News in Brief April 20 – Polaris, PayPal and More

Epson Escapes Printer Lawsuit

On Tuesday, the Ninth Circuit found that a proposed class action over Epson’s printers lacked standing, barring Epson customers from seeking class certification. According to the complaint, Epson misled customers by claiming that its printers only required black ink cartridges to print black-and-white copies when they needed both color and black ink. The court stated that the case lacked a crucial piece to the certification puzzle since Epson’s allegedly deceptive statements weren’t made to all of the potential class members.

PayPal Accused of Violating TCPA

PayPal has been accused of violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by tricking customers into confirming their phone numbers and then hitting them with calls offering unwanted credit services. The complaint says that PayPal used fake “fraud” and “suspicious activity” alerts to get its customers to provide their phone numbers or it would restrict access to their accounts. After finding that there was (obviously) nothing wrong with the account, PayPal would call the customer to offer them credit services that they had no interest in, according to the plaintiff.

Consumers Score Win in “Free Cruise” Robocall Lawsuit

Judge Matthew F. Kennelly found that Economic Strategy Group broke the law by robocalling consumers for a political opinion survey that offered a free cruise upon its completion. Kennelly stated that the pre-recorded calls violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act because the recipients didn’t give their express consent to be contacted. Although he granted partial summary judgment to the plaintiffs, Kennelly denied their motion to find Caribbean Cruise Line at fault for using the survey to increase its business, finding that the decision would be best left to a jury.

Polaris Issues Off-Road Vehicle Recall

Polaris has announced that it will be recalling close to 133,000 off-road vehicles because of a potential defect that may cause the vehicles to catch on fire while in use. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, 2013-2016 RZR 900 and RZR 1000 vehicles are affected by the recall, which was initiated after Polaris received over 160 reports of the vehicles catching fire. According to the announcement, there has been one reported death caused by the defect.

Ruling Finds That Orchestra Musicians Are Employees

A panel of judges found that musicians in the Lancaster Symphony Orchestra should be considered employees and not independent contractors. According to the decision, the orchestra has too much control over its musicians for them to be classified as contractors. Many companies have been having trouble with classifying workers, so check out our independent contractor page for some important distinctions.