Consumer Protection
Consumer Protection Overview Brochure
Cohen Milstein has been at the forefront of protecting consumers from false and misleading advertising, overcharging, and unfair or deceptive business practices. Through class actions, Cohen Milstein has successfully enforced consumer rights under Federal and state laws, resulting in the creation of hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation and benefits for thousands of consumers.
Insurance Cases
Cohen Milstein served as one of the principal counsel in Snyder v. Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company (Sup. Ct. New York, Cty. Of Onondaga). In that case, plaintiffs alleged that insurance policies were sold to class members with the promise that the insurance premiums would "vanish" after a number of years, but in actuality the premiums did not vanish. The litigation resulted in a settlement on behalf of the Class valued at between $85 million and $103 million. Similarly, as one of principal counsel in Duckworth v. Country Life Insurance Co. (Cook Cty. Ill. Cir. Ct.), the firm was able to secure more than $44 million in benefits on behalf of a class of Country Life insurance policy holders, who were told their premiums would "vanish," but did not.
The firm is presently litigating a class action in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland on behalf of thousands of homeowners in numerous eastern U.S. states, whose properties were severely flood-damaged in September 2003 by Hurricane Isabel. The action is filed against eight insurance companies and alleges that class members were systematically denied benefits by these insurance companies under their flood insurance policies. The insurers mishandled class members’ claims and ultimately failed to pay proceeds to which the policyholders were entitled.
Credit Card and Mortgage Cases
In 1999, Cohen Milstein was one of the counsel for plaintiffs who sued Providian Financial Corp. for alleged overcharges of its credit card holders. It was alleged that Providian collected unlawful and excessive late charges (by not properly acknowledging when payments were received, among other things), and charged its customers other inappropriate fees for unwanted "credit protection" insurance, other credit card "products" that the Bank "sold" to the card holders, and other hidden fees. A settlement was reached under which Providian paid $105 million (in cash and credit benefits) to class members to reimburse them for inappropriate fees and charges. Providian also agreed to change certain business procedures and enforce processes to confirm that similar false charges and fees would not be incurred by card holders in the future.
Similarly, in an action against Direct Merchants Credit Card Bank, Cohen Milstein’s client alleged that the bank made misrepresentations when seeking applications for and issuing its credit cards, and in imposing certain fees and charges upon its customers. Overall, plaintiffs claimed, Direct Merchants targeted its sales to financially-vulnerable people and people with histories of credit problems, and made promises to them about their cards and accounts, but broke those promises. As one of the principal counsel in the case, Cohen Milstein negotiated a settlement that gave free products and services or benefits to former cardholders and gave current cardholders a Customer Satisfaction Guarantee Program, which provided for monetary credits to resolve current cardholders’ complaints. In addition, extensive changes were made to Direct Merchants Bank’s operations, to avoid similar practices in the future.
Cohen Milstein also litigated two class actions on behalf of class members against their mortgage company, Washington Mutual Bank. In one, it was alleged that the defendant improperly serviced customer accounts, including the late posting or incorrect posting of payments, and failed to maintain accurate records of mortgages. In the other case, which related to HUD guaranteed mortgages, plaintiffs alleged that Washington Mutual imposed improper property inspection fees, among other things. Both cases were settled. The settlements yielded the creation of an additional customer service process by the defendant to persons who had contacted our law firm and our co-counsel; and affected persons were given the opportunity to receive a specific review of their account and to receive credits and corrections.
Consumer Services Cases
In In re Looksmart Litigation (Sup. Ct. San Francisco), we alleged that LookSmart breached its contract with members of the class when it represented that for a one-time payment customers would have their website listed in LookSmart’s directory and then subsequently required additional payments for its services in the form of a "pay-per-click" program. As one of the principal counsel, Cohen Milstein was able to secure a very favorable settlement which provided for cash payments of up to $50 for former customers and hundreds of free clicks per month for then current customers.
