Class action lawsuits against large corporations are booming in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic. This month, we examined class action suits against both United Airlines and Ticketmaster regarding their wavering ticket refund policies. Unsurprisingly, given the chaos surrounding the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”), several major U.S. banks find themselves defending a class action lawsuit filed by a group of mom-and-pop stores. On March 27, 2020, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“Cares”) Act, aimed at providing relief to individuals, businesses, and government organizations suffering amid the Coronavirus pandemic. The CARES Act included the Paycheck Protection Program, which intended to provide American small businesses with cash-flow assistance…
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Lindley Law is Hiring!
Lindley Law, PLLC is a boutique litigation firm located in Uptown Charlotte. Lindley Law handles civil litigation matters throughout North Carolina, representing corporations, closely held businesses, and individuals. We offer services in various civil litigation practice areas and concentrations, including complex business litigation, trust and estate litigation, employment law, construction litigation, landlord-tenant disputes, and incompetency proceedings. Please visit our website for more information about the firm and its practice areas: www.lindleylawoffice.com. Lindley Law seeks an associate with 4-7 years of litigation experience to join the firm, which currently has two practicing attorneys. The position is available immediately. The ideal candidate will be a highly motivated and well-qualified lawyer who is…
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RAGE AGAINST THE TICKETMASTER MACHINE: CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT CHALLENGES CHANGES IN REFUND POLICY AMID COVID-19
Derek Hanson spent $590 on four tickets to two different Rage Against the Machine shows to be held in Oakland this month. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, those and about 55,000 other events scheduled between March and the end of the year were impacted. Previously, Live Nation and one of its divisions, Ticketmaster, had a policy for which they issued refunds to all events that had been postponed, rescheduled, or cancelled. Like many folks, Hanson wanted a refund since he could use the money and Live Nation’s own president predicted live events may not occur again until 2021. To his surprise, however, Ticketmaster and Live Nation retroactively changed their policy…
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“CHEF CURRY WITH THE POT, BOY”: AYESHA CURRY SUED FOR $10M FOR TAKING HER FOOD AND LIFESTYLE ROYALTIES
Ayesha Curry, the 31-year-old wife of NBA superstar Steph Curry, was sued in Los Angeles Superior Court yesterday by celebrity branding company Flutie Entertainment. According to the lawsuit, Curry was trying to build herself as a global brand when she signed a five-year deal with Flutie Entertainment in November 2014. Robert A. Flutie, the founder of the Florida-based company, asserts Curry had a modest following for her social media and food blog before their business relationship began. Flutie Entertainment claims it brought “significant and unprecedented results” during their five years working together. During that time, Curry landed a show on the Food Network, had a hosting role on ABC’s “Great…
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POLICING THE AIRLINES: MINNESOTA OFFICER SUES UNITED AIRLINES FOR REFUSING REFUND FOR COVID-19 FLIGHT CANCELLATION
Minnesota police officer Jacob Rudolph planned to take his family to Hilton Head, SC for vacation on April 4, 2020—then the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Rudolph paid $1,521.45 for three tickets in January 2020. The airline cancelled thousands of flights due to the coronavirus pandemic, impacting thousands more customers. United Airlines offered to rebook its customers’ flights or issue travel vouchers, which would expire one year from the original ticket date. The airline since extended the voucher expirations for up two years. After repeatedly requesting a refund to no avail, Rudolph filed a federal class action lawsuit in Chicago (read it here). United Airlines’ refusal to refund passengers is particularly troubling…
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SCOTUS Approves State Piracy Without Consequence in North Carolina’s Blackbeard Lawsuit
In 1718, decades before the Founding Fathers quarreled over State’s rights versus Federal rights, Blackbeard’s infamous Queen Anne’s Revenge ran aground off the coast of Beaufort, North Carolina. Nearly 300 years later, the Supreme Court of the United States unanimously ruled that all States enjoy sovereign immunity from copyright lawsuits. In June 2019, we published a blog post detailing the lawsuit between Nautilus Productions, LLC (“Nautilus”) and the State of North Carolina. When the wreckage of Queen Anne’s Revenge was discovered in 1996, Intersal, Inc. (“Intersal”), a private research and salvage company, conducted the exploration and recovery of the ship’s artifacts. Interstal hired Nautilus to document its efforts over the…
