Justia Consumer Law Opinion Summaries

A patient with a long history of severe depression and multiple suicide attempts underwent 95 electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) treatments at a Nebraska hospital between 2014 and 2016. The ECT was administered using a device manufactured by Somatics, LLC. After the treatments, the patient experienced significant memory loss and was diagnosed with a neurocognitive disorder. In 2020, he filed suit against Somatics in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, alleging negligence, strict product liability, breach of warranties, violation of Nebraska’s Consumer Protection Act, and fraudulent misrepresentation, primarily claiming that Somatics failed to adequately warn of the risks associated with ECT.The district court dismissed the claims under Nebraska’s Consumer Protection Act and for fraudulent misrepresentation, merged the strict liability and breach of implied warranty claims, and granted summary judgment to Somatics on the design defect, manufacturing defect, and breach of express warranty claims. The remaining claims for negligence and strict liability, both based on failure to warn, were merged for trial. The jury found that while Somatics failed to provide adequate warnings, this failure was not the proximate cause of the plaintiff’s injuries, and awarded no damages. The district court denied the plaintiff’s post-trial motions, including for a new trial.On appeal, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reviewed the district court’s decisions de novo for summary judgment and for abuse of discretion on evidentiary and procedural rulings. The Eleventh Circuit held that the district court properly granted summary judgment on the design defect claim, correctly merged the negligence and strict liability claims, gave an appropriate jury instruction on proximate cause, and did not abuse its discretion in excluding certain evidence and expert testimony. The judgment of the district court was affirmed. View "Thelen v. Somatics, LLC" on Justia Law

A plaintiff, Alin Pop, filed a putative class action against LuliFama.com LLC and other defendants, including several social media influencers, alleging a violation of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act (FDUTPA). Pop claimed he purchased Luli Fama swimwear after seeing influencers endorse the products on Instagram without disclosing they were paid for their endorsements. Pop argued that this non-disclosure was deceptive and violated FDUTPA.The case was initially filed in Florida state court but was removed to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida. The defendants moved to dismiss the complaint, and the district court granted the motion, dismissing the complaint with prejudice. The court held that because Pop's FDUTPA claim sounded in fraud, it was subject to the heightened pleading standards of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 9(b). The court found that Pop's complaint failed to meet this standard as it did not specify which posts led to his purchase, which defendants made those posts, when the posts were made, or which products he bought. The court also found that the complaint failed to state a claim under the ordinary pleading standards.Pop appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal, agreeing that Rule 9(b)'s particularity requirement applies to FDUTPA claims that sound in fraud. The court found that Pop's allegations closely tracked the elements of common law fraud and thus required particularity in pleading. The court also held that Pop failed to properly request leave to amend his complaint, and therefore, the district court did not err in dismissing the complaint with prejudice. View "Pop v. LuliFama.com LLC" on Justia Law

Jessica Nelson discovered errors in the informational section of her credit report from Experian, including an incorrect spelling of her maiden name, addresses to her mother’s home and attorney’s office, and a variation of her social security number. She spent time and money attempting to correct these errors by sending letters to Experian, which directed her to contact the furnishers of the information. Despite her efforts, some errors remained uncorrected, and Experian did not inform her of the corrections made.Nelson sued Experian in Alabama state court under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, alleging that Experian failed to conduct a reasonable reinvestigation into her information. Experian removed the case to federal court and sought judgment in its favor. The district court denied Experian’s motion for judgment on the pleadings, concluding that Nelson had standing based on her out-of-pocket expenses and time spent correcting the information. However, the district court later granted summary judgment in Experian’s favor on the merits of Nelson’s claim. Nelson appealed.The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reviewed the case and focused on whether Nelson had standing under Article III. The court held that spending money and time to correct errors on a credit report that has not been published to a third party or otherwise affected the plaintiff does not satisfy the standing requirements of Article III. The court found that Nelson’s efforts to correct the information were self-imposed and did not constitute a concrete injury. Additionally, the court rejected Nelson’s argument that the errors increased her risk of identity theft, finding it too speculative to constitute an imminent harm.The Eleventh Circuit vacated the district court’s judgment and remanded the case for further proceedings consistent with its opinion. View "Nelson v. Experian Information Solutions Inc." on Justia Law

