News in Brief September 7 – Wal-Mart, Toyota and More

Wal-Mart Settles Part of CA Pharmacist Wage and Hour Suit

Wal-Mart has agreed to settle a proposed class action that claimed it failed to properly pay its pharmacists for the time they spent doing mandatory training – though additional claims made in the lawsuit have not been resolved. The partial settlement, if approved, would award $800,000 to nearly 750 California pharmacists who weren’t compensated for taking their immunization training. The settlement, however, won’t end the pharmacists’ claims that they were routinely encouraged to skip their rest breaks.

Toyota Sued Over Melting Dashboard Response

Toyota has been hit with a proposed class action that claims the company forced drivers who were affected by melting dashboards to wait for promised repairs. The lawsuit alleges that Toyota agreed to fix the dashboards in 2014 to get out of a lawsuit over the defect, but that drivers have continued to wait around for Toyota to handle their massive backlog – which could, in the end, take longer than the life of the announced repair program.

Twinings Antioxidant Class Action Dismissed

Twinings is the latest tea company to escape a proposed class action over the advertised health benefits of its tea. The lawsuit claimed that it was illegal for Twinings to advertise its tea as a natural source of antioxidants and asked for an order to have the company remove such claims from its products. Judge Ronald M. Whyte dismissed the case when he found that Twinings had already removed the antioxidant claims from its website and packaging.

CVS Vitamin E Lawsuit Sees New Life

A putative class action claiming that CVS deceitfully marketed its Vitamin E supplements was revived by the First Circuit on Tuesday. The First Circuit reversed a lower court ruling, which found that the lawsuit’s claims that CVS-brand Vitamin E could actually harm the heart instead of helping it were preempted by the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.

Fifth Third Bank Faces Lawsuit Over Illegal Call Recording

Fifth Third Bank is in hot water. Allegedly, a marketing company (Ironwood Financial) hired by Fifth Third Bank has been illegally recording calls without informing callers. According to the lawsuit, the company called businesses and looked to discuss sensitive information about how many credit and debit card payments were processed in any given day – information which could now be at risk of exposure in a data breach.

Bank of America Debt Collection Suit Dismissed

A proposed class action claiming that Bank of America illegally sued credit card holders for their unpaid debt after they sold their accounts was dismissed on Tuesday. The credit card customers had argued that the bank no longer had an interest in the debt, but Judge Eduardo C. Robreno found that banks don’t lose their right to collect on a debt when the accounts were sold.