“Disney has filed a motion to have Scarlett Johansson’s lawsuit against the company moved to private arbitration, the latest in the ongoing saga of her complaint against the company over Black Widow’s streaming release. Disney’s lawyers filed the motion Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court on the grounds,” reports Catie Keck in The Verge.

“Periwinkle Entertainment, which negotiated her deal, agreed that any claims related to her role in the Marvel film would be handled in confidential arbitration. But the motion also took several swipes at Johansson’s complaint that argued Marvel, compelled by its parent company Disney, breached an agreement when Black Widow debuted.”

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“Community members affected by the 2018 explosion at the Husky oil refinery in Superior will be able to seek compensation now that a $1 million settlement has been reached in a federal class-action lawsuit. Husky Energy reached the $1.05 million agreement with Superior residents,” reports Danielle Kaeding in Wisconsin Public Radio.

“The lawsuit was filed in August 2018 due to losses experienced as a result of an explosion and series of fires at the refinery April 26, 2018. The explosion caused a temporary evacuation of the city and injured three dozen people. Husky is not admitting any wrongdoing or liability as part of the settlement. Up to 20,000 community members are eligible for compensation.”

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“T-Mobile has been hit with a pair of class-action lawsuits in Washington federal court as the number of current and former customers impacted by a cyberattack against the telecommunications giant grows. One of the lawsuits, Espanoza v. T-Mobile USA, accuses T-Mobile of putting plaintiffs,” reports Lucas Manfredi in Fox Business.

“Armed with the Private Information accessed in the Data Breach, data thieves can commit a variety of crimes, including but not limited to fraudulently applying for unemployment benefits, opening new financial accounts in Class Members’ names, taking out loans in Class Members’ names, using Class Members’ information.”

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“Two years after it agreed to pay $53.5 million to settle a lawsuit that alleged the company was shorting thousands of state residents and businesses on gas royalty payments, one of West Virginia’s largest natural gas producers wants a federal judge to block gas leaseholders from going after the,” reports Mike Tony in Charleston Gazette-Mail.

“Pittsburgh-based EQT Production Co. has filed a motion asking the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia to block gas leaseholders from proceeding with their circuit court litigation against EQT, arguing that the settlement agreement prohibits further action against the company for royalty claims.”

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“After decades of lawsuits, negotiations and false starts, the state has purchased a 96-acre swath of undeveloped land near Coast Guard Training Center Cape May for $19 million. That’s according to Concerned Citizens for Sewell Tract Preservation, a nonprofit that formed about seven years ago and got involved as a plaintiff intervenor in the long running litigation over the future of the site,” reports Bill Barlow in The Press of Atlantic City.

“The group announced that the owners of the property, East Cape May Associates, and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection had completed a settlement on the city’s largest undeveloped parcel. Jacob Perskie, an attorney representing East Cape May Associates, declined to comment. He said he did not have authorization from his clients to discuss the matter.”

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“SpaceX’s $3 billion contract to build a lunar lander for NASA was put on hold for a second time on Thursday after Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin sued over the award, according to court filings. NASA voluntarily agreed to temporarily suspend the contract until November 1st while the US Court of Federal Claims, where Blue Origin filed suit last week, adjudicates the case,” reports Joey Roulette in The Verge.

“Blue Origin had asked the court to grant a pause on SpaceX’s contract while the litigation plays out, according to a person familiar with the company’s sealed filings. NASA, eager to land astronauts on the Moon around 2024, agreed to halt SpaceX’s contract on the condition that all parties agreed to “an expedited litigation schedule that concludes on Nov. 1,” a spokesperson for the agency said. “NASA officials are continuing to work with the Department of Justice to review the details of the case and look forward to a timely resolution of this matter.”

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“Underscoring the growing importance of instant-messaging and online chat rooms in the workplace, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has gone back to court in its lawsuit against Ripple Labs — this time, to demand access to more communications between Ripple employees on Slack, a popular chat and messaging application used by businesses,” reports Michelle Lim in Forkast.

“In a letter dated Aug. 9 to U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn, SEC attorney Jorge Tenreiro complained that a “massive quantity” of Slack data from Ripple was missing from discovery and that the SEC was entitled to see those messages.”

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“Former Chicago Cubs utilityman Ben Zobrist dropped his lawsuit against pastor Byron Yawn that sought $6 million in damages stemming from Yawn’s extramarital affair with Zobrist’s estranged wife, Julianna, and an allegation that Yawn defrauded his charity. According to a court document the Tribune obtained, attorney Larry Crain filed a notice Thursday in Nashville (Tenn.) Circuit Court voluntarily,” reports Phil Thompson in Journal Star.

