A class action lawsuit filed against the maker of Whoppers and Reese's Pieces has been dismissed by a federal court judge.

Robert Bratton sued the Hershey Company, claiming the candy manufacturer deceived customers under Missouri’s consumer protection law by underselling the candy contained in boxes of Whoppers and Reese's Pieces. According to news reports, Bratton purchased roughly 600 boxes of the popular candies over the course of a decade, giving rise to his million dollar lawsuit, which was filed on his behalf and that of all other individuals who bought either candy over the past five years.

Recently, the federal court dismissed the lawsuit, ruling that Bratton was not deceived and had experienced no injury. In fact, the justification for the ruling came from Bratton's own action of purchasing the candy over and over again.

Bratton has a similar lawsuit pending against Tootsie Roll Industries, the maker of Junior Mints.

In an effort to ensure that consumer protection lawsuits are legitimate, the Missouri legislature is considering a bill that would evaluate lawsuits from the perspective of a reasonable consumer. When consumers are not actually harmed, there would be no award. Also, attorneys’ fees in such class actions could no longer dwarf the benefits provided to consumers.

—Source: kansascity.com 

A class action lawsuit filed by hundreds of Ralph Lauren interns has been settled for more than a quarter of a million dollars, but the interns themselves won’t see much of that money.

The lawsuit, filed in the Manhattan Supreme Court, claimed interns were paid nothing to prep samples for fit meetings, create product code and conduct other valuable services for the fashion house, was recently settled for $323,000. Yet, most of the interns will only see a thread of the settlement money, namely $305, because their lawyers' take is $108,000. Only Nadine Craparotta, who was awarded $7,500 as the lead plaintiff, might be able to afford one of Lauren’s signature $598 double-breasted wool blazers with her settlement money.

The interns’ attorneys claim the deal is “fair and reasonable”.

According to news reports, Tom Stebbins of the Lawsuit Reform Alliance said the case showed “how broken the class-action system is because you have people who actually were not paid money getting pennies on the dollar while lawyers are walking away with over $100,000.”

—Source: nypost.com

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has denied the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals' request to bring a copyright claim on behalf of a macaque monkey.

In a follow-up to a lower court case (highlighted previously by the Jester's Courtroom) that ruled against the animal-rights organization in its lawsuit against a wildlife photographer over copyright ownership of a series of selfies snapped by an Indonesian money named Naruto, the appellate court ruled that animals have no legal ability to hold copyright claims. According to news reports, Naruto took the photos of himself after finding the camera in a reserve. The photographer, David Slater, had placed the camera with the hope of encouraging the animals to find it and take photos.

In a further admonition of the organization, the court questioned PETA's motives for bringing the case. "PETA seems to employ Naruto as an unwitting pawn in it ideological goals," the court wrote in a footnote to its decision.

PETA's general counsel, Jeff Kerr, commented after the ruling that the opinion misses the point that Naruto took the photos and should be the owner of such under the U.S. Copyright Act but he "is discriminated against simply because he's a nonhuman animal."

—Source: Wall Street Journal

Eight children throughout the state have banded together to sue the state of Florida and several governmental officials on the grounds that their "deliberate indifference" to damaging effects of climate change have adverse environmental impacts.

Fourteen-year-old Oliver Chamblin of Pensacola, Florida, spoke at a recent news conference to announce the launch of the lawsuit, noting that he grew up fishing, swimming and kayaking in the waters around his home, but that the government was not doing enough to protect public trust resources like state water, forests, wetlands, groundwater and wildlife for future generations.

"Our state relies very much on tourism," Oliver said. "If we destroy our climate and our beaches, it can affect that (industry) very much. We are called the Sunshine State, but we don't take advantage of that because we could be using solar power and we don't. I'm suing the government to help take action against those things."

The lawsuit names Governor Rick Scott, along with several other state officers and agencies, including the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the Public Service Commission, as defendants. According to news reports, the plaintiffs' complaint argues the state's "systemic, historic and ongoing" practices of permitting and promoting fossil usage has caused substantial impairment to public assets, leading to a violation of the young plaintiffs' constitutional rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

The youth are supported by the nonprofit organization Our Children’s Trust, which has a similar lawsuit underway in Oregon.

—Source: pnj.com