Carmen Lamonaco sued Experian Information Solutions, Inc., alleging violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act after a fraudulent auto loan appeared on her credit report. She claimed Experian failed to implement reasonable procedures to ensure credit report accuracy and did not conduct a proper reinvestigation. Experian moved to compel arbitration based on a clickwrap agreement that included an arbitration clause and a delegation clause. The District Court for the Middle District of Florida denied the motion, concluding that Experian did not prove the existence of an agreement and had waived arbitration by engaging in litigation.The District Court found that Experian's declaration, which was based on internal records and described the enrollment process, lacked probative value because it did not attach the internal records or provide sufficient detail. The court also held that Experian waived its right to arbitration by participating in litigation activities such as answering the complaint, participating in a case management conference, and serving Rule 26 disclosures.The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reviewed the case and reversed the District Court's decision. The appellate court held that Experian provided competent and unrebutted evidence that Lamonaco agreed to the Terms of Use, which included the arbitration clause. The court also determined that the delegation clause in the agreement assigned the question of waiver to the arbitrator, not the court. Therefore, the District Court lacked the authority to decide the waiver issue. The Eleventh Circuit reversed and remanded the case with instructions to grant Experian's motion to compel arbitration. View "Lamonaco v. Experian Information Solutions, Inc." on Justia Law

Sara Watts, an African American woman, sued her former homeowners’ association, Joggers Run Property Owners Association (HOA), alleging racial discrimination under the Fair Housing Act (FHA) and the Civil Rights Act. Watts claimed the HOA interfered with her property enjoyment through unwarranted citations, restricted access to amenities, and discriminatory treatment as a former HOA board member. She cited provisions from the FHA (42 U.S.C. §§ 3604(b), 3617) and the Civil Rights Act (42 U.S.C. §§ 1981, 1982).The United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida dismissed Watts' claims, ruling that the FHA did not cover discriminatory conduct occurring after the purchase of her home and that Watts failed to specify the contractual terms the HOA allegedly violated. The court found her allegations insufficient to support claims under the FHA and the Civil Rights Act.The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reviewed the case. The court held that Watts presented plausible claims under the FHA and the Civil Rights Act. It found that the FHA's language is broad and inclusive, prohibiting a wide range of discriminatory conduct related to housing. The court concluded that the HOA's actions, including restricted access to amenities and selective enforcement of rules, fell within the scope of the FHA. The court also determined that Watts sufficiently alleged intentional racial discrimination causing contractual injury under Section 1981 and that the HOA's actions violated her right to use property on an equal basis with White citizens under Section 1982.The Eleventh Circuit reversed the district court's dismissal and remanded the case for further proceedings. View "Watts v. Joggers Run Property Owners Association, Inc." on Justia Law

Sheryl Glover and Cathy Booze, plaintiffs, argued that Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC, violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) by charging optional fees for expedited mortgage payments online or by phone. Ocwen offered borrowers the option to make expedited payments for an additional fee, while mailed payments incurred no fee. Glover and Booze paid these fees multiple times, but their mortgage agreements did not mention such fees.The Southern District of Florida held that Ocwen was acting as a debt collector when it charged the fees, that the fees were incidental to the principal obligation, and that they were not permitted by law nor authorized by the debt agreements. The district court awarded actual damages to Glover and Booze. Ocwen appealed the decision.The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reviewed the case. The court held that Ocwen, as a debt collector, violated the FDCPA by charging an amount not expressly authorized by the agreement creating the debt or permitted by law. The court emphasized that the FDCPA prohibits debt collectors from collecting any amount unless it is expressly authorized by the debt agreement or permitted by law. The court found that the convenience fees were not permitted by law, as neither the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) nor the Electronic Funds Transfer Act (EFTA) substantively authorized such fees. The court affirmed the district court’s judgment in favor of Glover and Booze. View "Glover v. Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC" on Justia Law