“The notice did not list a reason why Zobrist decided to drop the case. The Tribune attempted to reach Crain via email but didn’t immediately receive a response. Zobrist first filed the lawsuit May 6, alleging that Yawn’s affair with Julianna which she admitted to having during a deposition for the divorce constituted intentional infliction of emotional distress. He also alleged that Yawn fraudulently collected on his $3,500 per month.”

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“A judge ordered the Conrad Fort Lauderdale Beach developer to pay back $2.7 million in loans and interest to project financiers who allegedly have ties to the Odebrecht corruption scandal. Jose Luis Zapata and the Viyella family, through their CFLB Partnership, developed the 24 story oceanfront condo hotel with 290 units at 551 North Fort Lauderdale Beach Boulevard,” reports Lidia Dinkova in The Real Deal.

“Lenders Diamond Blue International, based in Anguilla, British West Indies; and Fundacion Lemar, of Panama City, sued CFLB in 2016 alleging default of $1 million in financing each had issued the prior year. An attorney for CFLB Partnership alleges the lenders are tied to the sons of former Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli, Luis Enrique and Ricardo Alberto Martinelli.”

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“Butler County could receive more than $5 million and access to many millions more in a huge statewide settlement with the big three opioid distributors and Johnson & Johnson. The county commissioners signed the agreement Monday which clears the way for a potential direct payment of $3.8 to $5.4 million and access to a share in $38 to $54.4 million more, as part of regional group of seven counties,” reports Denise G. Callahan in Journal News.

“The payments would be over 17 years but the deal was contingent on 95% of the state litigants agreeing to the settlement by today. The county’s share is part of a nationwide $26 billion settlement brokered by state attorneys general with the three largest opioid distributors Cardinal, McKesson and AmerisourceBergen and Johnson & Johnson. Nearly 4,000 jurisdictions nationwide filed lawsuits in state and federal courts years ago.”

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“Wahpeton The massive diversion project that will protect Fargo-Moorhead from severe floods is helping to build houses in a roundabout way in towns around Wahpeton and Breckenridge. The Metro Flood Diversion Authority agreed last fall to pay a $75 million settlement with Richland County in North Dakota and neighboring Wilkin County in Minnesota to end all legal and administrative challenges,” reports Patrick Springer in Grand Forks Herald.

“The two counties both of which will sustain impacts and are located upstream from a dam that will be built on the Red River have selected housing as their top priority for the settlement money. So far, $12 million of the settlement has been dedicated, including Richland County’s $8 million share and $4 million for Wilkin County. Both counties are combating a housing shortage and have identified home building as an effective way to stem their population.”

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“North Carolina tenants secured a federal court’s final approval of a $4.75 million class settlement resolving allegations that several apartment investment and management companies unlawfully sent collection letters and charged eviction-related fees. Their attorneys’ request for $1.3 million,” reports Julie Steinberg in Bloomberg Law.

“Randi Milroy and Dan Williams alleged Bell Partners Inc., LSREF3 Bravo Raleigh LLC, and Hudson Capital Weston LLC violated the North Carolina Residential Rental Agreements Act, North Carolina Debt Collection Act, and North Carolina Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act. Their lawsuit was dismissed in 2019, prompting.”

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“Takeda Pharmaceutical Co has agreed to pay $1.85 million to settle claims by consumers that its predecessor Shire PLC delayed the launch of a generic version of its ADHD drug Intuniv through an illegal settlement with generic drugmaker Actavis. The consumers, known as indirect purchasers because,” reports Brendan Pierson in Reuters.

“They bought brand-name or generic Intuniv through intermediaries, asked U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs to approve the deal on Friday. The indirect purchasers last year settled for $1.1 million with Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd, which bought Actavis in 2015. Conlee Whiteley of Kanner & Whiteley, a lawyer for the indirect.”

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“An insurer that refused a $399,000 settlement offer may have to pay more than $1.7 million because of a settlement that was made separately between its policyholder and an aggrieved customer, under a unanimous decision by the Washington Supreme Court on Thursday. The high court overturned a decision by the Court of Appeals and reinstated a judgment by a Spokane Count Superior Court judge,” reports Jim Sams in Claims Journal.

