Paul Bland recently spoke to the Sinclair Broadcasting Group about the Takata airbag recall, which affects over 17 million cars. In some airbags, the device becomes defective and causes sharp shards to explode in the face of the passenger during a crash. These airbags have been linked to 13 deaths and more than 100 injuries.
Two weeks ago, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau unveiled a new rule that would prohibit lenders from including forced arbitration clauses with class action bans in their lending contracts. Today, Public Justice’s Executive Director, Paul Bland, will testify in front of the House’s Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee in support of this rule.
One of the first things I learned in law school was that a corporation’s “continuous and systematic” economic activities in a particular state were sufficient to subject the company to personal jurisdiction in that state. That’s what the U.S. Supreme Court held way back in 1945. And that that remained essentially undisturbed for over 70 years. In 2014, however, the Supreme Court gave corporations a brand-new defense that they are now employing with great gusto in courts across the country. Public Justice is challenging that in a newly filed amicus brief, taking on corporations that are attempting to limit injured plaintiffs’ access to justice by advocating a narrow reading of Supreme Court precedent to effectively deny injury victims access to state courts.
After years of discussions and debates, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is unveiling a major new rule that will prohibit lenders from including forced arbitration clauses with class action bans in their lending contracts.
A powerful blow has just been struck by the Ninth Circuit today, as it’s rejected a corporation’s effort to escape from legal liability by paying off a few individuals to wipe away the claims of thousands. This is a gigantic victory for consumers and workers.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit announced that TransUnion – one of the three big credit reporting agencies and one of the most powerful corporations in America – went too far in trying to slip an arbitration clause past consumers in a way they wouldn’t notice.
And now for some rare but good news on the class action front from the U.S. Supreme Court:
For months now, Supreme Court watchers have been waiting with bated breath to see whether food industry giant Tyson Foods, Inc. would succeed in its bid to reverse a $5.8 million judgment in favor of Iowa meat processing employees who were not paid for their time “donning and doffing” protective equipment.
Well guess what? Tyson Foods lost.
As the New York Times recently reported, corporations have been taking away Americans’ ability to sue in court if the company harms them, without most people even being aware that they have given up their Constitutional rights. Corporations do this by slipping provisions into “terms and conditions” on the back of product packaging, or on the bottom of webpages, or buried in dense contracts that patients must sign before entering a hospital or nursing home.
When James Hayes took out a loan for $2525 via the Western Sky lending company, he probably expected, like most consumers do, that he would be charged some interest. But by any reasonable standard, the 139.12% rate he was effectively charged—turning his initial $2525 loan into a $14,093 debt—was jaw-dropping.
by Gabriel Hopkins Thornton-Robb Attorney Scott Tucker loves fast cars. That might be why he raced to the bottom as the owner and operator of a payday lending business whose complicated and lopsided repayment plan duped millions of consumers. Now the details of this operation…