Legal Information » Settlements

Consumer Takes Honda Motor Co. To Small Claims Court

Michele — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 17:28:39 +0000

Los Angeles, CA — Unhappy with a class-action settlement against Honda Motor Co. Heather Peters has filed a suit in Small Claims Court. Peters is one of many consumers angry that her 2006 Honda Civic hybrid does not get the miles per gallon claimed by Honda Motor Co. The class-action settlement gives the lawyers $8.5 million and the owners of the Civics $100 each plus rebate coupons for the purchase of a new car. Peters decided to take her case to Small Claims Court in Torrance where under California law, attorneys are not allowed, only a representative from the company may come. She is asking for the maximum of $10,000. She is also encouraging other Civic owners to do the same with her website, DontSettleWithHonda.org. Peters’ court date is Jan. 3. I can’t wait to see how she does!

Gay Student Settles Lawsuit

kellym — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 19:07:24 +0000

A federal judge today approved a settlement by a gay teenager who claims he was relentlessly bullied by classmates. The teenager has settled a lawsuit against an upstate New York school district.

The student doesn’t want his full name revealed and is only identified by Jacob. Jacob sued the Mohawk Central School District in federal court over the summer with help from the New York Civil Liberties Union. He says that school officials did nothing to stop bullies who picked on him because he acted differently than other boys. The school district denied the allegations in the complaint.

Under the settlement, the district is to pay $50,000 to Jacob’s family and to implement changes to protect all students from harassment. Jacob has agreed to dismiss the lawsuit against the school district and its employees, and the Justice Department agreed to withdraw its motion to intervene.

Judge approves $9.5 million Facebook settlement

kellym — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 22:39:35 +0000

A federal judge on Wednesday has given approval to a $9.5 million settlement over Facebook’s controversial Beacon advertising feature. This feature broadcasts what users were purchasing online to their friends. Facebook denied any wrongdoing under the settlement. At least $6 million is required by the the terms of the settlement to be put in a “Digital Trust Fund” that will issue grants to researchers studying online privacy.

Tim Sparapani, Facebook public policy director; Chris Jay Hoofnagle, head of the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology; and privacy advocate Larry Magid will comprise the board of the fund.

Wired.com noted that “only a handful of the estimated 3.5 million class members are to receive financial damages.” $3 million of the total $9.5 million settlement will be received by the class action plaintiffs’ attorneys.

$160M settlement to be paid by Wachovia

kellym — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 22:22:17 +0000

Wachovia Bank N.A. will pay $160 million to settle federal charges that it enabled Mexican exchange houses to launder drug money.

Drug dealers moved funds between the United States and Mexico. The houses facilitated money transfers between the two countries.

The Charlotte-based bank was acquired by Wells Fargo & Co. of San Francisco and stopped dealing with the exchanges. A Wachovia press release states Wells Fargo knew about a federal investigation before buying Wachovia in late 2008. Wells Fargo established reserves to pay the settlement.

Money laundering statutes have since been taken into higher action with the Wachovia compliance program.

Wachovia has a 15.14 percent market share in the Triad as of June 30 with $5.8 billion in deposits, second only to BB&T, with 40.61 percent of the market.

Subway To Give Away $2 Gift Cards As Settlement

admin — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 22:53:26 +0000

Subway is giving away $2 worth of gift cards as part of a settlement with the state because their advertised specials were not honored in certain Subway locations.

The sandwich makers are giving away 142,000 $2 gift cards but the catch is that only one card per California household will be issued.

As soon as you sign up on their website, the card takes about 10 to 12 weeks to arrive.

You can enter your mailing address here.