Posts belonging to Category Consumer Class Actions



Mandatory Arbitration Clauses In Financial Service Contracts After Supreme Court’s Decision In AT&T v. Concepcion

 

In a decision issued on April 27, 2011 by a Supreme Court perceived (rightly or wrongly) as favoring the interests of businesses over consumers, the Court held in AT&T v. Concepcion that the Federal Arbitration Act preempted a judicially-created rule applied by the California courts to strike down mandatory arbitration provisions in consumer contracts that […]

Jury Finds That Allianz Life Insurance Company Used Misrepresentation Or Deceptive Practice In Selling Its Two-Tiered Annuities

 

A four-year class action lawsuit brought on behalf of hundreds of thousands of American consumers against insurance giant Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America has come to a confusing and contradictory end, reported the Minnesota StarTribune in its October 14, 2009 article entitled, “A split decision in Allianz Life annuity lawsuit.” Or has it? […]

It Is Time To Give Investors Back Their Rights

 

Scammed investors are often shocked to discover that they face insurmountable barriers when they seek to recover their losses in court, says Jane Bryant Quinn in a February 11, 2009 article on Bloomberg.com entitled “Madoff Victims Face Grim Prospects in Court.” Investors have filed suits against “feeder funds” that, unbeknownst to investors, funneled their money […]

Blue Cross/Blue Shield Of Georgia Exposes Social Security Numbers And Other Personal Information

 

In an article in today’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Andy Miller reported that Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia (“Blue Cross”), Georgia’s largest health insurer, sent an estimated 202,000 “Explanation of Benefit” (“EOB”) and other letters to the wrong addresses last week, exposing patient names, social security numbers, medical conditions, treatment information, and other health and […]

Allianz Agrees To $10.1 Million Settlement With California Insurance Regulator But Still Faces Class Action Claims

 

Andrew Frye of Bloomberg.com has reported that the North American subsidiary of Allianz, Europe’s largest insurer, has agreed to a settlement with California’s insurance regulator under which it will pay $10.1 million and change its annuities sales practices. California alleged that Allianz misled investors and pushed unsuitable products onto thousands of elderly persons. In a […]

American Equity And Minnesota AG Settle Annuity Lawsuit

 

On February 7, 2008, the American Equity Investment Life Holding Company reached a settlement of a lawsuit over variable annuities with the Minnesota Attorney General. Hennepin County District Court Judge Kevin S. Burke approved the settlement that resolved all the issues raised in the lawsuit. The settlement’s two primary components are (i) a defined suitability […]

Complex Annuity Products Make Retirement Investing Difficult

 

According to an article in Business Week in the Fall of 2007, equity-indexed annuities ? which lets the investors share in the stock market gains with a minimal risk of loss ? are getting the worst press and the most regulatory scrutiny of any financial product pitched to individual investors. Most of the regulatory scrutiny […]

Recent Developments For Allianz Policyholders

 

On October 10, 2007, a panel of federal judges denied a motion to centralize five Allianz class action lawsuits currently pending against Allianz related to its deferred annuity sales practices.  Plaintiffs’ counsel in two of the five cases filed the motion in the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (“MDL Panel”).  Allianz, along with plaintiffs’ counsel […]