#1 ERISA Lawsuit Targets ESOP ScamWilmington, DE Set against the backdrop of California’s notorious water wars, the 1974 film “Chinatown,” focuses on the mysterious Evelyn, who must finally explain whether a young girl is her daughter or her sister. The awful truth unfolds. She is murdered – shot through the eye as her daughter or sister screams. Evelyn’s private detective/lover is told to leave it alone; he doesn’t understand what’s going on. His partner utters the grim tagline, “Forget it Jake; it’s Chinatown,” from which the movie takes its title. In Alvarez v. Wilmington Trust, the latest Wilmington Trust ERISA lawsuit, the prize at the center of the story is not water rights, but the vast sums of money held in Employee Stock Ownership Plans, ERISA retirement plans designed to invest primarily in employer stock.
#2 3M Cannot Use “Government Contractor Defense” as Earplugs Lawsuit ContinuesPensacola, FL A federal judge ruled in July that 3M ‘s defective earplug excuse cannot invoke the “government contractor defense,” which was key to 3M. The company has used this reasoning because it protects contractors from tort liability for defects in products designed and developed for the federal government, and 3M claimed its combat arms earplugs were designed in close collaboration with the military. Now that 3M is no longer immune to this defense, bellweather discovery is underway.
#4 FDA Update on BIA-ALCL Finds More Cases, More DeathsSilver Spring, MD On August 20, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration provided an update on adverse events relating to breast implants, including breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma. The new FDA update on BIA-ALCL reports a total of 733 cases and 36 patient deaths globally, an increase of 160 new cases and 3 deaths since July 2019. Of those 733 cases, 84.6 percent involved Allergan implants.
#5 Farmers Insurance Overtime Pay Settlement – Over and Over AgainLos Angeles, CA Farmers Insurance has agreed to settle a California wage and hour lawsuit brought by Famers special investigators alleging failure to pay overtime, including meal breaks and rest periods. The settlement includes anyone who worked in California for Farmers as a special investigator between 2013 and 2018. And this is not the first time Famers has settled an overtime claim.
#9 California Refinery Workers Clinch $4.4 Settlement in Rest Break LawsuitLos Angeles, CA On August 24, the District Court for the Central District of California gave final approval to a settlement under which ExxonMobil, PBF Energy Limited and Torrance Refining Company, LLC will pay a total of nearly $4.4 million to settle a class action lawsuit in which refinery workers claim that they were denied the paid rest breaks required under California labor law.
#10 Aftermath of a Horrific Amusement Park AccidentLouisville, KY It is not only a parent's worst nightmare but anyone's worst nightmare??"in this case an Amusement Park Accident at a popular theme park that resulted in a 13-year-old girl having both of her feet severed above the ankle. Kaitlyn Lasitter survived, and doctors were able to re-attach her right foot. But they could not save her left, and Kaitlyn now walks with a prosthesis.
