Current Cases
The following is a list of representative cases we are currently litigating:
• Carcinogenic Flame Retardants in
Children & Adult Consumer Products: Proposition 65 case
against manufacturers and re-sellers of consumer products made with
foam that contain substantial quantities of the flame retardant
1tris (1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (“TDCPP”). In 2011, the
State of California listed TDCPP as a chemical known to cause
cancer. Our current investigation has revealed TDCPP in products
such as foam-cushioned pads that infants and children lie on sold by
companies such as Amazon, Target, Wal-Mart, Babies “R” Us and Kmart;
foam-cushioned mattress toppers sold by Bed Bath & Beyond, Carpenter
Co. and J.C. Penney; and foam-cushioned upholstered furniture sold
by Kmart, Target, Wal-Mart, Ameriwood Industries, Bed Bath & Beyond,
Delta Enterprise and Dorel Industries, U.S.A. If you would like more
information about this case, please contact the Lexington Law Group
at info@lexlawgroup.com.
• Lead in Handbags, Footwear and Belts: Private
Attorney General action against hundreds of retailers and
manufacturers of fashion accessories containing substantial amounts
of lead. Our work has resulted in Consent Judgments against
large national retailers and vendors of high-lead handbags, belts
and footwear requiring reformulation to remove harmful and
unnecessary levels of lead from these consumer products.
Examples of national retailers that have agreed to Court ordered
reformulation include Aldo, Calvin Klein, Forever 21, Guess?, J.C.
Penney, K-Mart, Kohl's, Limited, Liz Claiborne, Kate Spade, Macy's,
Nine West, Saks, Sears, Target and Victoria's Secret (Lead Case CEH
v. LuLu et al.).
• Lead and Cadmium in Jewelry: Environmental enforcement
actions originally co-litigated with the California Attorney General
that has thus far resulted in commitments by hundreds of major
retailers, importers and manufacturers of costume jewelry to
significantly reduce the levels of lead and cadmium in their
jewelry. This case also lead directly to California’s landmark lead
in jewelry statute, which was itself a precursor to passage of the
federal Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (Lead Case CEH
v. Aeropostale, Inc.).
• Out-of-Network Health Care Reimbursement: Class action antitrust cases against major health care providers including Wellpoint and Aetna alleging conspiracy to artificially reduce reimbursements on “out of plan” claims by policy holders through the use of the fraudulent Ingenix
database (Weintraub v. Ingenix et al.; J.B.W. v. Unitedhealth Group et al.).
• Lead in Licorice: Proposition
65 case against manufacturers and re-sellers of black licorice.
While some licorice was the subject of a California state recall in
the summer of 2012, our investigation has uncovered an industry wide
problem with lead in black licorice that goes far beyond the
recalled products. Defendants in the case include Albertson’s,
American Licorice Company, Cost Plus World Market, Trader Joe’s,
Walgreen’s and Whole Foods Market. If you would like more
information about this case, please contact the Lexington Law Group
at info@lexlawgroup.com.
• Lead in Ginger & Plum Snack Foods and
Baking Ingredients: Proposition 65 enforcement action
against manufacturers and re-sellers of ginger food products that
contain substantial amounts of lead. The products include
crystallized ginger, candied plumb and candied ginger baking chips.
Our current investigation has revealed lead in ginger products sold
by Albertson’s, Draeger’s Super Markets, Jade Food Products, 99
Ranch, Trader Joe’s, Reed’s and Whole Foods Market. If you would
like more information about this case, please contact the Lexington
Law Group at
info@lexlawgroup.com.
• Neutrogena “Naturals”: National
class action filed against Neutrogena Corporation for falsely
advertising and labeling its " Neutrogena Naturals” line of personal
care products as “natural” when the products contain synthetic
ingredients. Our work has resulted in a class action settlement
that requires Neutrogena to change its product labeling to cure any
misperception that Defendant’s "Neutrogena Naturals” products are
all-natural and to create a $1.3 million settlement fund to
compensate purchasers of the “Neutrogena Naturals” products. This
settlement is currently pending approval in the Northern District of
California. If you purchased one of these products or would like
more information about the settlement, please contact the Lexington
Law Group at
info@lexlawgroup.com. The settlement is available for review
here.
