/raid1/www/Hosts/bankrupt/CAR_Public/231208.mbx               C L A S S   A C T I O N   R E P O R T E R

              Friday, December 8, 2023, Vol. 25, No. 246

                            Headlines

ADOBE INC: Faces Shah Suit for Breach of Fiduciary Duties
AIDS HEALTHCARE: Faces Class Action Over Squalid Conditions
AQUILA SERVICES: Barnett Sues Over Unpaid Wages, Retaliation
ASCENSION MICHIGAN: Cross Appeals Albright Suit Settlement Approval
ASHLEY FURNITURE: Floyd Class Suit Removed to W.D. Wash.

AUTONOMY PRODUCTIONS: Ramirez Labor Suit Removed to C.D. Cal.
CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST: Tithing Class Suit May Impact Nonprofits
COSTCO WHOLESALE: Clower Labor Suit Removed to E.D. Cal.
EQT CORPORATION: Files 4th Cir. Appeal in Glover Suit
FLEETWOOD HOMES: Ramos Wage-and-Hour Suit Removed to C.D. Cal.

FRAC SPYDER: Brown Sues Over Failure to Pay Proper Overtime
GAK 249 INVESTMENTS: Hazary Seeks Unpaid Straight-Time, OT Wages
HHM FACILITY: Alcaraz Labor Suit Removed to S.D. Cal.
HILCO MERCHANT: Corbin Class Suit Removed to D. Mass.
HYATT CORP: Ramones Labor Suit Removed to E.D.N.Y.

INTERVET INC: Installs Tracking Software on Devices, Aviles Says
JELD-WEN INC: Spencer Suit Removed to W.D. Wash.
KEMRON ENVIRONMENTAL: Gonzales Labor Suit Removed to N.D. Cal.
LEADING EDGE: Zarr Labor Suit Moved to M.D. Fla.
MEMORIAL HEALTH: Files 9th Cir. Appeal in Stendal Suit

MULTIMATIC TENNESSEE: Taylor Seeks Unpaid OT Wages
NESTLE PURINA: Pet Foods Contain Synthetic Chemicals, Kueck Says
NORTHWELL HEALTH: Fails to Protect Personal Info, Vasquez Says
PENNEY OPCO: Atkinson Suit Removed to W.D. Washington
PHILADELPHIA INDEPENDENTS: Gomberg Files ADA Suit in E.D. Pa.

PREMIUM RETAIL: Martinez Suit Removed to N.D. California
QUEST DIAGNOSTICS: Mandatory Settlement Conference Set for Feb. 13
REPUBLIC REIGN: Convertino Seeks Conditional Class Certification
ROBERT PACE: Bid for More Time to File Class Cert Bid Tossed
ROBERT PACE: Parties Seek More Time to File Class Certification Bid

ROLLINS INC: Plaintiffs Seek to Certify Class for Settlement
RUBY HOLLOW: McGowan Appeals Securities Suit Dismissal to 2nd Cir.
RXO INC: Spencer Class Suit Removed to W.D. Wash.
SANTANDER HOLDINGS: To Settle Kelly Suit Over Repo Dispute
SIEMENS MOBILITY: McIntyre Labor Suit Removed to E.D. Cal.

STATE AND LIBERTY: Gomberg Files ADA Suit in E.D. Pennsylvania
STATE FARM: Seeks Leave to File Instanter Sur-Reply in Belotti
SYNCREON.US INC: Ayala Wage-and-Hour Suit Removed to E.D. Pa.
T-MOBILE USA: Rouse Sues Over Failure to Pay Proper Wages
TRAVEL INSURED: Court OK's Class Certification in Edleson Suit

TRUMP CORP: Bids for Class Cert Sealing in McKoy Tossed
TT USA LLC: Gomberg Files ADA Suit in E.D. Pennsylvania
TURQUOISE HILL: Bid to Certify Class Withdrawn w/o Prejudice
TYSON FOODS: Fails to Accommodate Religious Belief, Pearson Says
UNITED STATES: Completion of Class Cert Discovery Due Jan 24, 2024

UNITED STATES: Plaintiffs' Class Cert Response Due Dec. 8
WELLS FARGO: Hummel Files Suit Over Unfair Trade Practices
WILLIAM LEE: Suit Filed in M.D. Tennessee
WILLIAMS-SONOMA STORES: Atkinson Suit Removed to W.D. Wash.
WIS INTERNATIONAL: Samuels Files Suit in Cal. Super. Ct.

WORLD WRESTLING: Pension Fund Alleges Breach of Fiduciary Duty
ZARA USA: Parra Suit Removed to C.D. California
ZARBEE'S INC: Bid for Class Certification Due June 28, 2024

                        Asbestos Litigation

ASBESTOS UPDATE: Ashland Inc. Reports $472MM Litigation Reserves
ASBESTOS UPDATE: Cabot Corp. Defends Product Liability Lawsuits
ASBESTOS UPDATE: Scotts Miracle-Gro Defends Exposure Lawsuits
ASBESTOS UPDATE: WestRock Co. Faces 600 PI Lawsuits as of Sept. 30


                            *********

ADOBE INC: Faces Shah Suit for Breach of Fiduciary Duties
---------------------------------------------------------
ALPESH SHAH, derivatively on behalf of nominal Defendant ADOBE
INC., Plaintiff v. SHANTANU NARAYEN, AMY BANSE, BRETT BIGGS,
MELANIE BOULDEN, FRANK CALDERONI, LAURA DESMOND, SPENCER NEUMANN,
KATHLEEN OBERG, DHEERAJ PANDEY, DAVE RICKS, DAN ROSENSWEIG, DANIEL
DURN, DAVID WADHWANI, JOHN MURPHY, and JONATHAN VAAS, Defendants,
and ADOBE INC., Nominal Defendant, Case No. 1:23-cv-01315-UNA (D.
Del., Nov. 16, 2023) is a class action against the Defendants for
breach of fiduciary duty, unjust enrichment, waste of corporate
assets, and violation of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange
Act of 1934.

The suit is also a shareholder derivative action brought on behalf
of Adobe against certain current and former officers and members of
the Company's Board (collectively, the individual Defendants) for,
among other things, breaching their fiduciary duties to the Company
and its stockholders by intentionally or recklessly making or
permitting the dissemination of materially false and misleading
statements and omissions between July 23, 2021 and September 15,
2022, inclusive, regarding, among other things, the true nature of
the Company's market competitors and the adequacy of the Company's
existing offerings to counter such threats.

Throughout the relevant period, the Company and its top executives
repeatedly downplayed competition from companies such as Figma,
which offers a web application allowing multiple users to view and
edit user interfaces, and misleadingly suggested that Adobe's
existing offerings, including its "Express" application, were
adequate to counter any harms the Company may have otherwise faced
due to Figma's growing market position. The Company also concealed
that its own user-interface design app, "XD," was failing to gain
traction with customers. Additionally, in breach of their fiduciary
duties, the Individual Defendants caused the Company to fail to
maintain adequate internal controls, says the suit.

The Plaintiff is and has been a continuous shareholder of Adobe
common stock since August 2015.

Adobe Inc., formerly Adobe Systems Incorporated, is an American
multinational computer software company incorporated in Delaware
and headquartered in San Jose, California.[BN]

The Plaintiff is represented by:

          Seth D. Rigrodsky, Esq.
          Gina M. Serra, Esq.
          Herbert W. Mondros, Esq.
          RIGRODSKY LAW, P.A.
          300 Delaware Avenue, Suite 210
          Wilmington, DE 19801
          Telephone: (302) 295-5310
          Facsimile: (302) 654-7530
          E-mail: sdr@rl-legal.com  
                  gms@rl-legal.com  
                  hwm@rl-legal.com

               - and -

          Joshua H. Grabar, Esq.
          GRABAR LAW OFFICE
          One Liberty Place
          1650 Market Street, Suite 3600
          Philadelphia, PA 19103
          Telephone: (267) 507-6085

AIDS HEALTHCARE: Faces Class Action Over Squalid Conditions
-----------------------------------------------------------
Liam Dillon, Doug Smith and Benjamin Oreskes, writing for Los
Angeles Times, report that a Times investigation has found that
many of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation's more than 1,300 residents
live in squalid conditions, with dozens under the threat of
eviction.

LOS ANGELES -- After her eviction, Alisha Lucero returned to her
apartment to find her belongings thrown away.

Gone were Lucero's passport and her recently deceased brother's
high school letter jacket. Lucero said she couldn't get into her
car because her landlord, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, had
trashed her keys. She was wearing the only clothes she had left.

For the next two years, Lucero lived on the streets where she said
she was raped and beaten while her mental health spiraled. At
times, Lucero slept in a tent steps from her former residence, the
Madison on Skid Row.

"What they did to me was unjust, was brutal, was inhumane," said
Lucero, 44, speaking about her eviction. "They literally ruined my
life."

The foundation evicted Lucero and scores of other tenants in
disputes over unpaid rent. At the same time, it was making public
statements about the dangers of forcing people from their homes. On
social media during the COVID-19 pandemic's darkest days, the
foundation put the stakes bluntly.

"Evictions kill," the foundation said.

Such contradictions between the AIDS Healthcare Foundation's vocal
pro-tenant advocacy and the harsh conditions depicted by its
residents have characterized the charity's six-year foray into
providing housing. With $2.2 billion in annual revenues drawn
largely from its pharmaceutical business, the Los Angeles-based
global AIDS nonprofit has transformed itself into one of the
nation's most prolific funders of tenants' rights campaigns and one
of Skid Row's biggest landlords.

Under the direction of co-founder and President Michael Weinstein,
the foundation has spent more than $300 million sponsoring rent
control ballot initiatives in California and buying apartment
complexes across the country, including more than a dozen in Los
Angeles, mostly old single-room occupancy hotels.

At rallies, protests and news conferences, in newspaper
advertisements and on social media, the foundation has billed
itself as a white knight in the battle against homelessness. It
pledged to manage its portfolio of properties at a fraction of the
cost of government-subsidized projects.

"Elected officials would be wise to replicate AIDS Healthcare
Foundation's urgent, cost-effective model to build more low-income
and homeless housing," the foundation said on social media last
year. "Lives hang in the balance."

But a Times investigation has found that many of the foundation's
more than 1,300 residents live in squalid conditions with dozens
under the threat of eviction. Roaches and bedbugs infest rooms.
Electricity, heating and plumbing systems fail. Elevators
malfunction. Code enforcement and public health complaints at
foundation buildings are more than three times higher than those
owned by other Skid Row nonprofits. Meanwhile, the foundation has
evicted tenants over debts of just a few hundred dollars, eviction
records show, while suing nearly 70 others for back rent in small
claims court.

