News in Brief August 23 – Bank of America, Starbucks and More

Bank of America Settles CA Worker Lawsuit

Bank of America has agreed to pay $1.9 million to settle claims that it failed to properly pay overtime to its California customer service representatives. The lawsuit claims that close to 100 of the bank’s workers were misclassified under the administrative exemption. If the settlement is granted final approval, 72% of the settlement fund (roughly $1.4 million) will be distributed to the affected employees.

Starbucks Underfilled Drink Suit Dismissed

A proposed class action claiming that Starbucks misled customers about the amount of liquid in its cold drinks was dismissed on Friday. You remember this one, right? The “too much ice in the iced coffee” lawsuit? Well, if you didn’t think the suit had any merit, you’d have at least one thing in common with Judge Percy Anderson. He said plainly that a reasonable consumer should expect that an iced drink would have both ice and the tea or coffee he or she ordered – and that the inclusion of ice would mean less liquid.

AutoZone Faces Class Action Over Reward Program Expiration Dates

AutoZone is facing a putative class action claiming that it cheated customers out of the benefits of its reward program. Allegedly, in a change to its program, AutoZone applied expiration dates to rewards customers had already earned, all without telling them. According to the complaint, because customers didn’t know their rewards were expiring, they were still making purchases of more than $20 with the hope of earning more $20 credits. The lawsuit claims that AutoZone’s actions violated California’s False Advertising Act, Consumer Legal Remedies Act and Unfair Competition Law.

Mitsubishi Recalls Vehicles Over Acceleration Problems

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced that Mitsubishi will be recalling more than 82,000 vehicles over potential transmission problems. The issue? Reports say the cars could suffer delayed acceleration, increasing drivers’ risk of a crash. Mitsubishi announced that it will fix the affected transmissions, at no cost to drivers. The recall covers 2015-2016 Outlander Sport SUVs, 2016 Outlander SUVs and 2016 Lancer sedans with automatic transmissions.

Minor League Baseball Allowed to Recertify Suit Against Major Leagues

California Judge Joseph C. Spero just gave the minor league players suing Major League Baseball the legal world version of a do-over. The players originally had their wage and hour lawsuit decertified in July; however, they now have the opportunity to recertify the suit – so long as they address the issues the court had with the complaint. The plaintiffs now have until September 12 to file a motion outlining a smaller proposed class and a stronger expert assessment regarding the plaintiffs’ Fair Labor Standards Act claims.