In Strugano v. Nextel Communications Inc. (Sup. Ct., Los Angeles), we filed a class action on behalf of a class of Nextel cellphone subscribers alleging that Nextel imposed changes to the terms of its service plans without adequate notice when it unilaterally began imposing a service fee of $1.15 per month and rounding calls up to the next minute, rather than the next second as promised. A favorable settlement of that case was approved on May 10, 2006 on behalf of the class with benefits being made available to the class valued between $13.5 - $55 million.
In Kieves v. IDT Corp., we filed a class action suit alleging that a long distance provider illegally collected money from its long distance customers by imposing fraudulent Universal Service Fund surcharges on their bills. A settlement was approved in 2006 which provided $25 or $15 in domestic or international calling card minutes to 107 subscribers.
In In re Lupron Marketing and Sales Practices Litigation, we filed a class action on behalf of thousands of individuals and entities who overpaid for Lupron as the result of an alleged scheme to artificially inflate the average wholesale price of Lupron. The court approved a $150 million nationwide settlement for patients, insurance companies and health and welfare benefit plans who paid for Lupron.
Defective Products
Cohen Milstein is also nationally recognized for its successful prosecution of lawsuits relating to products that have not performed as warranted or advertised.
Automobile Cases
The firm served as one of class counsel in a California state court case against Ford Motor Company. The complaint alleged that Ford knew that the majority of affected cars had a stalling problem related to a computer module in the ignition system. After a 5 ½ month trial ended in a hung-jury, the Court ordered a recall of all of the millions of affected cars owned by the California class members, and required Ford to pay restitution and reimburse all monies paid by California owners who bought replacements for their modules. Immediately before a second trial was to begin, the parties reached a nationwide settlement that provided for reimbursement to present or former owners who paid to replace the module and/or replacement of the module where they remained in the car. In addition, the warranty for this part was extended from 50,000 to 100,000 miles.
Cohen Milstein is currently one of the principal counsel in a series of class action lawsuits filed across the Country alleging that General Motors sold cars during 1996-2003 that contained a defective engine coolant known as "Dex-Cool." The complaints allege that Dex-Cool causes engine parts to corrode and gum up with a mud-like substance, resulting in engine overheating and failure of certain parts and systems. The class has been certified in Missouri and trial of the Missouri action is scheduled to begin in November of 2007.
Home Electronics
As one of two co-lead counsel in a defective television class action against Thomson Consumer Electronics, Inc., the firm was able to reach a court-approved settlement with Thomson that, among other things, made up to an aggregate of $100 million available for those persons with unreimbursed repairs to their RCA, ProScan and GE televisions. In a similar case on behalf of Panasonic and JVC DVD purchasers, the firm was able to secure a settlement which provided up to $100 per person of unreimbursed repair costs.
Cohen Milstein was one of the counsel who brought a class action against Apple Computer alleging that the battery in the iPod portable digital music player fails prematurely or fails to hold a charge. That case was successfully settled. Depending upon the iPod model owned, benefits to be made available to the class members range from cash payments to the replacement of the damaged iPod.
Dwellings
The firm is one of co-counsel in Posey, et al. v. Dryvit Systems, Inc., (Cir. Ct. Jefferson Cty., Tenn.), a class action against Dryvit System, Inc. arising from Dryvit’s Exterior Installation and Finish Systems ("EIFS"). On April 15, 2002, a national settlement of this litigation was approved by the Circuit Court that provides, among other things, immediate cash payment to qualified claims, free home inspections, partial reimbursement of repair costs and a 3-year MoistureFree Warranty.
The firm was co-counsel in a nationwide class action on behalf of owners of structures on which Weyerhaeuser hardboard siding was applied at any time from January 1, 1981 through December 31, 1999. In December 2000, the Court granted final approval to a nationwide settlement of the case that provides for Weyerhaeuser to pay all timely, qualified claims made during a nine year claims program.
Cohen Milstein also served as one of class counsel in a nationwide class action settlement that provides for certain costs of repair and replacement of failing siding for persons with Masonite hardboard siding that was installed and incorporated in their property between January 1, 1980 and January 15, 1998.
For more information, please contact us at lawinfo@cmht.com.
