COVID-19

U.S. District Court Denies Motion for Class Certification against Amazon But Leaves Door Open for A Second Bite at the Amazon Apple

On March 7, 2023, U.S. District Court Judge Chhabria of the Northern District of California denied a motion to certify a class of 7,000 Amazon employees seeking reimbursement for their home internet expenses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Plaintiff David G. Williams, an Amazon employee, argued that Amazon violated the California Labor Code 2802 by failing to reimburse its employees’ internet expenses incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. Williams’ arguments focused on two main points: (1) Amazon’s “common policy” only allowed reimbursements for employees whose home internet expenses increased and (2) Amazon failed to reimburse the Class even […]

By |2023-03-17T12:21:43-04:00March 17th, 2023|Practice Areas: Labor & Employment|Topics: , , , |
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Student Files Class Action Lawsuit to Recover In-Person Tuition and Fees During Covid-19 Pandemic

In May 2020, Plaintiff Keller J. Mellowitz, a student at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, filed a class-action complaint against the University for breach of contract and unjust enrichment.  The student contended that the university failed to reimburse students for on-campus college activities interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic during the Spring of 2020.  The class action seeks to recover the cost of in-person tuition and other fees for a proposed class of approximately twenty-thousand affected students.

Initially, the suit was derailed because of a 2021 Indiana law retroactively prohibiting class-action lawsuits against state universities over COVID-19 […]

By |2022-12-13T14:20:27-05:00December 13th, 2022|Practice Areas: Class Action, General|Topics: , , , |
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State Farm Policy Holders Granted Class Certification in COVID-19 Insurance Recovery Class Action

On August 19, 2021, in a first-of-its-kind ruling, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia granted class certification to a statewide class of Virginia businesses in a COVID-19 insurance recovery class action.  The Court granted class certification to a class of at least 111 Virginia businesses that, between March 23 and June 20, 2020, submitted insurance claims to State Farm for pandemic-related business losses.  The losses stemmed from the COVID-19 restrictions put in place in Virginia that required many recreational businesses to close—and then only permitted them to reopen at limited capacity […]

By |2021-08-27T14:56:20-04:00August 27th, 2021|Practice Areas: Class Action|Topics: , , |
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Colleges and Universities Mandating COVID-19 Vaccines for Students to Return to Campus

After over a year, it appears there is finally light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel.  With over 85 million Americans fully vaccinated and millions more being vaccinated each month, a semblance of normalcy is slowly beginning to return.  As a result, colleges and universities are forming plans for students to safely return to campus for something resembling a normal school year in the fall of 2021.  Key for many institutions is a requirement that returning students be fully vaccinated for COVID-19.  Georgetown University, Brown University, and the University of Notre Dame, just to name […]

By |2021-05-04T10:33:46-04:00May 4th, 2021|Practice Areas: Class Action|Topics: , , , |
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Universities and Colleges Face Class Action Lawsuits Amid Reopening

With students returning back to school, there has been a large number of reported outbreaks of COVID-19. Many students and parents are filing suits for breach of contracts as it relates to remote learning and the impact that social distancing and campus closures have on students and their learning experience. University staff has also been filing suits saying that schools have not been taking the appropriate measures to protect staff from exposure to the virus.

Attorneys, Matthew D. Berkowitz, Brian O’Shea, and Samantha Lewis dive deep into possible causations and significant hurdles for class certification.

By |2020-10-15T10:45:10-04:00September 17th, 2020|Practice Areas: Class Action, General, Podcast|Topics: , , |
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Colleges and Universities Face Flurry of New Coronavirus Cases As They Re-Open for Fall Semester

As colleges and universities re-open their doors for the fall semester, the return of students has been closely followed by a substantial increase in coronavirus cases—and significant public scrutiny.  Administrators are stuck between a rock and a hard place:  Do we remain closed and charge students full tuition for another semester of virtual learning?  Or do we welcome students back to campus and attempt to test as many students as often as possible while imposing social distancing rules?  Many schools have opted for the latter.  The University of North Carolina and the University of Notre Dame, […]