• Arctic Zero Frozen Desserts:
Class action filed against Arctic Zero, Inc. for violating the
consumer protection laws of California, Utah and Colorado by falsely
advertising the “Arctic Zero” brand of frozen desserts as ultra-low
calorie and containing only natural ingredients while charging a
premium price for these non-premium products. Independent testing
shows that the products contain up to twice as many calories as
advertised. If you purchased an “Arctic Zero” frozen dessert
or would like more information about this case, please contact the
Lexington Law Group at
info@lexlawgroup.com.
• Antitrust Price-Fixing of Lithium Ion
Rechargeable Batteries: National class action against the
world’s largest manufacturers of lithium ion rechargeable batteries
based on an alleged conspiracy to unlawfully fix the prices of these
batteries. Defendants include LG Chem Ltd., LG Chem America, Inc.,
Panasonic Corporation, Panasonic Corporation of North America, Sanyo
Electric Co., Ltd., Sony Corporation, Sony Electronics, Inc., Sony
Energy Devices Corporation, Samsung SDI Co., Ltd., Samsung SDI
America, Inc., Hitachi Ltd., Hitachi Maxell, Ltd., and Maxell
Corporation of America. Lithium Ion Rechargeable Batteries are used
as a power source for a wide range of electronic devices such as
laptop computers, cell phones, tablet computers and cameras. If you
purchased either a stand-alone lithium ion rechargeable battery or a
consumer electronic that contains this type of battery and are
interested in participating in this case, please contact the
Lexington Law Group at
info@lexlawgroup.com.
• Sirius XM Antitrust: Class action against Sirius XM challenging company’s abuse of monopolistic power to impose hidden cost increases on subscribers.
The parties reached a settlement that was approved by the Court but
that decision is on appeal. For links to the settlement
documents click
here
(Blessing et al. v. Sirius XM Radio, Inc.).
• Paypal Frozen Funds: Class action against
Paypal, Inc. and its parent E-Bay, Inc. alleging defendants placed
illegal holds on customer accounts and denied customers access to
money in such accounts. (Osman v. Paypal, Inc.).
• Organix Cosmetic Products:
False advertising class action lawsuit against Todd Christopher
International, Inc. dba Vogue International based on the sale of its
"Organix” line of personal care products. The “Organix” products
are comprised primarily of non-organic ingredients and the lawsuit
alleges that the name itself is false and misleading to consumers.
If you purchased an “Organix” product thinking it was in fact
organic and would like more information about this case, please
contact the Lexington Law Group at
info@lexlawgroup.com.
• Jason & Avalon Organics Personal Care
Products: Class action lawsuit against The Hain Celestial
Group, Inc. for violating California law by falsely advertising its
“Jason” and “Avalon Organics” brands of personal care products as
“organic,” when in fact such products are comprised primarily of
non-organic ingredients. If you purchased a “Jason” or “Avalon
Organics” product thinking it was in fact organic and would like
more information about this case, please contact the Lexington Law
Group at info@lexlawgroup.com.
• Brenmar - Fake Biodegradable Plastic
Bags: Class action cases against Brenmar Corporation
alleging false advertising and other claims with respect to the
companies’ marketing and sales of plastic bags as biodegradable,
degradable and recyclable. The plastic bags sold by Brenmar are not
biodegradable or recyclable and California law prohibits use of the
terms “biodegradable” or “degradable” on plastic bags sold in
California. These plastic bags are even worse for the environment
than regular plastic bags as they tend to clog the recycling plants
and contaminate the recycled waste stream. If you or your business
purchased one of these products and you would like more information
about this case, please contact the Lexington Law Group at
info@lexlawgroup.com.
CURRENT INVESTIGATIONS
• Greenwashing of Consumer Products:
Ongoing investigation into companies that falsely market and sell a
wide range of consumer products as organic, healthy or
environmentally friendly. If you have concerns about the
environmental benefits of a product you purchased, please contact
the Lexington Law Group at
info@lexlawgroup.com.
• HTC Smartphone Memory Defect:
Our investigation has uncovered a flaw related to the memory
of certain HTC smartphones including the wildly popular HTC Droid
Incredible. The memory flaw allows certain embedded applications to
use increasing amounts of the phone’s memory, eventually rendering
the phone unable to perform such basic functions as texting and
e-mail. For a more detailed explanation of the problem, click
here. If you have experienced this problem with your smartphone,
please contact the Lexington Law Group at
info@lexlawgroup.com.
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