“The Court of Appeals had decided that the trial court erred by approving a covenant settlement far in excess of the actual damages. In finding an abuse of discretion, the Court of Appeals majority misapprehended parts of the record and substituted its assessment of the competing damages evaluations for the trial court’s assessment, the Supreme Court said. The American Property Casualty Insurance Association and the National Association.”

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“Plaintiffs lawyers eyeing big paydays from the $26 billion settlement resolving claims that the three largest U.S. drug distributors and Johnson & Johnson fueled the opioid epidemic were delivered a reality check after a federal judge capped their contingency fees at 15%. U.S. District Judge Dan Polster, the Cleveland, Ohio-based judge tasked with overseeing thousands of federal lawsuits over the epidemic, in a decision,” reports Nate Raymond in Reuters.

“But Polster said a cap on how much lawyers could earn if they enforce their fee contracts against the counties and cities that hired them was necessary to ensure money meant to help address the drug crisis was used for that purpose. The proposed deal, announced on July 21, calls for the distributors McKesson Corp, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen to pay a combined $21 billion while the drugmaker J&J would pay another $5 billion.”

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“Johnson & Johnson notched a win Friday, with a $50 million talc lawsuit rejected in Illinois however, tens of thousands of cases are still pending. J&J recently reported 34,600 talc related lawsuits have now been filed which is up from just over 20,000 last year. The Illinois case, filed in 2018 by relatives on behalf of Elizabeth Driscoll who died from ovarian cancer in 2016, sought up to $50 million,” reports Beth Snyder Bulik in Fierce Pharma.

“J&J said in a statement to Fierce Pharma Another jury, following careful consideration of the science and facts presented, has unanimously agreed that Johnson’s Baby Powder is safe, does not contain asbestos and does not cause cancer. It pointed a finger at lawyers adding the plaintiff trial bar continues to push forward its misinformation campaign to media to drive baseless and inflammatory headlines in the hopes they can force a resolution of these cases.”

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“Plaid Inc has agreed to pay $58 million to resolve consumers’ claims that the financial technology company obtained and used bank account credentials and financial information without consent. San Francisco-based Plaid also agreed in the nationwide settlement to change certain business practices, according to filings Thursday in California federal court made by lawyers for consumers,” reports Sara Merken in Reuters.

“Plaintiffs look forward to presenting the settlement and its benefits for consumers to the court, Rachel Geman of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, Christopher Cormier of Burns Charest and Shawn Kennedy of Herrera Kennedy, lawyers for the plaintiffs, said in a statement. Michael Rhodes of Cooley, lead counsel for Plaid, said in a statement the settlement resolves claims that go back to the earliest days of the company.”

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“Free glucometers, waived co-pays and claims made for dead patients. An Antioch call center whistleblower alerted the U.S. government to a bundle of Medicare false claim schemes in a suit that led this week to the largest settlement in Middle Tennessee history. Greg Goodman, 59, knew something was off when he took a call center job at a medical supply company nearly a decade ago,” reports Mariah Timms in Tennessean.

“Now retired, Goodman had worked as an account executive for investment firms but after the 2008 recession wanted to get his foot in the door of the health care industry. Even though he had little experience in the field, he felt the way the company was pushing customer service representatives to sell glucose meters and waive co-pays wasn’t normal. It did not feel right, Goodman told The Tennessean on Monday.”

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“The case has taken more than four years, but the Sullivan Baby Doe opioid lawsuit has reached a settlement to the tune of $35 million. Plaintiffs and the sole remaining defendant reached a settlement agreement on Tuesday, with the announcement on Thursday at the Sullivan County Courthouse,” reports Marina Waters in Times News.

“The agreement is the largest any plaintiffs have reached with opioid producers Endo Health Solutions Inc. and Endo Pharmaceuticals. I’m pleased to have this resolved, said J. Gerard Stranch IV, the managing partner of the firm representing Baby Doe and the participating cities and counties in the case.”

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“Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner’s lawsuit last week against state Attorney General Josh Shapiro was not the only roadblock toward reaching an agreement on the proposed $21 billion settlement with opioid distributors. While Krasner waited until Thursday to denounce,” reports J.D. Prose in Go Erie.

“The agreement and file the suit, Washington state’s attorney general rejected the settlement on Wednesday, the same day it was announced, saying that the deal was deficient in numerous ways for his state. Krasner felt the same, describing the deal as unacceptable for his addiction ravaged city and claiming Shapiro lacks the authority.”

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