By |2020-08-21T09:45:49-04:00August 21st, 2020|Practice Areas: Class Action|Topics: , , |
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COVID-19 and a Potential Fall Without College Sports

On August 11, 2020, both the Big Ten and the PAC 12 conferences announced they would “postpone” fall sports due to the COVID-19 pandemic—the first of the “Power 5” conferences to do so.  Their decision came on the heels of several other leagues, including the Mountain West Conference and the Mid-American Conference, postponing their fall sports until the spring.  It is unclear whether other conferences, including the SEC, ACC, and Big XII, which are still scheduled to play sports this fall, will follow suit.

The danger of serious illness and the possibility of significant spread of the […]

By |2020-08-12T09:40:33-04:00August 12th, 2020|Practice Areas: Class Action, General|Topics: , , |
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Hospitality Industry Begins To Feel The Brunt of COVID-19 Related Class Action Lawsuits

The hospitality industry is at the top of the list of industries impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.  With travel having largely come to a standstill, hotels, cruise lines, and airlines are all feeling the pinch and finding their footing in a world gripped by a global pandemic.  The hospitality industry, however, like many other industries, has also begun to face COVID-19-related class actions.

A lawsuit filed on June 24, 2020 in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington accuses cruise line Holland America and its parent company, Carnival, of exposing over one […]

By |2020-06-29T17:02:47-04:00June 29th, 2020|Practice Areas: Class Action|Topics: , , |
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Students Seek Tuition and Fee Reimbursement in Light of COVID-19

There are several class actions being filed against major universities across the country in light of COVID-19. Attorneys Matthew Berkowitz, Brian O’Shea, and Samantha Lewis discuss the major types of claims students are filing. For example, students are claiming they are not receiving the same college experience that they are paying for while the universities are trying to follow state guidelines in response to coronavirus. They also dive into class certifications issues that might come up like different expectations of what a college experience is, different majors, and financial aid status with their education.

By |2020-06-18T14:08:47-04:00June 16th, 2020|Practice Areas: Class Action, Podcast|Topics: , |
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Insurance Carriers Face COVID-19 Class Action Claims

The government-enforced lockdowns around the country have led to a wave of COVID-19 related business interruption claims. Insurance carriers that denied these claims now face class action suits from their insureds. While it is generally the case that an insured can bring breach of contract actions against carriers that deny claims, insureds seeking to sue their carriers in class action suits face additional obstacles.

Case in point, in the pending federal Western District of Washington case Germack DDS v. The Dentists Ins. Co.,  the insurer, The Dentists Insurance Company (TDIC)  filed a Motion to Strike and Dismiss […]

By |2020-06-05T10:27:44-04:00June 5th, 2020|Practice Areas: Class Action, General|Topics: , |
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Long-Term Care Facilities Being Hit With Class Action Lawsuits

Americans over the age of 65 have become more at risk with the spread of COVID-19 than any other age group. As a result, COVID-19 has been going through nursing homes in many states that have been the hotbed to this disease like New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

Many of them will be facing class actions in the upcoming months for not following CDC guidelines and supplying employees with proper equipment to protect them from COVID-19. Listen to this episode as attorneys Matthew Berkowitz, Brian O’Shea, and Samantha Lewis discuss this trending class action topic and […]

By |2020-06-02T18:50:20-04:00June 2nd, 2020|Practice Areas: Podcast|Topics: , |
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Take Me Out To The Ball Game

Attorneys Matthew D. Berkowitz and Brian O’Shea discuss the many class action lawsuits that have the potential to arise out of professional sports during COVID-19. Both the NFL and MLB are planning to reopen soon in certain states and with that comes many legal concerns they need to consider. Many class actions will come out of this with exposure to the players and stadium workers as well as employment issues. Matt and Brian discuss the defenses that these teams can take as they head into their seasons.

 

By |2020-05-23T13:28:07-04:00May 22nd, 2020|Practice Areas: Podcast|Topics: , |
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