In a statement to The Times, foundation General Counsel Tom Myers
said the organization has spent tens of millions of dollars
renovating and repairing its properties. Myers said the foundation
has increased occupancy by nearly 200%, meaning almost 1,000 people
are off the streets that otherwise wouldn't have been. The
foundation's problems, he said, are similar to those faced by other
Skid Row landlords: operating old buildings while serving a
troubled tenant population without sufficient support from the
city. The foundation did not provide answers to a detailed list of
questions from The Times.

"The perfect cannot be the enemy of the good," Myers said. "Six
people die on the streets of Los Angeles every day."

The Times reporting is based on interviews with nearly 30 current
and former AIDS Healthcare Foundation residents, more than a
half-dozen visits inside foundation properties, accounts from
former employees and thousands of local housing department, code
enforcement, public health, public safety, coroner and court
records. The Times also reviewed more than a year of foundation
emails, incident reports and other internal records detailing its
housing programs.

The picture that emerges is of a well-funded organization
struggling with the contradictions and burdens of simultaneously
trying to serve as tenant advocates and provide non-subsidized
housing on Skid Row without prior experience in the field.

Within foundation buildings, this has led to disregard and
disorder. One tenant's dog was scalded to death after a radiator
exploded. A legally blind tenant fell more than 12 feet down an
open elevator shaft. A third resident nearly died after he was shot
in his doorway, an incident that led to an attempted murder charge
against a fellow tenant whose documented history of violence had
earned him the nickname "Killa."

In October, a Times reporter observed eviction notices posted on 14
residents' doors on just one of the six floors in the foundation's
Baltimore Hotel. And while the foundation has praised a new city
law that requires landlords to disclose such notices publicly,
saying it helps " spot disturbing eviction trends," the charity
hasn't reported any from the Baltimore, city housing department
records show.

Many residents, especially in the Baltimore and other Skid Row
properties, have severe disabilities, drug addiction and mental
health problems. Fifty people have died in foundation buildings,
according to coroner reports, with drug use the most frequent
cause.

Unlike other nonprofit landlords who rely primarily on government
subsidies, the foundation doesn't provide its tenants with
counseling or other supportive services, citing the cost. Instead,
with the exception of two smaller buildings outside Skid Row leased
to service providers, the foundation encourages residents to seek
outside help.

This approach has left gaps in care. Two years ago, when foundation
employees raised alarms about tenants' suffering, executives
declined their requests to offer more assistance.

Carlos Brum, who had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress and
anxiety before moving into the Baltimore in 2019, said his mental
health has deteriorated amid violence, outbursts from neighbors,
vermin and plumbing failures.

"Living here, I have never felt so subhuman in my life," said Brum,
44. "It never gets better. It only gets worse. I'm sick of it."

Weinstein, a 71-year-old New York City transplant, started the
foundation in 1987. Now headquartered on the 21st floor of a
Hollywood high-rise, it's become the world's largest AIDS
nonprofit, with clinics and advocacy programs in 45 countries and
1.9 million patients under its care. Angelenos drive by the
charity's billboards promoting testing for sexually transmitted
infections and condom distribution that have warned "Gonorrhea
Alert!" "Syphilis Explosion" and, most recently, "Just Use It"
above a condom unfurled on a banana.

Using a special federal program for healthcare organizations that
serve indigent populations, the foundation is able to buy HIV/AIDS
drugs at a steep discount and charge insurance companies the full
price when dispensing them to patients. Financial statements show
the foundation's network of 62 pharmacies earned $1.9 billion of
the charity's $2.2 billion in total revenue last year, making it
larger than health nonprofits such as Planned Parenthood and the
American Heart Assn.

These bountiful coffers allowed Weinstein to expand the
foundation's mission.

Weinstein has long argued that real estate capital and luxury
developments were destroying Los Angeles neighborhoods by
displacing residents.

Six years ago, the foundation started a tenant advocacy group
called Housing Is a Human Right and launched statewide political
campaigns.

In 2018 and 2020, the foundation poured a combined $64 million into
ballot measures to expand rent control across California, campaign
finance records show. Opponents, largely corporate landlords,
dropped $160 million to defeat the efforts, winning each time by 20
percentage points. The foundation is now sponsoring a third
initiative for the 2024 ballot.

In 2017, the foundation began buying single-room occupancy hotels,
motels and small apartment complexes. Weinstein, often critical of
the city's slow, bureaucratic response to homelessness, said he
would house people faster and more cheaply.

The foundation charged some of the lowest unsubsidized rents in Los
Angeles: around $400 a month for its century-old, single-room
occupancy hotels on Skid Row. Part of its pitch was that, unlike
government agencies and other nonprofits housing low-income
tenants, the foundation would focus on renovating properties rather
than building new ones, which can take years and exceed $1 million
per unit to construct.

"Our idea at the AIDS Healthcare Foundation has always been not
just to tell them but to show them," Weinstein said at a 2018 panel
hosted by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a longtime ally.

Under the banner of the Healthy Housing Foundation, the nonprofit
has spent $178 million snapping up 15 properties in Los Angeles,
now managing nearly 1,500 units with an additional 467 under
development. The foundation's footprint extends outside L.A., with
an additional $66 million spent on buildings in Georgia, Florida,
New York and Texas.

The charity's tenant rights arm touts the renovation model, calling
it a "massive success" in a December 2022 post on its website.

When the foundation opens its properties, it publicizes the
installation of laminate flooring, fresh coats of paint and other
upgrades.

It does not mention what city, county and internal records show:
broken plumbing, faulty electrical systems and elevators and pest
and mold infestations.

Circumstances are the worst in the Baltimore, King Edward and
Madison, three single-room occupancy hotels on Skid Row that were
among the foundation's first purchases.

All are about 100 years old -- the King Edward has 150 rooms, the
Baltimore and Madison each have around 200 -- with most residents
sharing common bathrooms on each floor.

"The buildings were terrible, absolutely terrible," said Julia Coy,
a former employee who worked daily in the three properties. "Like
inhumane conditions. People's units were falling apart."

In late December 2021, the heat had been out all week in the King
Edward when Blaine Heffron got ready to drive overnight for Lyft.
He poured bottled water into a bowl for his 2-year-old pit bull,
Caya -- the building's chalky tap water wasn't good enough for his
beloved rescue dog -- and settled her in her crate.

The foundation had been working on repairs to the building's
boiler. While Heffron was gone, the radiator in his room exploded,
filling the room with blistering steam and killing Caya in her
crate, according Heffron and a Fire Department incident report.

Upon returning, Heffron couldn't face the scene and was temporarily
relocated elsewhere in the King Edward. It took four days for Caya
to be removed, text messages between Heffron and a property manager
show.

In the interim, Heffron reluctantly went into his room to see
whether any possessions were salvageable. Sitting on his
still-sopping mattress with tears streaming down his face, Heffron
said he stared at Caya's body and apologized over and over again.

"I felt like I was robbed of time with my best friend," said
Heffron, 36. "It just sickens me."

Heffron hasn't received compensation for what happened. He's
considered taking the foundation to court but felt intimidated.
When Heffron fell behind on rent earlier this year, the foundation
taped a notice to his door threatening to evict him.

"I don't know what I'm doing, and I know I'm going up against a
multibillion-dollar organization," he said.

The foundation did not respond to questions about Caya's death or
other specific habitability issues in its buildings. According to
Myers and court filings, it's poured nearly $30 million into
renovations and repairs. Some, the foundation said in court
filings, have taken time to complete because of difficulties
finding replacements for century-old parts and delays caused by
permitting and the COVID-19 pandemic.

In several buildings, the rate of city code complaints increased
after the foundation bought them, a Times data analysis shows. The
most extreme of those, the King Edward, had only six complaints in
the five years before the foundation purchased it in 2018, but drew
32 in the five years after.

Complaints, which typically come from aggrieved tenants, don't
always result in violations. But at the King Edward inspectors have
found exposed electrical wiring, painted-over fire sprinklers,
missing smoke detectors and inoperable doors and windows. Internal
foundation photos from 2020 show a private bathroom covered in what
appears to be black mold.

Sworn declarations in a class-action lawsuit over conditions at the
Madison describe nests of cockroaches filling rooms, hallways and
communal bathrooms and feral cats roaming the property. One tenant
said after his neighbor died in 2019, maggots came through a hole
in the wall.

Plumbing is among the buildings' biggest problems. The Madison has
had at least five failures so severe that water cascaded down the
hallways and stairwells, said Mark Dyer, the foundation's top real
estate executive, in a recent deposition from the class-action
case. Dyer blamed residents for the flooding, saying in one
instance an angry tenant poured powdered concrete down their sink
and then turned on the faucet, filling the pipes with cement.

A video taken by a resident shows a similar internal flood at the
Baltimore last summer.

Brum said the water in the Baltimore has been shut off at least 30
times since September 2022 when he began collecting notices
management posts. When that happens, residents are forced to
defecate in wastebaskets in their rooms and then, he said, take
"the walk of shame" to deposit their feces in hallway trash rooms.

Brum has worked as a Crypto.com Arena vendor and said co-workers
complained about how he smelled.

"Do you know how belittling that was?" said Brum, who is lead
plaintiff in a pending class-action lawsuit over conditions at the
Baltimore. "I am doing the best with what I have to work with. How
are we supposed to improve our circumstances when they're cutting
off some of the most basic tools: running water?"

Myers, the foundation's general counsel, did not answer questions
about conditions at the Baltimore, but in court filings the
foundation has asked a judge to throw out Brum's suit.

At the Madison, the foundation says it's invested more than $7
million into upgrading the electrical and plumbing systems,
replacing the boiler, installing security cameras and adding
dumpsters.

"The Madison does not claim to be immune to issues that are to be
expected in a 100-year-old building," a foundation attorney said in
a September filing in the Madison class action.

Myers cited depositions where city inspectors say the foundation
responds to tenant complaints and refer to the Madison as "decent"
and "safe."

Robert Galardi, the head of the city's code enforcement division,
said in a deposition that he believed the foundation had improved
conditions within the Madison. But he said the foundation's
inexperience shows, with repeated stumbles complying with
permitting rules and managing newly housed tenants because it
doesn't provide social services.

"I don't believe that they were prepared to deal with those extra
attentions that these folks needed for moving off the street and
into the buildings," Galardi said.

Crime statistics show serious incidents becoming more frequent at
the Baltimore, King Edward and Madison after the foundation bought
them, far exceeding a general rise in crime reported on Skid Row at
the same time, a Times analysis of Los Angeles Police Department
data found.

More than 100 assaults, batteries and robberies were reported at
the building addresses, the data showed, an average of more than
seven per year at the sites. That was more than twice the rate in
the years before the foundation's ownership.

This year, journalism students at Cal State Los Angeles also
reported on problems with crime within foundation buildings -- as
well as habitability and accessibility issues -- for nonprofit news
website Knock L.A.

