Stember Feinstein Doyle Payne & Kravec is counsel in a number of class action lawsuits. As a service to class members and others who may be interested, we provide periodic updates on the status of the litigation.

• Consumer
• Pension/401(k) ERISA
• Insurance
• Public Employee Retirement
• Retiree Health
• Wage and Overtime
• Notable Closed Cases

Consumer Class Actions

Cingular-The firm represents proposed a class of California consumers who entered wireless phone agreements with Cingular based on its false and deceptive "fewest dropped calls" advertising campaign. The case is pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. For more information, please contact Attorney Joe Kravec.

E-AppraiseIT – The firm represents a proposed nationwide class of Washington Mutual Bank (WaMu) residential mortgage borrowers who paid for E-AppraiseIT’s allegedly false and inflated appraisals and are now stuck with large mortgages exceeding the true value of their homes at the time of purchase or refinance. This case is pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.

Ben & Jerry’s and Breyers Ice Creams – The firm represents proposed nationwide classes of consumers who purchased Ben & Jerry’s or Breyers’ ice creams with labels allegedly misrepresenting them as “All Natural”, even though they contain a synthetic, non-natural ingredient. Two cases are pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. For more information, please contact Attorney Joe Kravec.

Diamond Foods-The firm represents a proposed class of California consumers who purchased Diamond of California Shelled Walnuts whose labels allegedly misrepresented the health benefits of the product. The case is pending in the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. For more information, please contact Attorney Joe Kravec.

DIAMOND WALNUT CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT

Elliot Zeisel v. Diamond Foods, Inc., Case No. 3:10-cv-01192-JSW
United States District Court for the Northern District of California

California walnut company Diamond Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:DMND) has agreed to pay $2.6 million to settle a class action lawsuit accusing it of false advertising.  The lawsuit claims that Diamond misbranded its walnut products by making false and misleading statements on package labels and the company’s website relating to the health benefits of walnut consumption.  Diamond disputes that the language it used to promote its walnuts was unlawful, but has agreed to discontinue the “heart health” claims on its packaging and similar claims on its website.

As a part of the Diamond Foods walnut class action settlement, the company has agreed to pay consumers $8.25 for each 3-pound bag of Diamond of California walnuts purchased at Sam’s Club and $3.25 for any other Diamond of California walnut product purchased between March 22, 2006 and January 30, 2012.  A consumer can claim up to 24 bags total.

TO MAKE A CLAIM:

http://www.walnutlabelingsettlement.com

For more details about the Diamond Foods walnut class action settlement, and to determine if you are a member of this proposed settlement class, please review the documents and orders linked below, call the settlement administrator at 1-855-879-4045 (Toll Free) or visit  www.WalnutLabelingSettlement.com.

 IMPORTANT DATES AND DEADLINES: 

            Deadline to exclude yourself:                                    Postmarked by July 30, 2012

            Deadline to object:                                                       Postmarked by July 30, 2012

            Deadline for filing a claim:                                          Postmarked by September 7, 2012

            Deadline to file a Notice of Intent to Appear:            Postmarked by July 30, 2012

            Final Approval Hearing:                                               August 24, 2012 at 9:00 a.m. (Pacific)

 The Diamond Foods walnut class action settlement must be approved by a federal judge at the Final Fairness Hearing currently scheduled for August 24, 2012.

Diamond Foods Walnut Class Action Settlement Documents

• Class Notice (Adobe pdf)  
• Settlement Agreement (Adobe pdf)   
• Preliminary Approval Order  (Adobe pdf )  
• Complaint  (Adobe pdf)   

QUESTIONS? CALL 1-855-879-4045 TOLL FREE OR VISIT WWW.WALNUTLABELINGSETTLEMENT.COM

PARA UNA NOTIFICACION EN ESPANOL, LLAMAR O VISITAR NUESTRO WEBSITE.

PNC Bank-The firm represents PNC Bank consumers in an action regarding the bank's practice of rearranging the chronological order of a customer's debit charges to the customer checking account so that the highest charges are subtracted from available funds before lower charges in order to increase the numbers of overdrafts for customers in an effort to increase revenues. The case is pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. For more information, please contact Ed Feinstein or Joe Kravec. 

AK Steel Corporation-The firm represents retirees of AK Steel's plant in Sharon, Pennsylvania who claim that their lump-sum pension distributions were miscalculated. The case is pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. For more information, please contact Attorneys Bill Payne or Stephen Pincus.