In 2014, plaintiff filed suit against NCO for violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) because NCO attempted to collect medical debts from her (Vanover I). Plaintiff then filed suit against NCO in Florida state court alleging violations of the TCPA, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FCPA), and the Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act (FCCPA) (Vanover II). The Eleventh Circuit held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying the permissive joinder of additional parties because plaintiff's failure to timely amend her complaint in Vanover I to include these parties did not justify subjecting NCO to duplicative litigation. Furthermore, NCO had no obligation to seek consolidation of Vanover I and Vanover II. Therefore, the district court properly acted within its discretion when it denied plaintiff's motion to permissively join additional parties. The Eleventh Circuit, as a matter of first impression, agreed with the test announced by the Tenth Circuit that claim-spitting is not whether there is finality of judgment, but whether the first suit, assuming it were final, would preclude the second suit. Consequently, the district court did not err by dismissing Vanover II for improper claim-splitting. The court affirmed the judgment. View "Vanover v. NCO Financial Services" on Justia Law

Plaintiff filed suit under the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA), 18 U.S.C. 2710, alleging that the CNN App, without a user's knowledge, both tracks the user's views of news articles and videos and also collects a record of this viewing activity. CNN sends the collected record of viewing activity to Bango, a third party company. Bango is able to compile personal information, including the user's name, location, phone number, email address, and payment information, and it can attribute this information to a single user across different devices and platforms. The district court dismissed the amended complaint. The court held that a plaintiff, such as the one in this case, satisfied the concreteness requirement of Article III standing where the plaintiff alleges a violation of the VPPA for wrongful disclosure. The court agreed with the district court that plaintiff is not a "subscriber" as defined by the VPPA such that CNN may be held liable. The court noted that it need not address whether CNN provided plaintiff's "personally identifiable information" to a third party. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment. View "Perry v. Cable News Network, Inc." on Justia Law

Plaintiffs-Appellants James and Karen Feggestad appealed the district court’s order dismissing their complaint against defendants-appellees, Kerzner International Bahamas Limited, Kerzner International Limited, Island Hotel Company Limited, Paradise Island Limited, and Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (collectively, "Kerzner"), on the basis of a valid forum selection clause. The Feggestads made reservations at the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island, Bahamas (Atlantis) and received a reservation confirmation via their email address. The confirmation contained a section titled "Terms and Conditions" and included a hyperlink advising guests to view the other terms and conditions. This link provided advance notification that any dispute between the guest and the hotel or any affiliated company must be litigated exclusively in the Bahamas and that upon arrival at the Atlantis, the guest would be required to sign a registration form that included a Bahamian forum selection clause. When the Feggestads checked into the hotel, the resort asked them to sign a registration card, which also included an "acknowledgement, agreement and release," which also listed the clause at issue here. Several days after their arrival at the Atlantis, Mr. Feggestad slipped and fell on a wet sidewalk and sustained severe personal injuries. He later sued, and the forum-selection clause became an issue. After reviewing the record, reading the parties briefs and having the benefit of oral argument, the Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal. View "Feggestad v. Kerzner International Bahamas Limited, et al." on Justia Law

Plaintiffs filed suit against defendants, alleging that the five letters sent to them between May 16 and December 13, 2013 violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), 15 U.S.C. 1692 et seq., and/or the Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act (FCCPA), Fla. Stat. 559.55 et seq. The district court granted summary judgment to defendants. The court concluded, however, that the district court erred in concluding that the HOA fine at issue is not a debt for FCCPA purposes and granting summary judgment on that basis. The court did not decide whether under Florida law Marbella could be vicariously liable for the FCCPA violations of its agent because the district court failed to apply Florida law in the first instance. Accordingly, the court reversed the district court’s grant of summary judgment to Affinity, vacated the grant of summary judgment to Marbella, and remanded to the district court for further proceedings. View "Agrelo v. The Meloni Law Firm" on Justia Law