Dyer said in a deposition from the Madison class action that any
crime issues reflect broader problems on Skid Row and that he
believed police were called to the building far less than
surrounding properties.

Several tenants interviewed by The Times said the foundation has
ignored havoc caused by violent residents, leading, at least once,
to tragic consequences.

After moving into the Madison in fall 2020, Omar Deayon gained a
reputation for selling drugs and intimidating others, according to
internal records made available through a lawsuit against the
foundation. Security footage shows Deayon, 51, brandishing a gun in
a hallway. He also threatened a fellow tenant with a butcher knife
in the lobby, according to an incident report. Another incident
report describes Deayon tossing a chair and threatening to shoot a
foundation employee. In spring 2021, property managers listed him
as one of their most aggressive and violent residents, internal
foundation records show.

For all this, according to the lawsuit and tenant interviews,
Deayon was nicknamed "Killa."

Throughout summer 2022, Deayon's across-the-hall neighbor James
Ellis told property managers that he couldn't sleep because of
Deayon's loud music and guests, according to internal incident
reports. Just before midnight on July 26, Ellis again asked Deayon
to quiet down.

Security footage shows what happened next. A hand with a gun
extended from Deayon's door, shooting Ellis, who fell into his
room. Deayon immediately entered the hallway, gun in hand, while a
woman, obviously shaken, ran from his room.

Ellis, 62, survived but still can't work. He now spends much of his
days sitting in his same room, stressed.

"I ain't got nowhere else to go," Ellis said.

The bullet remains lodged in his back.

Deayon has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder charges and is
being held in Men's Central Jail on $1.2-million bail. In a
jailhouse interview, Deayon denied shooting Ellis and cited his own
mental illness and the building's conditions for his problems while
living there.

Ellis sued the foundation for negligence. Foundation attorneys say
in court papers they intend to file cross-complaints against Deayon
and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. They contend that
they secured an eviction judgment against Deayon a month before the
shooting but deputies did not lock him out because the paperwork
"supposedly contained a clerical error" that was later fixed. In a
subsequent filing, the foundation clarified that the "clerical
error" involved an outside attorney filing Deayon's eviction
lawsuit on the wrong unit.

To be sure, other Skid Row landlords have had severe and, in some
cases, worse conditions in their buildings. The neighborhood's
largest landlord, the nonprofit Skid Row Housing Trust, financially
imploded earlier this year, leaving nonexistent security, smashed
doors and windows, squatters and filthy bathrooms across its 29
properties. A quarter of its 2,000 units became uninhabitable, and
the city pursued a receivership to take over the trust's assets.
Residents of the Cecil Hotel, a 600-unit single-room occupancy
building on Skid Row owned by a for-profit developer, live with
mold, vermin and regular acts of violence.

But the foundation stands out among L.A.'s homeless housing
providers in the frequency of complaints, even compared with the
collapsed trust.

On average, foundation buildings on Skid Row and in Westlake and
Hollywood each have faced nearly eight code or public health
complaints or emergency responses annually, according to a Times
data analysis. Similar properties operated by the trust had just
over two complaints per year, while those owned by other nonprofit
landlords Abode, A Community of Friends and SRO Housing Corp. all
had annual rates less than two.

Some complaints include multiple potential problems. Residents have
described 171 instances of safety and sanitation, plumbing,
electrical, construction, heating and pest issues within 118 code
complaints at the Baltimore, King Edward and Madison.

Troubles extend beyond those buildings. At the Olympic, a 172-unit
complex in Westlake, code complaints have more than doubled since
it was acquired last year. In September, hot water was out in the
building for more than two weeks, according to the city housing
department.

There's a pending habitability lawsuit over conditions at the
Sinclair, a 190-room building also in Westlake, while internal
foundation records consistently show electrical failures at the
Whitley, a 61-unit property in Hollywood, in 2021.

Residents told foundation staff that the Whitley was losing power
10 to 20 times daily, sometimes lasting almost the entire day. One
said the building would lose power whenever he turned on his
microwave.

Tenants complained that their groceries were spoiling. Dyer said in
an internal email that he sympathized with the residents but nixed
an employee's suggestion to hand out supermarket gift cards as
compensation. "Food can last up to 24 hours in a fridge with no
power," Dyer wrote.

Foundation officials knew the Whitley needed electricity upgrades
before occupying the building, according to emails between a
construction manager and the Los Angeles Department of Water and
Power. But the manager blamed the public utility for delaying
repairs.

It's one of many times that foundation executives have pointed at
others for problems. Besides the Ellis case, the foundation has
filed cross-complaints in different lawsuits, including two against
the Madison's prior owner, Kameron Segal, alleging he failed to
disclose the building's true conditions. Segal could not be reached
for comment.

Myers accused Annette Harings, an attorney representing foundation
tenants in the Madison class action and six other cases filed since
2019, of exaggerating the building's problems. Harings referred
comment to Jennifer Kramer, her co-counsel in the class action, who
said the lawsuit aims to ensure the Madison is safe and
accessible.

Foundation executives also blamed the city and public utility in
cross-complaints over conditions at the Madison, notably issues
with its elevator.

In all six years the foundation has owned the Madison, the elevator
has been out of service frequently, sometimes going offline for
months at a time.

Residents, many of whom are elderly and disabled, have slept in the
lobby, paid others as much as $40 a trip to carry them to their
rooms or remained trapped upstairs in the five-story building,
according to interviews and court declarations. A 66-year-old
legally blind tenant was hospitalized in 2018 after plummeting more
than a dozen feet down an open shaft when the elevator door opened
without the cab present.

Weinstein acknowledged in an early 2020 interview that tenants had
reason to be upset. But he said that the city and utility had "
100% of the responsibility " for the elevator failures, alleging
they were dragging their feet on permitting. Last December, the
foundation received $100,000 in a settlement with the public
agencies.

Two months later, the foundation settled the elevator lawsuit,
paying 13 tenants $832,000 and additional undisclosed amounts to
four others. At the time, the foundation had just agreed to more
repairs, part of $600,000 Weinstein said the foundation had
committed to elevator upgrades.

But the elevator is still out of service once a week for a day at a
time or longer, tenants said. In August, they said the elevator was
inoperable for three weeks and cordoned off with yellow caution
tape only to be restored to its similar cadence of outages.

One morning in October 2019, three AIDS Healthcare Foundation
activists marched into Los Angeles City Hall demanding the City
Council curb evictions.

"We have enough homelessness," one said.

That same day, a foundation attorney filed an eviction lawsuit
against a Madison tenant for overdue rent.

The episode provides a stark example of the foundation fulminating
against forcing people from their homes while pursuing evictions
against its own residents.

The foundation has picketed the offices of a high-profile L.A.
eviction attorney and paid legal costs for hundreds of tenants at a
West L.A. apartment complex fighting against a mass eviction.

"Eviction makes it hard for families to find decent housing in safe
neighborhoods & has negative impacts on health, employment,
education," the foundation's tenant activist group said on social
media in 2021.

In June 2018, less than a year after buying properties on Skid Row,
the foundation secured its first eviction judgment against a King
Edward tenant who owed $461. From then until the pandemic began in
early 2020, 51 other residents at foundation buildings lost
eviction cases, according to court records.

Of those evictions, 45 were for overdue rent, court records show,
including one over a $200 debt. Three of the other judgments were
against resident managers who lost their homes when they lost their
foundation jobs. Three others were against tenants who the
foundation said had acted violently and the remainder for a tenant
who had unauthorized occupants.

The foundation has pursued far more evictions than these.
California law typically shields eviction lawsuits from public view
unless a landlord wins a judgment. But records made available as
part of the Madison class action reveal the foundation filed 73
eviction cases against the building's tenants between mid-2018 and
early 2020 -- nearly double the number of judgments from the
Madison that appear on the public docket.

Lucero, the Madison tenant who was evicted in fall 2018, said she
had an agreement with the prior owner to serve as a building
manager in exchange for living in two adjacent units rent free. The
foundation won an eviction judgment against her for nonpayment for
one of the units. Months later, it had her arrested for trespassing
when she was continuing to reside in the other, after which her
belongings were thrown away. Lucero sued the charity. In court
filings, the foundation maintains she had sufficient time to
collect her possessions and it did not discard them unlawfully.
Lucero settled the case earlier this year receiving an undisclosed
amount higher than $10,000, court records show.

The foundation says it offers assistance to those who are behind on
rent before filing eviction lawsuits, but ultimately needs its
tenants to pay.

"In order to make the project financially viable and build
self-sufficiency, we exercise tough love on paying the rent,"
Weinstein told The Times in 2020 when asked about evictions at the
Madison.

Because rent revenues are so low, the foundation has had to spend
$15.4 million subsidizing building operations across its portfolio,
Myers said.

Myers said that most evictions "were of tenants who paid little to
no rent despite having the ability to do so."

"Tenants who pay nothing are taking away the opportunity to have
stable housing from those who pay rent," he said. "AHF's model of
housing thousands of low-income tenants is only sustainable if
AHF's extremely low rents are paid."

Nevertheless, Shamine Robinson, who was evicted with her three
children in a dispute over rent in early 2020, says her situation
reveals the foundation's hypocrisy.

"You can't talk about how bad evictions are, but then be handing
people out one," said Robinson, who was living at Sunrise on
Sunset, a 37-room converted motel in Hollywood.

Robinson said she wasn't aware she had formally been evicted until
informed by a Times reporter. She said her family had left the
property voluntarily after receiving an initial notice. Robinson
struggled to find a new apartment, and after learning of the
eviction on her record believed that was the cause.

"Having the eviction notice," she said, "that's not a short-term
thing, that's long-term."

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck in spring 2020, local, state and
federal authorities prohibited evictions for tenants who were
behind on rent for pandemic-related reasons.

Rent collection slowed, and the foundation used its retail and
tenant organizing operations to recoup some of the losses.

The foundation runs a chain of thrift stores called Out of the
Closet, and it set up a program for its tenants to sort and hang
merchandise. Beforehand, residents agreed to forego a paycheck, and
instead, every hour of work they put in would knock $15 off their
rent debt, according to a copy of the contract they signed.

Much of the foundation's tenant advocacy through the pandemic
centered on its support for rental assistance. It published a
full-page advertisement in The Times warning of mass evictions
statewide should that money not come. And it held news conferences
calling for public dollars alongside elected officials, including
Los Angeles City Councilmember Kevin de León, who represents Skid
Row and who the foundation previously employed as a housing
consultant.

Ultimately, the foundation received more than $1.5 million from
pandemic rental debt programs through February, a property manager
said in a court hearing that month.

While landlords weren't allowed to evict for overdue rent accrued
during the pandemic, they could sue tenants in small claims court.

The foundation has filed 69 such cases since last December, court
records show. Among those targeted for back rent was Ellis, the
Madison tenant who was shot and separately sued the foundation over
the incident.

