Illinois Injury and Mass Tort Lawyer Blog

In a recent case filed in the Northern District of California, Gyorke-Takatri v. Nestle USA, Inc., the court concluded that a party to a class action case who seeks removal to a federal court must offer sufficient admissible evidence to show that there is an adequate jurisdictional basis for removal. The underlying case involved a plaintiff’s allegations about the defendant’s Gerber Graduates Puffs product, which bears a label depicting a variety of fruit and vegetables. The plaintiffs sought to represent a class of in-state consumers who claim that these images were misleading by leading consumers to believe the products were healthier than they actually are. Ultimately, based on its conclusion, the Northern District of California granted the plaintiff’s motion to remand.

In their motion for remand, the plaintiffs alleged that the defendant failed to meet its burden, which required it to show by a preponderance of the evidence that the amount in controversy in the case exceeded five million dollars. This requirement is part of the federal Class Action Fairness Act (“CAFA”), 28 U.S.C. 1332(d). In order to prove that the amount in controversy requirement under CAFA has been satisfied, the party must show that the total amount of damages sought in the lawsuit, exclusive of attorneys’ fees, costs, and interest, exceeds five million dollars.

Continue reading →

A recent investigative report from the New York Times suggests that many contracts that consumers sign on a regular basis include severe and harsh provisions that effectively abolish the consumers’ rights to combat unfair and deceptive business practices. Most of these contracts are lengthy, complex, and difficult to understand, discouraging consumers from digging too deeply into the provisions and the impact of what they may be signing. Cell phone contracts are one of the most common examples of this type of contract, but they can also come with certain product purchases or even medical services.

The article discusses some specific examples involving credit card contracts, which impose an arbitration requirement on the signing party. Arbitration is a process that supplants the traditional judicial system and right to a jury. In an arbitration, the parties meet with a single, agreed upon arbitrator who is often a former lawyer or judge. The arbitrator’s decision is binding on the parties, and the parties are virtually precluded from bringing an action in court. In many cases, these arbitration requirement provisions will also specify the venue where the arbitration must take place, the set of arbitration rules that will apply, and who will be responsible for the cost of the arbitration.

Continue reading →