The fact that a website was incompatible with screen-reader software for visually impaired users was held insufficient (without more) to state a claim for public-accommodation discrimination under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act, in Gil v. Winn-Dixie Stores. Inc., 2021 WL 1289906 (11th Cir. Apr. 7, 2021). The Eleventh Circuit held in a…
Tag: Judge Jill Pryor
Eleventh Circuit Affirms Individual’s $41 Million Verdict Against Tobacco Companies
In yet another opinion applying the Florida Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Engle v. Liggett Group, Inc., 945 So. 2d 1246 (Fla. 2006), the Eleventh Circuit affirmed denial of motions for judgment as a matter of law against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company and Philip Morris USA Inc. in a published opinion upholding multi-million dollar jury…
Alleged Economic Loss from Purchasing Illegal Dietary Supplements Is Sufficient to Establish Standing
Allegations that plaintiffs suffered an economic loss when they bought dietary supplements prohibited by a federal statute are sufficient to establish standing to bring a class action against the supplement manufacturer and distributor, according to the Eleventh Circuit. In Debernardis v. IQ Formulations, LLC, 2019 WL 5996589 (11th Cir. Nov. 14, 2019), two individual plaintiffs…
Bankruptcy Preemption/Preclusion Defense Does Not Preclude Class Certification in FDCPA/FCCPA Case
In an opinion vacating a district court order denying class certification, the Eleventh Circuit held that whether the Bankruptcy Code precludes and/or preempts the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”), 15 U.S.C. § 1962 et seq., and the Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act (“FCCPA”), Fla. Stat. § 559.55 et seq., raised issues common to all…
Court Revives Claim Challenging Use of “Available Balance” Rather than “Ledger Balance” to Assess Overdraft Fees, Finding Contracts Ambiguous
Carol Tims filed a putative class action against LGE Community Credit Union, claiming that the bank breached its contract with her, and violated the federal Electronic Fund Transfer Act (“EFTA”), when it charged overdraft fees based on Tims’s “available balance”—which took into account pending debits—rather than her “ledger balance,” which did not. The district court…
Court Upholds Injunction Against FINRA Arbitration of Claims Against Member’s Affiliate
The Eleventh Circuit recently upheld a permanent injunction against arbitration of claims by investors against a FINRA member and its overseas affiliates on the basis that the arbitration did not concern the affiliates’ relevant business activities. Pictet Overseas, Inc. v. Helvetia Trust, 2018 WL 4560685 (11th Cir. Sept. 24th, 2018). In Pictet, two trusts had…
Court Revives two Employment Discrimination Suits
The court this week published two employment discrimination opinions. In one, the court affirmed summary judgment for the Korean-owned defendant on the plaintiff’s claims that she had been discriminated against because she was a woman and an American, but revived her claim that she had been fired in retaliation for complaining. Gogel v. Kia Motors…
Eleventh Circuit Rejects Constitutional Challenge to Brookhaven Ordinance Regulating “Sexually Oriented Businesses”
In 2013, the City of Brookhaven enacted its code to “regulate sexually oriented businesses in order to promote the health, safety, and general welfare of the citizens of the City, and to establish reasonable and uniform regulations to prevent the deleterious secondary effects of sexually oriented businesses within the City.” The new code did not…
False Claims Act Statute of Limitations Extended
An extended limitations period—up to ten years, in some circumstances—is applicable to actions by private plaintiffs under the False Claims Act (FCA) even when the government declines to intervene, according to a recent Eleventh Circuit decision, United States ex rel. Hunt v. Cochise Consultancy, Inc., 2018 WL 1736788 (11th Cir. Apr. 11, 2018). In so…
Insurer Not Bound by Settlement That Insured Negotiated in Bad Faith
Under Florida law, a settlement may not be enforced against an insurer where its insured did not negotiate in good faith, thus failing to adequately represent the interests of the party that would ultimately have to pay the settlement. The Eleventh Circuit, in an opinion published November 17, 2016, Sidman v. Travelers Casualty & Surety, 2016…