While Ellis' lawsuit remains pending, the foundation won a small
claims judgment against him in July for $2,490.

Living on the sixth floor of the Baltimore, John Carter, 72,
suffers from memory loss, dementia, depression, bipolar disorder
and mania. He's addicted to crack cocaine. He's incontinent and
blind in one eye. Arthritis afflicts his knees and ankles.

Even when the hot water is working, Carter said, it leaves a milky
residue, and he struggles up the stairs when the elevator is out.
Because of the conditions in the Baltimore, Carter said he doesn't
believe he should have to pay rent. But if he must, he's told the
foundation it can take money directly from his Social Security
check.

"I told them to put me into money management," Carter said. "I told
them I was into drugs. It's not that I'm trying to deceive
anyone."

Instead, last December the foundation served him with a small
claims lawsuit.

In February, Carter ventured to a downtown courthouse in an
electric wheelchair and explained his predicament to a judge. The
judge said it was obvious Carter was indigent and infirm, but
ultimately ordered him to pay $8,873 in back rent. She also told
the foundation property manager that its social workers should
schedule a doctor's appointment for a hernia Carter complained
about during the hearing.

The foundation didn't help Carter find a doctor, he said. It
doesn't employ social workers or offer social services for its
tenants, including those, like Carter, with mental health and
addiction problems.

Not providing these services, the foundation has said, was a
financial choice that allows the charity to purchase more
properties than it otherwise could. This strategy, it argues, best
responds to the need for housing on Skid Row and in other
neighborhoods with high rates of homelessness.

"Costs would spiral out of control if AHF also provided services,
such as mental health services," the foundation wrote in an
unsigned defense of its approach in 2022 published on its website.

In general, this leaves foundation tenants responsible for finding
their own supportive services.

The foundation calls what it does "housing first," referring to
efforts that give homeless residents a permanent home without
requiring sobriety or other preconditions. Myers said housing first
"is a tried-and-true housing policy that has been successful across
the country and around the world."

But the foundation isn't practicing "housing first" under federal
and state guidelines, because the definition includes access to
services.

Decades of researchshow that housing-first programs pairing
permanent housing with robust social services keep chronically
homeless residents with serious mental health and drug problems
housed. Models that serve the same population without services tend
to fail, said Margot Kushel, a doctor and professor of medicine at
UC San Francisco and director of the school's Benioff Homelessness
and Housing Initiative.

"Plenty of folks who've been homeless a long time just need an
apartment," said Kushel, who published a study on California's
homeless population this year. "But when you're putting people who
have severe mental health and substance-use disorders into
apartments, somebody needs to provide these services."

Without them, buildings could devolve into disorder with high rates
of eviction, property damage and death, she said.

Over the last six years, 20 people have died at the Madison,
including three over three days last fall, according to coroner
records. The records show 50 deaths in all foundation buildings,
nearly half listing drug toxicity as the primary cause with another
third caused by heart-related illness.

The lack of services has degraded quality of life for those without
mental health or drug problems as well.

"The people who have themselves together in these buildings feel
like baby-sitters," said Mariah Darling, 37, who lived for six
months in 2021 in the Pride Hotel in East L.A.

The strain of helping distressed tenants and calling 911 on those
who were violent or acting out took its toll, she said. Another
resident, she said, groped her and exposed himself while she
showered in a communal bathroom. Darling eventually left and moved
back in with family.

The foundation has leased two of its smaller properties, one in Van
Nuys and one in East L.A., to nonprofits that provide interim
housing with social services. Last year, the foundation attempted
to lease an additional 235 units in four other buildings to tenants
who had case managers through a program arranged by People
Assisting the Homeless, or PATH, one of the region's largest
service providers. Over the summer, however, PATH terminated the
contract and the foundation has since sued PATH claiming a breach.
PATH officials declined to comment, citing the litigation.

The foundation also employs workers to connect tenants with outside
services. But when those workers pushed to provide residents with
more assistance two years ago, executives rebuffed their attempts.

Coy, the former employee, started in late 2020 as part of a
three-person team who helped residents secure identification cards,
apply for government benefits and find therapists and drug rehab
programs.

Sometimes, she faced emergencies. Once, in spring 2021, Coy said
she intervened in a tenant's attempt to strangle himself, her
fingers turning purple as she prevented him from tightening an
extension cord around his neck. Over the next two weeks, Coy said
she and her boss, Karla Leiva, cared for the tenant's dog in their
homes until he returned from the hospital.

"I'm not going to put his dog in a shelter when he just tried to
commit suicide," Coy said.

By the time of that incident, Leiva had been arguing for months
that arranging more services for residents was the only humane way
to address the suffering within the foundation's buildings,
according to records from subsequent litigation between Leiva and
the foundation.

"If we do not want to go this route then we need to rethink who we
want to serve because we are setting people up to fail," she wrote
in a June 2021 email to Weinstein and other foundation executives.

But foundation leaders said they believed Leiva's attempts to offer
greater care were too time-consuming and distracting to property
managers and security guards, none of whom were trained to handle
tenants' social service needs, according to a court declaration
from Liliana Zoldi, the foundation's director of human resources.

"Those efforts took a lot of time, sometimes hours per day for just
one tenant," Zoldi said. "The efforts mostly failed, in my
opinion."

Also that June, according to Coy and internal emails, the
foundation's top property manager instructed her to pull back on
connecting tenants with healthcare. Instead, he wanted her to focus
on the foundation's bottom line: getting residents to apply for
rental assistance or work off their debts at its thrift stores.

Soon after, the foundation fired Leiva and put the top property
manager in charge of Coy and her colleague. Coy quit, convinced
that Weinstein and other executives were ignoring residents' needs

"They envisioned this idea of just handing someone a pamphlet and
telling them to go off and go access the resource," Coy said.
"That's really not possible. It just showed a lack of awareness of
what tenants were dealing with."

In the summer, with pandemic protections expiring, the foundation
again began evicting residents who were behind on rent. The first
successful case, court records show, was against a Baltimore tenant
who owed more than $17,000.

But the resident, who has been diagnosed with paranoid
schizophrenia, didn't know he was being evicted, according to court
documents filed by the tenant's mother. She said she found the
paperwork months after it had been filed while cleaning his room.

In September, the mother pleaded for mercy, telling a judge her son
would be forced to the streets. She said his mental health would
worsen and offered to begin making payments on his debt. But the
judge said she wasn't party to the case and declined her request.

During the hearing, a foundation attorney emphasized that the
charity did not provide residents with mental health services,
adding that the tenant owed too much to let him remain housed.

"Perhaps the defendant needs to find a better place," the attorney
said. [GN]

AQUILA SERVICES: Barnett Sues Over Unpaid Wages, Retaliation
------------------------------------------------------------
KYLE BARNETT, an individual, LUKE MIEDERHOFF, an individual,
MICHAEL BILLADEAU, an individual, and DAMONTE COUCH, an individual,
Plaintiffs v. AQUILA SERVICES CORP, d/b/a Denver Metro Protective
Services, Defendants, Case No. 1:23-cv-03039 (D. Colo., Nov. 16,
2023) is a class action brought by the Plaintiffs, on behalf of
themselves and others similarly situated employees, against the
Defendants for alleged violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act,
the Colorado Wage Claim Act, the Colorado Minimum Wage Act, and the
Colorado Overtime and Minimum Pay Standards Orders.

During Plaintiffs' employment with the Defendants, they were not
paid for all compensable hours, were not paid overtime pay despite
regularly working more than 40 hours a week, encountered late pay
and/or bounced checks, and were not provided meal and break times
as provided for by law, says the suit.

Plaintiff Billadeau further alleges that Defendants violated the
anti-retaliation provisions of the FLSA and/or CWCA by terminating
him in response to his complaints regarding his employer's wage and
hour violations.

The Plaintiffs worked as security officers for the Defendants.

Aquila Services Corp. provides security guard and patrol
services.[BN]

The Plaintiffs are represented by:

          Joseph W. Galera, Esq.
          ANDERSONDODSON, P.C.  
          14143 Denver West Pkwy. Suite 100-50
          Golden, CO 80401
          E-mail: jgalera@andersondodson.com  

               - and -

          Penn A. Dodson, Esq.
          ANDERSONDODSON, P.C.   
          11 Broadway, Suite 615
          New York, NY 10004
          Telephone: (212) 961-7639
          E-mail: penn@andersondodson.com

ASCENSION MICHIGAN: Cross Appeals Albright Suit Settlement Approval
-------------------------------------------------------------------
SHANNON CROSS, et al., interested parties, are taking an appeal
from a court order granting the Plaintiff's motion for settlement
in the lawsuit entitled Karen Albright, et al., on behalf of
themselves and all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs, v.
Ascension Michigan, et al., Defendants, Case No. 1:22-cv-00638, in
the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan.

As previously reported in the Class Action Reporter, the Plaintiffs
filed a four-count complaint against the Defendants for alleged
violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and
Michigan's Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act. The Plaintiffs later
filed a First and Second Amended Complaint. In each complaint, the
Plaintiffs alleged that Ascension and its various related entities
unlawfully denied their religious accommodation requests and
retaliated against employees who sought religious exemptions from
Ascension's COVID-19 Vaccination Policy. The Plaintiffs claimed
that they were suspended or forced to resign.

On Sept. 21, 2023, Plaintiff Karen Albright filed a motion for
settlement, which the Court granted through an Order entered by
Judge Jane M. Beckering on Oct. 6, 2023.

On Nov. 2, 2023, the Court entered final order and judgment. The
Court concluded that the settlement is fair, reasonable, and
adequate, and that all requirements for approval of the settlement
under Fed. R. Civ. P. 23 have been met.

The appellate case is captioned Karen Albright, et al. v. Ascension
Michigan, et al., Case No. 23-2019, in the United States Court of
Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, filed on November 16, 2023. [BN]

Plaintiffs-Appellees KAREN ALBRIGHT, et al., on behalf of
themselves and all others similarly situated, are represented by:

            Noah Sklar Hurwitz, Esq.
            HURWITZ LAW
            340 Beakes Street, Suite 125
            Ann Arbor, MI 48104
            Telephone: (734) 645-5263

Interested Parties-Appellants SHANNON CROSS, et al. are represented
by:

            William Bock, III, Esq.
            KROGER, GARDIS & REGAS
            111 Monument Circle, Suite 900
            Indianapolis, IN 46204
            Telephone: (317) 692-9000

Defendants-Appellees ASCENSION MICHIGAN, et al. are represented
by:

            Elyse K. Culberson, Esq.
            JACKSON LEWIS
            2000 Town Center, Suite 1650
            Southfield, MI 48075
            Telephone: (248) 936-1900

                    - and -

            Patricia Anderson Pryor, Esq.
            JACKSON LEWIS
            201 E. Fifth Street, 26th Floor
            Cincinnati, OH 45202
            Telephone: (513) 898-0050

ASHLEY FURNITURE: Floyd Class Suit Removed to W.D. Wash.
--------------------------------------------------------
The case styled as ALEXANDER FLOYD, individually and on behalf of
all others similarly situated, Plaintiff v. ASHLEY FURNITURE
INDUSTRIES, LLC a foreign limited liability company doing business
as ASHLEY FURNITURE INDUSTRIES, INC.; ASHLEY GLOBAL RETAIL, LLC, a
foreign limited liability company doing business as ASHLEY; ASHLEY
PACIFIC NORTHWEST, LLC, a foreign limited liability company; and
DOES 1-20, Case No. 23-2-19765-8-KNT, was removed from the Superior
Court of Washington State for King County to the United States
District Court for the Western District of Washington, Seattle on
November 16, 2023.

