Class Action: Cash or Credit?

Pick a card, any card

Visa and Mastercard are just two companies ordered to pay over $900m in the latest from a class action lawsuit. Other defendants include JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, and Citigroup. Much of the settlement and disagreement was around card-swiping fees, ie the banks were over-charging for uses of credit and debit cards, everywhere from major retail stores to smaller mom-and-pop shops. In this iteration of the settlement, Visa will pay an additional $600m, Mastercard will pay another $108m, and the other banks will make up the rest, totaling $900m. That amount is to be added on to the remainder of the lawsuit, which now exceeds $6b. The lawsuit was filed in a U.S. Eastern District Court of New York.

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Operating on Autopilot

Hardly working

While some employees wish they could take a quick nap while their bosses are not looking, one California DMV employee took snoozing on the job to a whole new level.  From February 2014 until December 2017, the worker slept at least 3 hours a day at her job.  The daily naps continued for nearly 4 years, with little to no discipline issued to her by supervisors. Continue reading →

Things Get Stranger: Man Sues Netflix

There’s a storm coming

Netflix has had tons of success in the last few years, rising from the ashes to become a technology powerhouse. The business model is a low cost, subscription-based service providing content to consumers who love their tv shows and movies. One of the most successful pieces of original content is the Netflix-original Stranger Things, a sci-fi / fantasy series about kids in the 1980s who experience (you guessed it) “strange things”. Even stranger is that the now famous images used to promote the show, which an ominous thunderstorm system moving through the clouds, allegedly infringes on a Montana photographer’s copyright. As such, he is taking Netflix to court and seeking damages regarding this misuse of his image. Continue reading →

Cheaters Never Win

Love hurts

Typically, adultery is mentioned as a cause for divorce, but in the state of North Carolina, it may be grounds for a lawsuit. Francisco Huizar III plans to appeal an order requiring him to pay $8.8 million to the husband of a woman he romantically pursued for 16 months. Despite the debate behind North Carolina’s arguably outdated alienation of affection laws, Keith King felt it necessary to take legal action against the man whom he points to as the catalyst for his shattered marriage to Danielle Swords. Continue reading →

Facebook Advertisers Call Foul

Thumbs down

Another day, another Facebook lawsuit. This time around, the slings and arrows aimed at Mark Zuckerberg and co are from their advertisers, who claim that the Facebook ad platform misled them. The main point of contention is the “Potential Reach” number, an ambiguous total provided by Facebook to help agencies spend their money. Unfortunately, an astute advertiser noticed that the “Potential Reach” number for Facebook users between 18-34 actually exceeds the amount of people in that age group, in every state. This particular social media lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court in North California, and will likely bring in more plaintiffs. Continue reading →