Boeing-The firm represents former Boeing employees whose employment with Boeing ended when Boeing sold its commercial facility in Wichita, Kansas to Spirit Aerosystems. The suit alleges that the sale triggered the employees' rights to early retirement and healthcare benefits pursuant to the employee benefit plans and collective bargaining agreements between the employees' unions and Boeing. The U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas has certified a class of employees who went to work for Spirit Aerosystems following the sale and the case is in the discovery phase of litigation. For more information, please contact Attorneys Ellen Doyle or Bill Payne.

First Horizon National Corporation-The firm is lead counsel representing participants in the First Horizon National Corporation 401(k) Plan to recover losses to the Plan's assets. The suit alleges that fiduciaries of the Plan violated ERISA by imprudently investing in First Horizon stock while the company was concealing its large exposure to highly risky Collateralized Debt Obligations, subprime mortgages, and other low-quality securities. The suit also alleges that the Plan did not properly consider investment options besides mutual funds owned by First Horizon. The United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee recently conditionally certified the case as a class action and the case is now proceeding to the discovery phase. For more information, please contact, Ellen Doyle, Ed Feinstein or Stephen Pincus.

KV Pharmaceutical-The firm is co-lead interim counsel representing participants in the KV Pharmaceutical 401(k) to recover losses to the Plan's assets. The suit alleges that fiduciaries of the Plans violated ERISA by imprudently investing in KV stock while the company was concealing its manufacturing problems. Settlement was reached while the case was on appeal, and approval proceedings are in progress in District Court. For more information, please contact Ellen Doyle or Stephen Pincus.

Northrop Grumman-The firm represents former employees of Northrop Grumman seeking class certification and alleging that the company improperly calculated the pension benefits of former employees of Litton Industries, which was purchased by Northrop Grumman in 2001. The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California granted the company's motion for summary judgment. The case is now on appeal for a second time to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. For more information, please contact Attorneys Ellen Doyle or Bill Payne.

Pension/401(k) ERISA Class Actions

Norton Healthcare -The firm represents retirees of the Norton Healthcare system in Louisville, Kentucky, who claim that their lump-sum pension distributions were miscalculated. The case is pending in the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky. The District Court certified the case as a class action, and denied two motions to dismiss. For more information, please contact Attorney Bill Payne.

Northrop Grumman Corp. (Pieseski) -The firm represents terminated employees and retirees of the Northrop Grumman Corporation, who largely reside in Western Pennsylvania, who claim that the company improperly refused to award them special early retirement pensions. Retirees prevailed as to liability in the district court (Pieseski v. Northrop Grumman, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11891 (W.D.Pa. 2002)), and the case is still pending in the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania on damage issues. For more information, please contact Attorney Bill Payne.

Regions Financial Corporation-The firm is co-lead interim counsel representing participants in the Regions Financial 401(k) Plan to recover losses to the Plan's assets. The suit alleges that fiduciaries of the Plan violated ERISA by imprudently investing in Regions stock while the company was concealing Regions Financial's large exposure to highly risky Collateralized Debt Obligations, subprime mortgages, and other poor-quality securities. The case is pending in the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee. On March 9, 2010, the court denied defendants' motion to dismiss. The case is currently in the discovery phase. For more information, please contact, Attorneys Ellen Doyle, Ed Feinstein or Stephen Pincus.

Siemens Corp -The firm represents terminated employees and retirees of the Siemens Corporation, who largely reside in Western Pennsylvania, who claim that the company improperly refused to award them special early retirement pensions. Retirees prevailed as to liability in the district court (Shaver v. Siemens Corp., 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23578 (W.D. Pa. 2007)), and the case is pending in the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on liability and damage issues. For more information, please contact Attorney Bill Payne.

Sovereign Bancorporation-The firm represents participants in the Sovereign Bancorporation 401(k) Plan over losses to the Plan's assets. The suit alleges that fiduciaries of the Plan violated ERISA by imprudently investing in Sovereign stock while the company was concealing Sovereign's large exposure to highly risky Collateralized Debt Obligations, subprime mortgages, and other poor-quality securities. The case is pending in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. For more information, please contact, Attorneys Ellen Doyle or Stephen Pincus.

Waste Management-The firm represents participants in the Waste Management Profit Sharing and Savings Plan over losses to the Plan's assets. The suit alleges that fiduciaries of the Plan violated ERISA by imprudently investing in Waste Management stock while the company was misstating its true financial condition. In March 2009, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia denied most of the defendants' motion to dismiss and the case is now in the discovery phase. For more information, please contact Attorneys Ellen Doyle or John Stember.


Insurance Class Actions

American Security Insurance-The firm represents a certified class of California homeowners who were forced to pay for property insurance placed by their mortgage company with ASIC that duplicated and waived borrowers' existing coverage for the lender under the standard mortgage clause of their homeowner's policy. The case is pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. For more information, please contact Attorney Joe Kravec.