The Clerk of Court for the Western District of Washington assigned
Case No. 2:23-cv-01756 to the proceeding.

The complaint purports to seek relief from Defendants related to
Washington's Equal Pay and Opportunity Act, Washington Revised Code
49.58.110, requiring certain disclosures in job postings.
Specifically, the complaint seeks (1) damages for alleged
violations of RCW 49.58.110; (2) injunctive relief; and (3)
declaratory relief.

Ashley Furniture Industries, LLC is an American home furnishings
manufacturer and retailer.[BN]

The Defendants are represented by:

          Matthew J. Macario, Esq.
          Catharine Morisset, Esq.
          Ryan R. Jones, Esq.
          FISHER & PHILLIPS LLP
          1700 7th Avenue, Suite 2200
          Seattle, WA 98101
          Telephone: (206) 682-2308
          Facsimile: (206) 682-7908
          E-mail: mmacario@fisherphillips.com
                  cmorisset@fisherphillips.com
                  rjones@fisherphillips.com

AUTONOMY PRODUCTIONS: Ramirez Labor Suit Removed to C.D. Cal.
-------------------------------------------------------------
The case styled MELISSA RAMIREZ, individually and on behalf of all
others similarly situated, Plaintiff v. AUTONOMY PRODUCTIONS, LLC,
a Delaware Limited Liability Company, HOME BOX OFFICE, INC., a
Delaware Corporation; Noreen O'Toole, an individual; and DOE 1
through and including DOE 10, Defendants, Case No. 23STCV24984, was
removed from the Superior Court of the State of California for the
County of Los Angeles to the United States District Court for the
Central District of California Western Division on November 17,
2023.

The Clerk of Court for the Central District of California assigned
Case No. 2:23-cv-09782 to the proceeding.

In the complaint, Plaintiff alleges, on behalf of herself and all
others similarly situated, six total causes of action, five of
which are for various violations of the California Labor Code, and
one for "Unfair Competition" under the California Business &
Professions Code.

Autonomy Productions, LLC is a Delaware Limited Liability Company,
which at all times relevant herein, conducted business within the
County of Los Angeles, State of California.[BN]

The Defendants are represented by:

          Adam Levin, Esq.
          Stephen A. Rossi, Esq.
          MITCHELL SILBERBERG & KNUPP LLP
          2049 Century Park East, 18th Floor
          Los Angeles, CA 90067-3120
          Telephone: (310) 312-2000
          Facsimile: (310) 312-3100
          E-mail: axl@msk.com
                  sar@msk.com

CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST: Tithing Class Suit May Impact Nonprofits
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Tamarra Kemsley, writing for The Salt Lake Tribune, reports that
four Utah-based nonprofits, including a charity that provides free
dental care and another aimed at reducing child hunger, warn that
James Huntsman's federal lawsuit accusing The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints of defrauding tithe payers could, if
successful, have devastating consequences for nonreligious
organizations like them when it comes to fundraising.

Together, in a joint amicus brief, AYUDA Humanitarian, Charity
Vision, Five.12 Foundation and Thanksgiving Point argue that if the
courts side with Huntsman, then nearly all nonprofits, from
universities to hospitals, may be guilty of inadvertently
misleading donors. Their reasoning: The church's actions (such as
investing donated funds) represent industry norms and best
practices.

And the language Latter-day Saint officials, including a past
church president, used to allegedly mislead tithe payers? The brief
says those individuals were simply using common industry lingo.

Given this, the groups paint a dire scenario if Huntsman prevails
-- one in which copycat lawsuits, or even the fear of legal action,
could force nonprofits of all stripes to cease fundraising, and,
therefore, functioning.

"Any nonprofit," they write, ". . . could be sued on the theory
adopted by the [appellate] panel -- that the use of 'opaque' or
merely imprecise language that might result in misunderstanding may
be construed as intentional fraud."

A second amicus brief filed by a slate of private religious
universities, including LDS Church-owned Brigham Young
University-Idaho and BYU-Hawaii, echoed this concern, maintaining
that the case "could destabilize higher-education fundraising by
subjecting nonprofit institutions to unsupported fraud claims by
dissatisfied donors."

If Huntsman, a brother of former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., wins,
the schools warn, these lawsuits could occur "even without any
objective misrepresentation by the institution" and "despite the
institution following standard practices within the nonprofit
industry."

To prevent this existential threat, the charities' brief concludes,
nonprofit groups would almost certainly end up erring on the side
of caution, disclosing as little information as possible in the
process of seeking donations.

"The result," it reads, "will be less transparency in fundraising,
not more."

Huntsman, who left the faith in 2020, first brought his case in
2021, arguing that the Salt Lake City-based church "repeatedly and
publicly lied" when it said member contributions went toward
humanitarian causes and keeping the lights on in chapels. In
reality, the church "secretly lined its own pockets," the suit
reads, "by using the funds to develop a multibillion-dollar
commercial real estate and insurance empire that had nothing to do
with charity."

A judge tossed out the case later that year, only for an appeals
court to resurrect it in August. The latter decision focused on a
statement delivered by then-church President Gordon B. Hinckley to
a worldwide Latter-day Saint audience in 2003 regarding how the
faith was paying to develop the high-end City Creek Center in
downtown Salt Lake City.

Speaking in April General Conference, Hinckley insisted that
tithing dollars "have not and will not be used" for the shopping
mall. Rather, he asserted, the funds "have come and will come from
those commercial entities owned by the church" and the "earnings of
invested reserve funds."

What he didn't say was that the initial "invested reserve funds"
were tithing. Two 9th Circuit Court of Appeals judges determined
that Hinckley not spelling out this detail could, in the eyes of a
"reasonable juror," be seen as an attempt to hide the fact that
member donations played a part in financing the $1.4 billion
development -- albeit indirectly.

'Standard' terminology
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Funding for development of
Salt Lake City's City Creek Center, shown in 2021, is at the center
of a fraud lawsuit against The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints.

The church, which has asked a three-judge panel or the full 9th
Circuit to reverse that August ruling and throw out the lawsuit,
rejects this argument as do the organizations behind the amicus
briefs.

"The panel's decision here rests on the assumption that the
accurate use of standard nonprofit terminology can be viewed as
fraudulent," the charities' brief argues, "because phrases like
'reserves' and 'earnings of reserved funds' may be misconstrued by
donors."

But, it reads, such terminology is "standard' in the nonprofit
industry. As a result, "any nonprofit officer would unlikely define
those terms any more explicitly than here when describing the
nonprofit's investment and expenditure programs."

The question then is: What other nonprofit institutions could this
case impact if the courts slap the label "misleading" to what,
according to the brief's authors, constitutes common industry
jargon.

Their conclusion: all of them.

"In misconstruing the nature" of the church's statements "about its
use of donated funds," they write, "the panel decision invites
litigation against every nonprofit who makes any fundraising
promise containing terms that could be deemed imprecise, confusing,
overly technical or insufficiently defined."

Huntsman's lawyers counter that the church "materially
misrepresented the source of funding for City Creek."

Tax law professor and Latter-day Saint Sam Brunson sees an even
more fundamental problem with the Huntsman case and a proposed
class action suit filed Oct. 31 against the church -- namely, the
confusion between investing and spending donor money.

"This whole discourse," Brunson said, "has been really naive over
the fact that nonprofits are allowed to invest their money,
probably should invest their money and, in fact, do invest their
money. They are not separate from but driven by the world of
finance."

Investment, he said, is not the same as consumption, explaining
that "if they're investing in a mall or an insurance company,
that's different from spending [donors'] money."

A second flaw Brunson sees in the suits brought against the church
is the assertion that it is somehow legally bound to use donated
money within a certain time frame.

He added: "If the church says we use 100% of the money for charity,
it doesn't say it does so in the year it was donated."

'It's a balance'
Nancy McLaughlin is a professor of charities law at the University
of Utah's law school. Speaking more generally about the role of
courts in holding nonprofits accountable to donors, she
acknowledged the need to consider a range of factors.

"You obviously don't want charities to be able to make
misrepresentations to donors," she said. That's why laws like the
Charitable Solicitations Act, which prohibits the use of untrue
statements in connection with fundraising, exist in the first
place.

"On the other hand," she added, "there may be misunderstandings"
that happen even when an organization is trying to be forthright.

She concluded: "It's a balance."

It's one that Huntsman's legal team says a jury should weigh. [GN]

COSTCO WHOLESALE: Clower Labor Suit Removed to E.D. Cal.
--------------------------------------------------------
The case styled as JORDAN CLOWER, individually and on behalf of all
others similarly situated, Plaintiff v. COSTCO WHOLESALE
CORPORATION, a Corporation; and DOES 1-10, inclusive, Defendants,
Case No. VCU302227, was removed from the Superior Court of
California for the County of Tulare to the United States District
Court for the Eastern District of California on November 17, 2023.

The Clerk of Court for the Eastern District of California assigned
Case No. 1:23-cv-01621-HBK to the proceeding.

The complaint asserts eight causes of action: (1) failure to pay
minimum and straight time wages, (2) failure to pay overtime wages,
(3) failure to provide meal periods, (4) failure to provide rest
periods, (5) failure to timely pay final wages at termination, (6)
failure to provide accurate itemized wage statements, (7) failure
to indemnify employees for expenditures, and (8) unfair business
practices.

Costco Wholesale Corporation owns and operates a chain of
membership warehouses.[BN]

The Defendant is represented by:

          David D. Jacobson, Esq.
          Lauren S. Schwartz, Esq.
          SEYFARTH SHAW LLP
          2029 Century Park East, Suite 3500
          Los Angeles, CA 90067-3021
          Telephone: (310) 277-7200
          Facsimile: (310) 201-5219   
          E-mail: djacobson@seyfarth.com
                  lschwartz@seyfarth.com

EQT CORPORATION: Files 4th Cir. Appeal in Glover Suit
-----------------------------------------------------
EQT CORPORATION, et al. has filed an appeal in the lawsuit entitled
William Glover, et al., individually and on behalf of all others
similarly situated, Plaintiffs, v. EQT Corporation, et al.,
Defendants, Case No. 5:19-cv-00223-JPB-JPM, in the U.S. District
Court for the Northern District of West Virginia.

