#1 Los Angeles Wildfire LawsuitsLos Angeles, CA - Los Angeles wildfire victims are filing lawsuits against Southern California Edison (SCE), the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), and landowners. The SCE utility is accused of negligence and more in the Eaton Fires. The LADWP is accused of failure to ensure an adequate water supply, despite knowledge of fire risks in the Pacific Palisades area. And in early March, Los Angeles County filed its third lawsuit against SCE to recover costs and damages sustained by the County from the Eaton Fire.
#2 Crunch Fitness Lawsuit Targets California Labor Law ViolationsSan Francisco, CA - On March 25, 2025, Eduardo Eloisa sued Crunch LLC in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles, Central District. The lawsuit has since been removed to the Northern District of California. Eloisa v. Crunch LLC alleges that Crunch Fitness failed to pay its California wage earners for all hours worked, including overtime and sick time, as required under the California labor code. The class action lawsuit is still in its very early stages, with the first case management conference scheduled for July 10.
#3 NEC Infant Formula Makers Face Retrial in Only VictorySt. Louis, MO - Infant baby formula manufacturers are facing a new trial after a Missouri judge accused their lawyers of misconduct, which resulted in the jury’s unfair verdict over their only victory. The companies Abbott and Reckitt are accused of failing to warn that their specialised formulas used by intensive care units for newborns could cause necrotising enterocolitis (NEC), a disease that affects premature infants and has an estimated mortality rate of more than twenty percent.
#4 Supreme Court Rides to the Rescue in ERISA Excessive Fee LawsuitWashington, DC - Sometimes the sheer procedural clutter of so many ERISA lawsuits obscures what is important. The U.S. Supreme Court’s April 17, 2025 holding in Cunningham v. Cornell University is one of those cases. The bottom line, however, is that the Court preserved the ability of ERISA plan participants to sue fiduciaries for wasting their retirement savings by overpaying for administrative services. The opinion, authored by Justice Sonya Sotomayor, is also virtually certain to be lawyered and parsed down to its semicolons as counsel for plan sponsors and administrative service providers strive to limit its application.
#5 What Happens Next for Exactech Hip Implant Lawsuits?Brooklyn, NY – On October 29, 2024, Exactech filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. As a result, all hip failure lawsuits, including the four bellwether trials (Tarloff, larson, Kramer and Caputo) were paused.
#6 Ozempic Gastroparesis Hearing Scheduled for May 14Philadelphia, PA - An evidentiary hearing scheduled for May 14 in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania may be another step in taking the consolidated Ozempic side effect litigation back to where it once belonged – science. The hearing will focus specifically on a reliable diagnostic process for identifying gastroparesis, a potentially life-threatening complication of taking drugs like Ozempic.
#7 $2.25 Million Settlement Pending in Seidner v. Kimberly-ClarkDallas, TX - A $2.25 million settlement that, if approved, will end Seidner v. Kimberly-Clark was filed on December 2 in the Northern District of Texas. The long-running class-action ERISA lawsuit alleges that fiduciaries of the Kimberly Clark Corporation 401(k) and Profit Sharing Plan breached their legal duty under ERISA by paying higher fees ($78 per participant) than what was paid (about $30 per participant) by plans of comparable size. Excessive fees erode the ultimate value of participants’ retirement savings.
#8 Tesla Cited for California Labor Code ViolationsSan Francisco, CA - In June of 2024, Sharon Lane Chin filed a class action lawsuit alleging that Tesla, Inc. had violated both the federal Worker Adjustment and Notification Act (WARN) and the California version of the law. California WARN is codified as Section 1404 of the California labor code. She also sought relief under California’s Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA).
#9 Slip and Fall Injuries DevastatingSeattle, WA - Although they may seem innocent enough, slip and fall incidents can actually cause devastating injuries to those people unfortunate enough to experience them. Although the vast majority of slip and fall injuries are no more than cuts and bruises, some incidents result in broken bones, concussions, back injuries and even permanent brain injuries. Too often, these slip and fall accidents could be prevented if people followed safety rules for their premises.
