., players who made a first-time deposit into their DraftKings account prior to January 1, 2018 and who are not net lifetime winners on DraftKings. Settlement documents state $7.28 million in “DK Dollars” will be available to those who still have open DraftKings accounts, while $720,000 will be made available to individuals who no longer have open accounts.
Those covered by the proposed settlement, which awaits preliminary approval from a judge, will receive notice via email and a yet-to-be-created, dedicated settlement website. The proposed deal comes after more than five years of litigation, unsuccessful settlement attempts, and a November 2019 ruling that sent many proposed class members’ claims to arbitration. FanDuel is not a party in the settlement, despite being initially named as a defendant with DraftKings, and the company’s part of the case remains open.
The injunctive relief component of the settlement includes a requirement that DraftKings limit authorized players to one active and “continuously used” account, prevent “prohibited” employees from participating in contests requiring an entry fee and provide data on its platform with regard to responsible play and statistics on the percentage of net winners, losers and players who broke even over the previous month. DraftKings must also highlight players who are “highly experienced” by, for example, adding a symbol next to their user names.
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Settlement Reached in SiriusXM Class Action Over Unsolicited Calls
SiriusXM has settled a class action alleging it violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) by allowing solicitation calls to be made to consumers who purchased or leased a new or used vehicle that came with a promotional subscription to the satellite radio service that ended no later than April 5, 2016 and who never purchased a subscription before July 5, 2016. Filed in Virginia in 2013, the case claimed calls were made to consumers’ cell phones using an automated dialing system, a violation of the terms of the TCPA. Consumers eligible to take part in the settlement can elect to have three months of free satellite radio service or opt to claim a part of a $35 million settlement fund established as part of the terms of the settlement.
Judge Leaves Top Investors Out of Daily Fantasy Sports Payment MDL
A handful of heavyweight investors were dismissed from a multidistrict litigation (MDL) filed last November against several big-name financial institutions alleging they helped enable illegal gambling by processing payments for daily fantasy services FanDuel and DraftKings. NBA Media Ventures LLC, Comcast Ventures LLC, Google Capital Management LLC, NBC Sports Ventures LLC, Time Warner Inc. and Turner Sports Inc. were left out of the case that levied, among other allegations, that financial backers such as JP Morgan Chase & Co., MasterCard and American Express “should have known” that FanDuel and DraftKings were, in essence, gambling operations that violated state and federal law. Further, the consolidated class action also claims the banks included in the suit gave out loans to the daily fantasy sites that allowed them to advance their illegal services. After its initial filing in New York in 2015, the suit was roped into a Massachusetts MDL meant to centralize a barrage of more than 20 lawsuits filed against FanDuel and DraftKings after companies beefed up their advertising practices in 2015.
New Class Action Accuses Banks of Foreign Exchange Market Price-Fixing
Dozens of household name banks are facing a class action claiming they plotted to manipulate the foreign exchange market by colluding to fix the prices of foreign currencies. The plaintiffs allege that they suffered financial harm after buying tradeable assets of foreign exchange-traded funds at artificially inflated prices from entities that initially purchased them directly from the banks. The lawsuit against Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sach, JPMorgan Chase and other financial giants claims the banks began the price-rigging conspiracy as early as 2007 and continued to exchange confidential customer data and coordinate trading strategies, thereby impacting all forms of foreign exchange minimum interest rates and prices, court documents say, through 2013.
American Water Left Out of WV Class Action Over Coal Chemical Spill
American Water has been dismissed from a class action filed against utility company Freedom Industries Inc. in the wake of a large chemical spill that left roughly 300,000 West Virginia residents without clean drinking water. The suit was filed in 2014 after a 48,000-gallon storage tank containing 4-methlcyclohexane (MCHM)—a powerful chemical used to wash coal during the pre-market preparation process—leaked into the Elk River, just a short distance from a municipal drinking water intake. The suit alleged American Water could have prevented the leak with stronger safeguards and compliance measures.
Hair Relaxer Lawsuits
Women who developed ovarian or uterine cancer after using hair relaxers such as Dark & Lovely and Motions may now have an opportunity to take legal action.
Read more here: Hair Relaxer Cancer Lawsuits
How Do I Join a Class Action Lawsuit?
Did you know there's usually nothing you need to do to join, sign up for, or add your name to new class action lawsuits when they're initially filed?
Read more here: How Do I Join a Class Action Lawsuit?
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