The nature of suit is stated as Other Contract.

The appellate case is captioned William Glover v. EQT Corporation,
Case No. 23-2204, in the United States Court of Appeals for the
Fourth Circuit, filed on November 16, 2023. [BN]

Plaintiffs-Appellees WILLIAM GLOVER, et al., individually and on
behalf of all others similarly situated, are represented by:

            Mark A. Colantonio, Esq.
            Robert J. Fitzsimmons, II, Esq.
            Clayton John Fitzsimmons, Esq.
            Robert Patrick Fitzsimmons, Esq.
            FITZSIMMONS LAW FIRM, PLLC
            1609 Warwood Ave.
            Wheeling, WV 26003
            Telephone: (304) 277-1700

                    - and -

            April Dawn Ferrebee, Esq.
            Marvin Wayne Masters, Esq.
            MASTERS LAW FIRM, LC
            181 Summers Street
            Charleston, WV 25301
            Telephone: (304) 342-3106

Defendants-Appellants EQT CORPORATION, et al. are represented by:

            David Dehoney, Esq.
            Lauren W. Varnado, Esq.
            MICHELMAN & ROBINSON LLP
            605 3rd Avenue
            New York, NY 10158
            Telephone: (212) 730-7700

                    - and -

            Jennifer J. Hicks, Esq.
            BABST, CALLAND, CLEMENTS, ZOMNIR, P.C.
            300 Summers Street
            BB&T Square
            Charleston, WV 25301
            Telephone: (681) 205-8888

FLEETWOOD HOMES: Ramos Wage-and-Hour Suit Removed to C.D. Cal.
--------------------------------------------------------------
The case styled as LUIS RAMOS, individually, on a representative
basis, and on behalf of all others similarly situated, Plaintiff,
v. FLEETWOOD HOMES, INC., a Delaware Corporation; CAVCO INDUSTRIES,
INC., a Delaware Corporation; and DOES 1 through 20, inclusive,
Defendants, Case No. CVRI2305511, was removed from the Superior
Court of the State of California for the County of Riverside to the
United States District Court for the Central District of California
on November 17, 2023.

The Clerk of Court for the Central District of California assigned
Case No. 5:23-cv-02360 to the proceeding.

The Plaintiff's complaint alleges eight causes of action: (1)
failure to pay minimum wages; (2) failure to pay overtime wages;
(3) failure to provide meal periods; (4) failure to provide rest
breaks; (5) failure to reimburse business expenses; (6) failure to
timely pay final wages; (7) failure to provide accurate itemized
wages statements; and (8) unfair and unlawful competition.

Fleetwood Homes, Inc. operates as a housebuilder.[BN]

The Defendants are represented by:

          Aaron H. Cole, Esq.
          Daniel N. Rojas, Esq.  
          OGLETREE, DEAKINS, NASH, SMOAK & STEWART, P.C.
          400 South Hope Street, Suite 1200
          Los Angeles, CA 90071
          Telephone: (213) 239-9800
          Facsimile: (213) 239-9045
          E-mail: aaron.cole@ogletree.com
                  daniel.rojas@ogletree.com

FRAC SPYDER: Brown Sues Over Failure to Pay Proper Overtime
-----------------------------------------------------------
JESSIE BROWN, CARLOS BROWN, JEREMY EVANS and VICTOR GARCIA v. FRAC
SPYDER, LLC, Plaintiffs v. FRAC SPYDER, LLC, Defendant, Case No.
7:23-cv-00182 (W.D. Tex., Nov. 16, 2023) is a collective action
brought by Plaintiffs, on behalf of themselves and on behalf of all
persons similarly situated, for declaratory judgment, monetary
damages, liquidated damages, prejudgment interest, civil penalties
and costs, including reasonable attorneys' fees as a result of
Defendant's failure to pay Plaintiffs overtime compensation for all
hours worked in excess of 40 hours per week in violation of the
Fair Labor Standards Act.

The Plaintiffs worked for the Defendant as hourly oil field workers
at any time within a three-year period preceding filing of this
complaint.

Frac Spyder, LLC is a Texas-based petroleum products company.[BN]

The Plaintiffs are represented by:

          Sean Short, Esq.
          SANFORD LAW FIRM, PLLC
          Kirkpatrick Plaza
          10800 Financial Centre Pkwy, Suite 510
          Little Rock, AR 72211
          Telephone: (800) 615-4946
          Facsimile: (888) 787-2040
          E-mail: sean@sanfordlawfirm.com

GAK 249 INVESTMENTS: Hazary Seeks Unpaid Straight-Time, OT Wages
----------------------------------------------------------------
Jahidul Haque Hazary, on behalf of himself and all others similarly
situated, Plaintiff v. GAK 249 Investments LLC; GAK 529 LLC; GAK
Magnolia LLC; GAK Ventures LLC; GRA 249 Investments LLC; GRA
Magnolia LLC; GSAR Ventures LLC; HPS Enterprises LLC; Amrik Singh
Khinda; and, Harminder Pal Singh, Defendants, Case No.
4:23-cv-04368 (S.D. Tex., Nov. 17, 2023) arises from the Defendants
failure to pay straight-time and overtime hours for all hours
worked off-the-clock by the Plaintiff and similarly situated
individuals in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Plaintiff Hazary was employed by the Defendants at several of their
gas stations from March 18, 2022 until November 15, 2023. His job
duties included operating the cash register, assisting customers
with their purchases of gasoline and other items from their
convenience store, assisting customers with their gambling winnings
from the electronic gambling machines located at the Gas Stations,
and general upkeep of the premises.

The Defendants collectively own and operate gasoline stations with
convenience stores and gambling operations on their premises, in
Texas and Louisiana.[BN]

The Plaintiff is represented by:

          Salar Ali Ahmed, Esq.
          ALI S. AHMED, P.C.  
          430 W. Bell Street
          Houston, TX 77019
          Telephone: (713) 898-0982
          E-mail: aahmedlaw@gmail.com

HHM FACILITY: Alcaraz Labor Suit Removed to S.D. Cal.
-----------------------------------------------------
The case styled CECILIA ALCARAZ, on behalf of herself and others
similarly situated, Plaintiff v. HHM FACILITY MANAGEMENT LLC, a
Missouri limited liability company; and DOES 1 through 50,
inclusive, Defendants, Case No. 37-2023-00044371-CU-OE-CTL, was
removed from the Superior Court of California for the County of San
Diego to the United States District Court for the Southern District
of California on November 16, 2023.

The Clerk of Court for the Southern District of California assigned
Case No. 3:23-cv-02103-DMS-JLB to the proceeding.

The Plaintiff has alleged 14 causes of action in her purported
class-action complaint. Specifically, she alleges claims under the
California Labor Code for failure to pay minimum wages, failure to
pay wages and overtime, failure to pay reporting-time pay, failure
to provide meal-periods, failure to provide rest periods, failure
to pay vacation wages, failure to pay sick time at the regular rate
of pay, failure to provide accurate, itemized wage statements,
failure to keep payroll records, failure to produce requested
employment records, unlawfully removing wages for medical
insurance, failure to reimburse for necessary business expenses,
and failure to pay all wages due at time of termination or
resignation. The Plaintiff also alleges a cause of action for
unlawful business practices under California's Business and
Professions Code.

HHM Facility Management LLC is a property management company in
Branson, Missouri.[BN]

Defendant HHM Facility Management is represented by:

          David A. Wimmer, Esq.
          Allison R. Musante, Esq.
          SWERDLOW FLORENCE SANCHEZ SWERDLOW & WIMMER
          A Law Corporation
          10877 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1650
          Los Angeles, CA 90024
          Telephone: (310) 288-3980
          Facsimile: (310) 733-1727
          E-mail: dwimmer@swerdlowlaw.com
                  amusante@swerdlowlaw.com

HILCO MERCHANT: Corbin Class Suit Removed to D. Mass.
-----------------------------------------------------
The case styled CHRISTOPHER CORBIN and RICH SERONICK, individually,
and on behalf of all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs v. MARC
SALKOVITZ, PAM SALKOVITZ, and HILCO MERCHANT RESOURCES, LLC,
Defendants, Case No. 2383-cv-00717, was removed from the Superior
Court for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in and for the County
of Plymouth to the United States District Court for the District of
Massachusetts on November 17, 2023.

The Clerk of Court for the District of Massachusetts assigned Case
No. 1:23-cv-12807 to the proceeding.

The Plaintiffs allege claims arising from a bankruptcy that
Christmas Tree Shops, LLC filed on May 5, 2023. The Plaintiffs were
employed by Christmas Tree, and Defendants Marc and Pam Salkovitz
were corporate officers of that former entity. According to the
complaint, Christmas Tree defaulted on a loan used for
restructuring in late June 2023, and sometime thereafter, obtained
approval from the Bankruptcy Court to retain Hilco as a liquidator.


The Plaintiffs claim that they and other Christmas Tree employees
were promised wages and retention bonuses if they continued to work
through a liquidation of Christmas Trees' retail stores, but they
were not properly compensated. The Plaintiffs further allege that
the Salkovitz Defendants are liable for unpaid wages, which they
seek to treble, along with attorneys' fees. The Plaintiffs also
allege that all Defendants were unjustly enriched and engaged in
negligent misrepresentation.

Hilco Merchant Resources, LLC provides analytical, advisory, asset
monetization and capital investment services.[BN]

Defendant Hilco Merchant Resources LLC is represented by:

          Steven M. Cowley, Esq.
          McKenna K. Heath, Esq.
          DUANE MORRIS LLP
          100 High Street, Suite 2400
          Boston, MA 02110
          Telephone: (857) 488-4200
          Facsimile: (857) 488-4201
          E-mail: smcowley@duanemorris.com
                  mheath@duanemorris.com

HYATT CORP: Ramones Labor Suit Removed to E.D.N.Y.
--------------------------------------------------
The case styled as CARLOS RAMONES, individually and on behalf of
others similarly situated, Plaintiff v. HYATT CORPORATION; and any
other related entities, Defendants, Case No. 615859/2023, was
removed from the Supreme Court for the State of New York, County of
Nassau, to the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of New York on November 16, 2023.

The Clerk of Court for the Eastern District of New York assigned
Case No. 2:23-cv-08543 to the proceeding.

In the Complaint, Plaintiff seeks recovery for: (1) violations of
New York Labor Law; (2) violations of New York Codes, Rules and
Regulations; and (3) failure to provide notice upon hiring in
purported violation of Labor Law.

