Monthly Releases

In West Bend Mutual Insurance Co. v. Krishna Schaumburg Tan, Inc., Docket No. 125978 (Ill Supreme Court May 20, 2021), the Illinois Supreme Court determined that the iInsurer of a salon has a duty to defend a class action lawsuit brought under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act. Here, Sekura purchased a membership from Krishna that gave her access to L.A. Tan's salons. Her membership required Sekura to provide Krishna with her fingerprints. Sekura filed a class-action lawsuit against Krishna, alleging that Krishna violated Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act: because it...

The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, applying Kentucky law, has held that a directors and officers liability policy does not provide coverage for a class action lawsuit brought against a gym alleging deceptive practices arising from the gym's membership contracts. See Global Fitness Holdings, LLC v. Navigators Mgmt. Co., Case No. 20-5774, 2021 WL 1884593 (6th Cir. May 11, 2021). The court of appeals held that the "staggeringly broad" language in the contract exclusion barred coverage for each of the seven claims asserted against the insured. The insured, a gym and...

In Thiam v. T-Mobile U.S., Inc., Civil Action No. 4:19-CV-00633 (E.D. Tex. Apr. 20, 2021) a Texas District Court ruled that a Korean unit of LG Electronics cannot use a jurisdictional argument to escape a products liability action where the plaintiff professional basketball player claimed that his cell phone battery exploded, injuring his hand. After the state court action was removed, Defendant LG Chem, LTD of Korea ("LGC"), filed a Motion to Dismiss under Rule 12(b)(2). Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(2) requires a court to dismiss a claim if the court does not have personal...

In Ford Motor Co. v Montana Eighth Judicial Circuit, Case No. 19-368, consolidated with Ford Motor Company v. Bandemer, Case No. 19-368, ____ U.S. ____ (March 25, 2021), the US Supreme Court affirmed two state supreme courts (Montana and Minnesota) which each held that Ford's activities in their State had the needed connection to the plaintiff's allegations that a defective Ford caused an in-state injury. In each of the underlying cases, a state court exercised jurisdiction over Ford in a products-liability suit stemming from a car accident that injured a resident in the State. The first...

In Kirk v. Clark Equipment Co., No. 20-2983 (7th Cir. March 25, 2021), the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the District Court's grant of defendant-manufacturer's motion to exclude plaintiff's expert witness Dan Pacheco and for summary judgment in plaintiff's strict products liability action, alleging that he incurred injuries arising out of design defect in defendant's skid-steer loader, when said loader tipped over on plaintiff and severely damaged his leg, foot and ankle. In sum, Pacheco's causation opinion rested on speculation that the weight of the load exceeded the rated...

In Harris v McDonald's, Case No. 20-cv-06533-RS (US DC ND CA, March 2, 2021), the Northern California District Court sided with the growing trend of cases holding that "vanilla" does not necessarily mean "contains vanilla bean" and dismissed plaintiff's class action complaint with leave to amend. Plaintiff Harris filed the class action lawsuit last September, after learning the fast food chain's vanilla cones are not made from authentic vanilla beans. She argued that consumers are being deceived and paying a premium for ingredients that are not natural. McDonald's markets the ice cream as...