South Dakota Pension Lawsuit  -- On June 14, 2010, four retirees receiving benefits from the South Dakota Pension System filed a class action suit seeking to restore the level of the annual increase to their pensions in effect when they retired.

Press Release

Class Action Complaint

Stember Feinstein Doyle Payne & Cordes 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
• Insurance
• Pension/401(k) ERISA
• Public Employee Retirement
• Retiree Health
• Wage and Overtime
• Notable Closed Cases

Consumer Class Actions

Cingular – The firm represents 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.

Diamond Foods - The firm represents a 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 California Superior Court in San Francisco. For more information, please contact Attorney Joe Kravec.

Capital One – The firm represents the West Virginia Attorney General in case alleging various deceptive practices by Capital One in soliciting and administering consumer credit cards. The case is pending in the United States District Court for Southern District of West Virginia. For more information, please contact Attorney Joe Kravec.

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 District of New Jersey. For more information, please contact Ed Feinstein or Joe Kravec.


Pension/401(k) ERISA Class Actions

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 denied Defendant's motion to dismiss the breach of fiduciary duty claims 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. The case is pending in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. 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.

PFF Bancorp - The firm is co-lead interim counsel representing participants in the PFF Bancorporation 401(k) and Employee Stock Ownership Plans to recover losses to the Plans' assets. The suit alleges that fiduciaries of the Plans violated ERISA by imprudently investing in PFF stock while the company was concealing its loan losses. The case is pending in the United States District Court for the Central District of California. For more information, please contact Attorneys Ellen Doyle or Stephen Pincus.

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.

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 class of California homeowners who were forced to pay for property insurance by their mortgage company that duplicated and waived borrowers’ existing coverage 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.

BlueCross BlueShield of Illinois - The firm brought a class action suit against Health Care Service Corporation (d/b/a BlueCross Blue Shield of Illinois, BlueCross Blue Shield of New Mexico, BlueCross Blue Shield of Oklahoma, and BlueCross Blue Shield of Texas) alleging that policyholders have been forced to make co-payments in excess of what is permitted under the terms of the plans. The case is pending in the United States District Court for Northern District of Illinois. For more information, please contact Attorney Ellen Doyle.

Metropolitan Life – The firm represents a 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.

Secure Horizons -- The firm represents a class of plan participants who were charged co-payments for emergency room treatment exceeding Medicare’s limitations of such co-payments to $50 where the patient was not admitted. The case is pending the United States District Court for Central District of California. For more information, please contact Attorneys Joe Kravec or Ellen Doyle.

Welllpoint -- The firm represents a class of non-MD health care providers who were not paid at the proper out-of-network reimbursement rate by Wellpoint. 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. The case is pending in state District Court in Denver. For more information, please contact Attorneys Stephen Pincus, Bill Payne or John Stember.

Massachusetts Public Pension System - The firm represents participants in the Massachusetts Public Pension Systems whose pension benefits were reduced as a result of recent legislation. The case is currently pending in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. 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. The case is pending in District Court in St. Paul. For more information, please contact Attorney Stephen Pincus,  Bill Payne or John Stember.

New Hampshire Retirement System I -- The firm represents retired state workers whose pensions were recently reduced to pay for retiree health benefit premiums. The suit alleges that the pension reductions violate the Contract Clause of the United States and New Hampshire Constitution, as well as provision of the New Hampshire Constitution prohibiting the diversion of pension benefits. Summary judgment was recently entered in favor of the defendants. An appeal to the New Hampshire Supreme Court is pending. For more information, please contact Attorneys Stephen Pincus, Bill Payne or John Stember.

New Hampshire Retirement System II -- The firm represents retired state workers whose retirement benefits were recently reduced due to changes in the definition of "earnable compensation," the reduction of cost-of-living adjustments and the reduction in the yearly increase to the health care subsidy. The suit alleges that these changes violate the Contract Clause of the United States and New Hampshire Constitution. The case is currently pending in Merrimack County Superior Court in Concord. For more information, please contact Attorneys Stephen Pincus, Bill Payne or John Stember.

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

Caterpillar - The firm represents Caterpillar/United Auto Workers retirees who had their health benefits reduced. The case is currently pending in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. 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 case is pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia. For more information, please contact, Attorneys Bill Payne or John Stember.

Newell Rubbermaid -- The firm represents retirees and their spouses from a company plant in Wisconsin who had their retiree health benefits cut. The case is pending before the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. For more information, please contact, Attorneys Bill Payne or Stephen Pincus.

NewPage -- The firm represents retirees and their spouses from the company’s plants in Wisconsin who are having their retiree health benefits phased out. The case is pending before the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio and the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin. For more information, please contact, Attorneys Bill Payne or Stephen Pincus.


Wage and Overtime Collective Actions

Velocity Express - The firm represents drivers in Pennsylvania who claim they were misclassified as independent contractors and subjected to unlawful wage deductions and denied other benefits of employment. The case is pending in the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. For more information, please contact Ed Feinstein.

University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) – The firm represents a 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. 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 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.


Notable Closed Class Action Cases

Our attorneys played a major role in the following closed cases at either the predecessor of the current firm or at another firm.

In Re Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Sales Practices Litigation, 1999 WL 33957897 (W.D.Pa.) (various life and annuity deceptive sales practices; $1.7 billion recovered for 7 million class members).

Varacallo v. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, 226 F.R.D. 207 (D. N.J. 2005) (various life insurance deceptive sales practices; $800 million recovered for about 2.5 million class members).

Erie Forge and Steel, Inc. v. Cypress Minerals Company, 1994 WL 485803 (W. D. Pa., Jun. 7, 1994) (No. Civ. 94-404) (antitrust price-fixing; $8.4 million recovered for a few hundred class members).

Delaney, et al. v. Enterprise Rent-a-Car Company, Inc. and ELRAC, Inc., Docket No. OCN-L-1160-01, (Superior Ct. of NJ, Ocean County) (rental car customers purchasing insurance products and collision damage waiver from Enterprise; $5.4 million recovered for about 8,000 class members).

Orlowski v. St. Francis Health Systems, et al., No. GD 02-17811 (Allegheny County, Pa.) (pensioners’ benefits reduced due to improper under-funding of the pension plan; $13 million recovered).