Hyatt Corp. is an American multinational hospitality company.[BN]

The Defendant is represented by:

          Michael D. Kabat, Esq.
          KABAT CHAPMAN & OZMER LLP
          171 17th Street NW, Suite 1550
          Atlanta, GA 30363
          Telephone: (404) 400-7300
          Facsimile: (404) 400-7333
          E-mail: mkabat@kcozlaw.com  

INTERVET INC: Installs Tracking Software on Devices, Aviles Says
----------------------------------------------------------------
JERRY AVILES, individually and on behalf of all others similarly
situated, Plaintiff v. INTERVET INC., a Delaware corporation d/b/a
WWW.HOMEAGAIN.COM, Defendant, Case No. 23STCV28285 (Cal. Super.,
Los Angeles Cty., Nov. 17, 2023) arises from the Defendant's
violation of the California Invasion of Privacy Act Penal Code by
secretly using "pen register" software to access Plaintiff's device
and install tracking software.

According to the complaint, the Defendant has secretly deployed
spyware that accesses visitor devices, installs tracking software,
and surveils their browsing habits to learn the identity of
anonymous visitors to www.homeagain.com and monetize its knowledge
of that visitor and their online habits. As such, Defendant is
liable for punitive damages pursuant to Civil Code section 3294,
says the suit.

The Plaintiff is a consumer privacy advocate who works as a
"tester" to ensure that companies abide by the privacy obligations
imposed by California law.

Intervet Inc. is a division of Merck, one of the largest companies
in the United States. It sells pet services throughout California
and across the U.S.[BN]

The Plaintiff is represented by:

          Scott J. Ferrell, Esq.
          PACIFIC TRIAL ATTORNEYS
          A Professional Corporation
          4100 Newport Place Drive, Ste. 800
          Newport Beach, CA 92660
          Telephone: (949) 706-6464
          Facsimile: (949) 706-6469
          E-mai: sferrell@pacifictrialattorneys.com

JELD-WEN INC: Spencer Suit Removed to W.D. Wash.
------------------------------------------------
The case styled as SHANNON SPENCER, individually and on behalf of
himself and persons similarly situated, Plaintiff v. JELD-WEN,
INC., a foreign profit corporation doing business as JELD-WEN; and
DOES 1-20, Defendants, Case No. 23-2-19581-7-KNT, was removed from
the Superior Court for the State of Washington, King County, to the
United States District Court for the Western District of Washington
on November 16, 2023.

The Clerk of Court for the Western District of Washington assigned
Case No. 2:23-cv-01757 to the proceeding.

The Plaintiff seeks to represent a putative class of all
individuals who, from January 1, 2023, through the date notice is
provided to the Class, applied for a job opening in the State of
Washington with Defendant, where the job posting did not disclose
the wage scale or salary range for the position. The Plaintiff
seeks statutory damages of actual damages or $5,000, whichever is
greater, pursuant to Washington Revised Code 49.58.070(1) as well
as attorneys' fees, expenses, and costs.

JELD-WEN, Inc. is engaged in door and window manufacturing.[BN]

The Defendant is represented by:

          Adam T. Pankratz, Esq.
          OGLETREE, DEAKINS, NASH, SMOAK & STEWART, P.C.
          1201 Third Avenue, Suite 5150  
          Seattle, WA 98101
          Telephone: (206) 693-7057
          Facsimile: (206) 693-7058
          E-mail: adam.pankratz@ogletree.com

               - and -

          Mathew A. Parker, Esq.
          OGLETREE, DEAKINS, NASH, SMOAK & STEWART, P.C.
          The KeyBank Building
          88 East Broad Street, Suite 2025
          Columbus, OH 43215
          Telephone: (614) 494-0420
          Facsimile: (614) 633-1455
          E-mail: mathew.parker@ogletree.com

KEMRON ENVIRONMENTAL: Gonzales Labor Suit Removed to N.D. Cal.
--------------------------------------------------------------
The case styled as DAVID GONZALES and MARTY EDWARD HERRERA,
individually, and on behalf of all others similarly situated,
Plaintiffs v. KEMRON ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES, INC., a corporation;
and DOES 1 through 10, inclusive, Defendants, Case No.
CGC-23-608698, was removed from the Superior Court of California
for the County of San Francisco to the United States District Court
for the Northern District of California on November 17, 2023.

The Clerk of Court for the Northern District of California assigned
Case No. 3:23-cv-05972 to the proceeding.

The complaint alleges the class action claims: (1) failure to pay
minimum wage and straight time wages; (2) failure to pay overtime
wages; (3) failure to provide meal periods; (4) failure to
authorized and permit rest periods; (5) failure to timely pay final
wages at termination; (6) failure to provide accurate itemized wage
statements; (7) failure to indemnify employees for expenditures;
and (8) unfair business practices.

Kemron Environmental Services, Inc. is an engineering and
consulting firm.[BN]

The Corporate Defendant is represented by:

          Joshua D. Carlon, Esq.
          Aashish Bhargava, Esq.
          ATKINSON, ANDELSON, LOYA, RUUD & ROMO
          A Professional Law Corporation
          12800 Center Court Drive South, Suite 300
          Cerritos, CA 90703-9364
          Telephone: (562) 653-3200
          Facsimile: (562) 653-3333
          E-mail: Joshua.Carlon@aalrr.com
                  Ash.Bhargava@aalrr.com

LEADING EDGE: Zarr Labor Suit Moved to M.D. Fla.
------------------------------------------------
The case styled as MICHELE ZARR, an individual, on behalf of
herself and all other similarly situated, Plaintiff v. LEADING EDGE
CONNECTIONS, LLC, a Florida limited liability company, Defendant,
Case No. 3:23-cv-08530, was transferred from the United States
District Court for the District of Arizona to the United States
District Court for the Middle District of Florida on November 17,
2023.

The Clerk of Court for the Middle District of Florida assigned Case
No. 8:23-cv-02642-VMC-CPT to the proceeding.

The Plaintiff contends Defendant misclassified her and all other
similarly situated employees as independent contractors, failed to
compensate them at the overtime rate for certain time periods in
which they worked more than forty hours in a workweek, thereby
depriving them of compensation to which they were entitled.

Leading Edge Connections, LLC is a fully virtual outsourced call
center providing customer service and sales services for its
business clients.[BN]

The Plaintiff is represented by:

          Thomas Leon Brown, Jr.
          ERNST BROWN & DRAPER PLLC
          3303 E Baseline Rd.
          Gilbert, AZ 85234
          Telephone: (480) 262-7653
          E-mail: tbrown@ebdlawyers.com

The Defendant is represented by:

          Jennifer Rachel Yee, Esq.
          SNELL & WILMER LLP
          1 E Washington St., Ste. 2700
          Phoenix, AZ 85004
          Telephone: (602) 382-6565
          E-mail: jryee@swlaw.com

               - and -

          Sean P. Cronin, Esq.
          STANTON CRONIN LAW GROUP, PL
          6944 W Linebaugh Ave., Suite 102
          Tampa, FL 33625
          Telephone: (813) 444-0155
          Facsimile: (813) 422-7955
          E-mail: scronin@sclawyergroup.com

MEMORIAL HEALTH: Files 9th Cir. Appeal in Stendal Suit
------------------------------------------------------
MEMORIAL HEALTH SERVICES, et al. are taking an appeal from a court
order in the lawsuit entitled Amy L. Stendal, individually and on
behalf of all others similarly situated, Plaintiff, v. Memorial
Health Services, et al., Defendants, Case No. 2:23-cv-04068, in the
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

As previously reported in the Class Action Reporter, the lawsuit,
which was removed from the Superior Court of the State of
California in and for the County of Los Angeles to the U.S.
District Court for the Central District of California, is brought
against the Defendants for violations of California Labor Code's
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA).

On Oct. 17, 2023, Judge Otis D. Wright, II, ruled that, "In light
of the Status Conference requested by the parties and the Court's
order that the issue of arbitrability be submitted to the
arbitrator, Defendants' Motion to Compel Arbitration is DENIED
without prejudice as moot." The case was stayed pending the
arbitral determination.

The appellate case is captioned Stendal v. Memorial Health
Services, et al., Case No. 23-3561, in the United States Court of
Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, filed on November 16, 2023.

The briefing schedule in the Appellate Case states that:

   -- Appellant Mediation Questionnaire was due on November 21,
2023;

   -- Appellant Appeal Transcript is due on December 28, 2023;

   -- Appellant Appeal Opening Brief is due on February 6, 2024;
and

   -- Appellee Appeal Answering Brief is due on March 7, 2024. [BN]

MULTIMATIC TENNESSEE: Taylor Seeks Unpaid OT Wages
--------------------------------------------------
HEATHER DAWN TAYLOR, individually, and on behalf of herself and
other similarly situated current and former employees, Plaintiff v.
MULTIMATIC TENNESSEE, LLC, Defendant, Case No. 1:23-cv-00078 (M.D.
Tenn., Nov. 16, 2023) is brought against the Defendant as a
collective action under the Fair Labor Standards Act to recover
unpaid overtime compensation and other damages owed to Plaintiff
and other similarly situated hourly-paid employees.

The Plaintiff has been employed by Defendant as an hourly-paid
production employee since April 17, 2016 to present. She asserts
that Defendant violated FLSA by failing to pay her and those
similarly situated for all hours worked over 40 per week within
weekly pay periods at one and one-half their regular hourly rate of
pay.

Multimatic Tennessee, LLC supplies engineered structural
components.[BN]

The Plaintiff is represented by:

          J. Russ Bryant, Esq.
          Gordon E. Jackson, Esq.
          James L. Holt, Jr., Esq.
          J. Joseph Leatherwood, IV, Esq.
          JACKSON SHIELDS YEISER HOLT OWEN & BRYANT
          262 German Oak Drive
          Memphis, TN 38018
          Telephone: (901) 754-8001
          Facsimile: (901) 754-8524  
          E-mail: gjackson@jsyc.com
                  rbryant@jsyc.com
                  jholt@jsyc.com
                  jleatherwood@jsyc.com

NESTLE PURINA: Pet Foods Contain Synthetic Chemicals, Kueck Says
----------------------------------------------------------------
FRED KUECK and JASEN SILVER, individually and on behalf of all
others similarly situated, Plaintiffs v. NESTLE PURINA PETCARE
COMPANY, Defendant, Case No. 3:23-cv-05962-SK (N.D. Cal., Nov. 17,
2023) is a class action against the Defendant for fraud, fraudulent
omission or concealment, unjust enrichment, and violations of the
California's Unfair Competition Law, the Consumers Legal Remedies
Act, and the False Advertising Law.

The Plaintiffs bring this class action lawsuit on behalf of
themselves and similarly situated consumers who purchased
Purina-branded pet food. The products are labeled as healthy, yet
the packaging contains per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
PFAS are synthetic chemicals that pose undue health risks, even at
low levels. Accordingly, the presence of PFAS renders Defendant's
healthy representations false and misleading, says the suit.

