Megan Kelly voluntarily dismissed her Telephone Consumer Protection Act claims against Sephora with prejudice, said her notice of voluntary dismissal Wednesday (docket 3:24-cv-01648) in U.S. District Court for Northern California in Oakland. Kelly’s TCPA complaint in March alleged that Sephora ran a telemarketing campaign that promoted its products and services by repeatedly sending text messages or making phone calls to numbers whose recipients asked to be added to its internal do not call registry (see 2403160002).
Reddit charged online stock trading platform LevelFields for clicks to link to its website, but the plaintiff’s system didn’t log traffic corresponding to the links it was charged for, alleged a breach of contract class action Wednesday (docket 4:24-cv-02760) in U.S. District Court for Northern California. LevelFields contracted with Reddit on Sept. 9, 2022, authorizing Reddit to place its ad on the social networking platform, said the complaint. The plaintiff contacted Reddit for click logs that would show corresponding associated IP addresses, but Reddit claiming it was unable to provide that and instead provided only logs without IP addresses, it said. LevelFields alleges that representation is “false, because Reddit has to know where traffic was coming from for security and monitoring purposes.” Alternatively, the defendant “is failing to provide minimal levels of security and monitoring of clicks on its platform, in violation of its duties,” said the complaint. Plaintiff and class members were charged by Reddit “for fraudulent clicks,” it said. LevelFields also claims violation of California’s Unfair Competition Law. It seeks an order enjoining Reddit from the practices alleged; awards of restitution, damages and disgorgement; attorneys’ fees and costs; and pre- and post-judgment interest.
The Commerce Department began administrative reviews for certain firms subject to antidumping and countervailing duty orders with March anniversary dates, it said in a notice May 8. Producers and exporters subject to any of these administrative reviews on China or Vietnam must submit their separate rate certifications or applications by June 7 in order to avoid being assigned high China-wide or Vietnam-wide rates.
Antidumping duty suspension of liquidation and cash deposit requirements took effect May 7 for imports of aluminum extrusions from China (A-570-158), Colombia (A-301-806), Ecuador (A-331-804), India (A-533-920), Indonesia (A-560-840), Italy (A-475-846), Malaysia (A-557-826), Mexico (A-201-860), South Korea (A-580-918), Taiwan (A-583-874), Thailand (A-549-847), Turkey (A-489-850), the United Arab Emirates (A-520-810) and Vietnam (A-552-837), after the Commerce Department on that date published its preliminary affirmative determinations that they are being sold in the U.S. at less than fair value.
Yippee Entertainment, a faith-based streaming service for children, violates the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) by disclosing the personally identifiable information (PII) of viewers for marketing, advertising and analytics purposes, alleged a class action Friday (docket 3:24-cv-00797) in U.S. District Court for Southern California.
LoanDepot makes prerecorded telemarketing calls soliciting its financial services and loan products to individuals who have previously requested not to be called and to be added to its internal do not call list, alleged plaintiff Robert Hubble’s Telephone Consumer Protection Act class action Thursday (docket 1:24-cv-11173) in U.S. District Court for Eastern Michigan in Bay City. The Lake George, Michigan, resident began receiving loanDepot’s telemarketing calls in early January, soliciting him with mortgage services and loan products, said his complaint. When Hubble answered loanDepot’s calls, he was connected to live sales representatives, it said. On multiple occasions, the plaintiff explained that he wasn’t interested and didn’t need any mortgage services or loan products, it said. He would also request that loanDepot not call him again, it said. But despite his repeated requests, loanDepot continued calling him, it said. His complaint logs 50 loanDepot calls to his number between March 27 and April 24. The defendant or those calling on its behalf didn’t have written do not call policies or procedures in place at the time of the calls to Hubble and the classes, said the complaint. Alternatively, whatever written policies existed “either failed to comply with the minimum requirements under the TCPA,” or were never properly implemented, it said. LoanDepot’s TCPA violations were negligent, or they were willful and knowing, it said.
The Commerce Department has published the preliminary results of its antidumping and countervailing duty administrative reviews on wooden cabinets and vanities and components thereof from China (A-570-106/C-570-107). In the final results of these reviews, Commerce will set AD assessment rates for subject merchandise for the companies under review entered April 1, 2022, through March 31, 2023, and CVD assessment rates for entries Jan. 1, 2022, through Dec. 31, 2022.
Alpha Lab Services makes telemarketing calls to consumers soliciting sales of its COVID-19 testing kits, and in so doing, it calls numbers listed on the national do not call registry, alleged Nelson Estrada’s Telephone Consumer Protection Act class action Wednesday (docket 1:24-cv-03531) in U.S. District Court for Northern Illinois in Chicago. Alpha also makes those calls to individuals who have previously requested not to be called and have asked to be added to Alpha’s internal DNC list, said the complaint. Estrada personally listed his phone number on the national DNC registry in March 2019, yet in March 2023, he began receiving numerous marketing calls made by or on behalf of Alpha soliciting him with COVID-19 testing kits, it said. The defendant’s calls all came from various phone numbers that used a 281 area code from the Houston area, said the complaint. Estrada believes Alpha used spoofing to make it appear that the caller was calling from the 281 area code, which was the plaintiff’s own area code, in an effort to make it more likely that he would answer the call, it said. The TCPA prohibits such spoofing conduct, it said. Estrada estimates that Alpha or its agents placed at least 14 telemarketing calls to his residential phone number despite his national DNC registry listing and despite his multiple requests that the calls stop, it said. He alleges that Alpha, and those calling on its behalf, didn’t have written DNC policies or procedures in place, said the complaint. Whatever written policies did exist “either failed to comply with the minimum requirements under the TCPA,” or were never properly implemented, it said. The plaintiff is entitled to damages of $1,500 per TCPA violation because Alpha’s actions were knowing and willful, it said.
A researcher who developed a browser extension that would allow Facebook users to “turn off their newsfeed” preemptively has sued Meta, seeking a judicial declaration that his software tool is “immunized from legal liability” under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.
Plaintiff Dennis Gromov may file a response by the close of business Friday to defendant Belkin’s April 26 motion to enforce the court’s Feb. 28 order that Gromov turn over to Belkin for testing the Samsung phone he used in generating his fraud allegations, said a clerk’s docket entry Tuesday (docket 1:22-cv-06918) in U.S. District Court for Northern Illinois in Chicago. The court isn't ordering a Belkin reply, it said. The company contends that Gromov is dragging his feet on the testing order in an attempt to avoid discovery. The plaintiff’s class action alleges that Belkin advertised power banks for mobile devices in a deceptive manner, and that the chargers don’t deliver nearly the amount of power promised in those ads (see 2301300008).