Publication Source Archive: Law360

The initial complaint argued that the companies are responsible for coal dust pollution from their power plants. The proposed class action stems from coal ash at the LaBelle Refuse Site owned by Matt Canestrale Contracting Inc. The families claim the ash came from several now-closed power plants in western Pennsylvania.Read the article

A California appeals court revived claims Tuesday that Merck & Co. and other diabetes drugmakers failed to warn about their drugs’ pancreatic cancer risks, finding a lower court erred in not considering scientific evidence the U.S. Food and Drug Administration hadn’t evaluated. “In light of the [Ninth] Circuit’s reversal of Judge Battaglia’s order, which the…Read the article

In a motion to dismiss, drugmakers accused Ohio cities and counties of disregarding an April case management order requiring the disclosure of prescriptions that the governments believe were medically unnecessary or medically inappropriate. Hunter Shkolnik of Napoli Shkolnik PLLC, a top attorney for the local governments, fired back on Friday, calling the motion “a ridiculous…Read the article

Uber Technologies Inc. will pay $1.3 million to settle Fair Labor Standards Act claims from more than 5,000 drivers who aren’t bound by arbitration agreements and alleged the ride-hailing giant misclassified them as independent contractors instead of employees, according to a North Carolina federal court filing. According to Tuesday’s filing, about $734,294 of the settlement…Read the article

Tyco Fire Products LP, 3M Co. and other companies that produced a fire suppressant foam have told a Massachusetts federal court that a suit filed by a group of Cape Cod residents claiming the product caused illnesses should be tossed, arguing the allegations couldn’t properly be connected to specific manufacturers. Paul Napoli of Napoli Shkolnik…Read the article

According to a notice made public August 15th, the New Jersey Supreme Court Justices in July granted multicounty litigation status to about 353 cases alleging Sanofi U.S. Services Inc., Sanofi-Aventis U.S. LLC, Sandoz Inc. and Actavis LLC failed to adequately warn consumers about the risk of permanent hair loss as a result of using the…Read the article

A special master appointed to oversee a discovery dispute in multidistrict litigation over the opioid crisis partially granted a request by counties for more information from a McKesson Corp. investigation into suspicious drug order oversight, finding the counties are entitled to witness names but that statements and terms used in the investigation are protected work…Read the article

The drugmakers are taking issue with requirements to produce certain data stretching back to 1996, records related to any schedule II opioids and documents produced previously in any litigation involving the marketing or distribution of opioids. Hunter Shkolnik of Napoli Shkolnik PLLC, a top plaintiffs attorney in the MDL, told Law360 that the (defense) parties…Read the article

The Spearmint Rhino chain of nightclubs and a group of exotic dancers who worked there were ordered by a California federal judge Tuesday to explain how the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Epic Systems impacts a contested $8.5 million settlement in their case. The clubs, led by Santa Barbara Hospitality Services Inc., had drawn the…Read the article