Metropolitan Life-The firm represents a certified nationwide class of plan participants on Medicare who were charged the higher non-Medicare rate for health insurance purchased through their retirement plan. The suit seeks the difference between the higher rate paid and the lower non-Medicare rate that should have been charged. The case is pending the United States District Court for Southern District of New York. For more information, please contact Attorney Joe Kravec.

Welllpoint-The firm represents a proposed class of non-MD health care providers who allegedly were paid a lower out-of-network reimbursement rate by WellPoint than required by patients’ insurance with WellPoint. As a result, patients were required to pay more of their providers’ bills out of their own pockets than they should have. This case is pending in the United States District Court for the Central District of California. For more information, please contact Attorney Joe Kravec.


Public Employee Retirement Class Actions

Colorado (Public Employees' Retirement Association of Colorado)-The firm represents PERA retirees in a class action case challenging the replacement of a 3.5% annual increase with a 2% capped COLA. Judgment was granted against retirees in District Court. The decision is currently on appeal.  For more information, please contact Attorneys Stephen Pincus, Bill Payne or John Stember.

Minnesota Pension-The firm represents Minnesota public sector retirees in a class action challenging the elimination of a 2.5% annual increase to retirees' pensions. Judgment was granted against retirees in District Court. The decision is currently on appeal. For more information, please contact Attorney Stephen Pincus, Bill Payne or John Stember.

New Hampshire Retirement System -The firm represents current and retired state workers in two cases involving cuts to pension and health care benefits.  The suits alleges that these changes violate the Contract Clause of the United States and New Hampshire Constitution. The cases are currently pending in Merrimack County Superior Court in Concord. For more information, please contact Attorneys Stephen Pincus or Bill Payne.

Pennsylvania Workers Compensation Judges - The firm represents all of the workers’ compensation judges in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to restore a longevity step increase promised them in early January 2009. For more information, please contact Attorney John Stember.

South Dakota – The firm represents retired members of the South Dakota Retirement System in a class action challenging the reduction of their cost-of-living adjustment. For more information, please contact Attorneys Stephen Pincus or Bill Payne.

Veterans Administration-The firm represents retired VA nurses whose pension benefits were wrongly calculated. The Merit Protection Service Board recently ruled in favor of the nurses. For more information, please contact Attorneys John Stember.


Retiree Health Class Actions

Briggs & Stratton-The firm represents retirees of the Briggs & Stratton retirees who had their health benefits cut or eliminated. The case is pending in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. The Court initially dismissed the case, and after Plaintiffs moved for reconsideration, the Court found that the contract language was ambiguous and that parties should be allowed to proceed with their efforts to prove the true meaning of the contracts. For more information, please contact, Attorney Bill Payne.

Century Aluminum-The firm represents retirees of the Century Aluminum plant in Ravenswood, West Virginia who had their health benefits cut or eliminated. The United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia denied request for injunction. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed the denial of the injunction, and the case is now back before the District Court. For more information, please contact, Attorneys Bill Payne or John Stember.

NewPage- The firm represents retirees and their spouses from the company's plants in Wisconsin who are having their retiree health benefits phased out. Retirees sued in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, and the Company counter-sued in the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin. Both Courts dismissed the action, and the cases were appealed to the United States Courts of Appeals for the Sixth and Seventh Circuits. The Seventh Circuit reversed the Wisconsin judgment and sent the case back to Wisconsin for further proceedings.  However, on September 7, 2011, the Company filed for bankruptcy in Delaware and – as a result – both the Ohio and Wisconsin proceedings were stayed. In other words, the parties are prohibited from advancing the litigation any further unless they get permission from the bankruptcy court.  For more information, please contact, Attorneys Bill Payne or Stephen Pincus.

Whirlpool (Hoover Vacuum) -The firm represents retirees and their spouses from the former Hoover Vacuum plant in Canton, Ohio, who had their health benefits cut. Retirees sued in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. For more information, please contact, Attorneys Bill Payne or Stephen Pincus.

Wage and Overtime Collective Actions

University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC)-The firm represents a proposed class of nurses and other hourly employees whose pay was subject to an automatic meal break deduction even when those persons performed work during such unpaid meal breaks. The firm also represents a proposed class of nurses who reviewed patient status records prior to their shift, but were not paid for that work. Two cases are pending in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas and the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. For more information, please contact Joe Kravec.

West Penn Allegheny Health System-The firm represents a proposed class of hourly employees whose pay was subject to an automatic meal break deduction even when those persons performed work during such unpaid meal breaks. The case is pending in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas. For more information, please contact Joe Kravec.