Based on Defendant's omission, a reasonable consumer would expect
that the products are healthy and can be purchased and consumed as
marketed and sold. Yet, Defendant does not notify consumers, like
Plaintiffs, that the products are not healthy, pose health risks,
and should otherwise be approached with caution, the suit asserts.

Nestle Purina Petcare Company is an American subsidiary of the
Swiss corporation Nestle, based in St. Louis, Missouri. It produces
and markets pet food, treats, cat and dog litter.[BN]

The Plaintiffs are represented by:

          L. Timothy Fisher, Esq.
          Emily A. Horne, Esq.
          BURSOR & FISHER, P.A.
          1990 North California Blvd., Suite 940
          Walnut Creek, CA 94596  
          Telephone: (925) 300-4455
          Facsimile: (925) 407-2700
          E-mail: ltfisher@bursor.com
                  ehorne@bursor.com

NORTHWELL HEALTH: Fails to Protect Personal Info, Vasquez Says
--------------------------------------------------------------
SANDRA VASQUEZ, individually, and on behalf of all others similarly
situated, Plaintiff v. NORTHWELL HEALTH, INC., and PERRY JOHNSON &
ASSOCIATES, INC., Defendants, Case No. 2:23-cv-08544-LDH-AYS
(E.D.N.Y., Nov. 16, 2023) is a class action against Defendants for
their failure to safeguard Plaintiff, and approximately 3.9 million
other individuals' personally identifying information (PII) and
personal health information (PHI), including names, dates of birth,
addresses, medical record numbers, encounter numbers, medical
information, and dates/times of service.

Between approximately March 27, 2023 and May 2, 2023, an
unauthorized third party gained access to PJA's network system and
obtained files containing information about Northwell's current and
former patients. As a result of Defendants' inadequate security and
breach of their duties and obligations, the data breach occurred,
and Plaintiff's and Class Members' PII/PHI was accessed and
disclosed, says the suit.

The Plaintiff, on behalf of herself and all other Class members,
asserts claims for negligence, negligence per se, breach of
fiduciary duty, breach of implied contract, unjust enrichment and
violations of the New York Deceptive Acts and Practices Act, and
seeks declaratory relief, injunctive relief, monetary damages,
statutory damages, punitive damages, equitable relief, and all
other relief authorized by law.

Northwell Health, Inc. is a nonprofit integrated healthcare
provider based in New York.[BN]

The Plaintiff is represented by:

          Raymond C. Silverman, Esq.
          Jason S. Goldstein, Esq.
          PARKER WAICHMAN LLP
          6 Harbor Park Drive
          Port Washington, NY 11050
          Telephone: (516) 466-6500
          Facsimile: (516) 466-6665
          E-mail: rsilverman@yourlawyer.com
                  jgoldstein@yourlawyer.com

PENNEY OPCO: Atkinson Suit Removed to W.D. Washington
-----------------------------------------------------
The case captioned as Jacob Atkinson, individually and on behalf of
all others similarly situated v. PENNEY OPCO LLC, a foreign limited
liability company; and DOES 1-20, Case No. 23-2-19391-1 SEA was
removed from the Superior Court of Washington for King County, to
the United States District Court for the Western District of
Washington on Nov. 22, 2023, and assigned Case No. 2:23-cv-01806.

On October 20, 2023, the Plaintiff filed his First Amended Class
Action Complaint ("FAC") for Damages, Injunctive Relief, and
Declaratory Relief. The FAC purports to seek relief from Defendant
related to Washington's Equal Pay and Opportunity Act, requiring
certain disclosures in job postings. Specifically, the FAC seeks
damages for alleged violations of RCW; injunctive relief; and
declaratory relief for Plaintiff and on behalf of a putative
class.[BN]

The Plaintiff is represented by:

          Timothy W. Emery, Esq.
          Patrick B. Reddy, Esq.
          Paul Cipriani, Esq.
          EMERY REDDY, PLLC
          600 Stewart Street, Suite 1100
          Seattle, WA 98101
          Phone: (206) 207-9281
          Email: emeryt@emeryreddy.com
                 reddyp@emeryreddy.com
                 paul@emeryreddy.com

The Defendants are represented by:

          Catharine Morisset, Esq.
          Ryan R. Jones, Esq.
          FISHER & PHILLIPS LLP
          1700 7th Avenue, Suite 2200
          Seattle, WA 98101
          Phone: 206-682-2308
          Facsimile: 206-682-7908
          Email: cmorisset@fisherphillips.com
                 rjones@fisherphillips.com


PHILADELPHIA INDEPENDENTS: Gomberg Files ADA Suit in E.D. Pa.
-------------------------------------------------------------
A class action lawsuit has been filed against Philadelphia
Independents, LLC. The case is styled as Matthew Gomberg, on behalf
of himself and all others similarly situated v. Philadelphia
Independents, LLC, Case No. 2:23-cv-04637-GJP (E.D. Pa., Nov. 22,
2023).

The lawsuit is brought over alleged violation of the Americans with
Disabilities Act.

Philadelphia Independents --
https://www.philadelphiaindependents.com/ -- is a retail gift store
that features only handmade items from the best talent in the
city.[BN]

The Plaintiff is represented by:

          David S. Glanzberg, Esq.
          THE LAW OFFICE OF DAVID GLANZBERG
          123 S. Broad Street, Suite 1640
          Philadelphia, PA 19109
          Phone: (215) 981-5400
          Fax: (267) 319-1993
          Email: david.glanzberg@gtlawpc.com


PREMIUM RETAIL: Martinez Suit Removed to N.D. California
--------------------------------------------------------
The case captioned as Vanessa Martinez, an individual and on behalf
of all others similarly situated v. PREMIUM RETAIL SERVICES, LLC.,
a Delaware limited liability company; PREMIUM RETAIL SERVICES,
INC., a Delaware corporation; EZAT RAHIMI, an individual; and DOES
1 through 100, inclusive, Case No. 23CV422925 was removed from the
Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Santa
Clara, to the United States District Court for the Northern
District of California on Nov. 22, 2023, and assigned Case No.
3:23-cv-06084.

The Complaint asserts class action claims for: failure to pay
overtime wages; failure to pay minimum wages; failure to provide
meal periods; failure to provide rest periods; waiting time
penalties; wage statement violations; failure to pay timely wages;
failure to indemnify; violation of Labor Code; and unfair
competition.[BN]

The Defendants are represented by:

          Linda Claxton, Esq.
          Samuel P. Knecht, Esq.
          Juliana C. Vallier, Esq.
          OGLETREE, DEAKINS, NASH, SMOAK & STEWART, P.C.
          400 South Hope Street, Suite 1200
          Los Angeles, CA 90071
          Phone: 213-239-9800
          Facsimile: 213-239-9045
          Email: linda.claxton@ogletree.com
                 samuel.knecht@ogletree.com
                 juliana.vallier@ogletree.com


QUEST DIAGNOSTICS: Mandatory Settlement Conference Set for Feb. 13
------------------------------------------------------------------
In the class action lawsuit captioned as PAMELA STEWART, et al., v.
QUEST DIAGNOSTICS CLINICAL LABORATORIES, INC., et al., Case No.
3:19-cv-02043-AGS-DDL (S.D. Cal.), the Hon. Judge David D. Leshner
entered an order setting the following case management schedule:

  Discovery Conference                    Nov. 22, 2023

  Expert Discovery Completion             Nov. 30, 2023

  Pretrial Motions                        Dec. 18, 2023
  
  Deadline to File Daubert Motions        Jan. 18, 2024

  Mandatory Settlement Conference         Feb. 13, 2024,

  Rule 26(a)(3) Disclosures/              Mar. 22, 2024
  Memoranda of Contentions of
  Fact and Law

Quest Diagnostics provides professional analytic or diagnostic
services for the medical profession.

A copy of the Court's order dated Nov. 16, 2023 is available from
PacerMonitor.com at https://bit.ly/40Y6GCU at no extra charge.[CC]

REPUBLIC REIGN: Convertino Seeks Conditional Class Certification
----------------------------------------------------------------
In the class action lawsuit captioned as KRISSA CONVERTINO,
Individually and Behalf all others Similarly Situated, v. REPUBLIC
REIGN, LLC d/b/a REPUBLIC GARDEN & LOUNGE, LEVA BONAPARTE AND LAMAR
BONAPARTE, Case No. 2:23-cv-04075-RMG (D.S.C.), the Plaintiff asks
the Court to enter an order of Conditional Class Certification and
to Authorize Notice to Potential Class Members, pursuant to section
16(b) of the Fair Labor Standards Act 29 U.S.C. section 216:

   "All current and former VIP Servers who worked at Republic Reign

   LLC during the time period beginning [Three from the date of the

   Court’s Order] through the present, and who were required to
share
   their tips with VIP Manager Madison Reese and who were not paid
at
   least $7.25 and hour."

The Plaintiffs are former VIP Servers who were employed by the
Defendants. The Plaintiffs' Counsel requires a list from the
Defendants from three years from the Court’s Order to the
present.

A copy of the Plaintiff's motion dated Nov. 17, 2023 is available
from PacerMonitor.com at https://bit.ly/3GpJ94p at no extra
charge.[CC]

The Plaintiff is represented by:

          Marybeth Mullaney, Esq.
          MULLANEY LAW FIRM
          652 Rutledge Ave, Suite A
          Charleston, SC 29403
          Telephone: (843) 588-5587
          E-mail: marybeth@mullaneylaw.net

ROBERT PACE: Bid for More Time to File Class Cert Bid Tossed
------------------------------------------------------------
In the class action lawsuit captioned as LAWRENCE RAYMOND DAISS,
III, v. ROBERT S.D. PACE, Case No. 4:22-cv-00236-RSB-CLR (S.D.
Ga.), the Hon. Judge Christopher L. Ray entered an order denying
the parties' motion for an extension of time for Plaintiff to file
his motion for Class Certification.

A copy of the Court's order dated Nov. 17, 2023 is available from
PacerMonitor.com at https://bit.ly/3t4BW6A at no extra charge.[CC]



ROBERT PACE: Parties Seek More Time to File Class Certification Bid
-------------------------------------------------------------------
In the class action lawsuit captioned as LAWRENCE RAYMOND DAISS,
III, v. ROBERT S.D. PACE, Case No. 4:22-cv-00236-RSB-CLR (S.D.
Ga.), the Parties ask the Court to allow Plaintiff an extension of
time within which to file a Motion for Class Certification.

The Defendant sought, and Plaintiff granted, an extension of time
to respond to Plaintiff’s first set or written discovery. The
responses were provided, as agreed, on November 13, 2023. The
responses included interrogatory responses and a number of
documents.

The Plaintiff submits that it would be reasonable, especially given
the Thanksgiving holidays, for him to have 30 days within which
review, consider, and asses the discovery responses and, if
appropriate, draft a Motion to Certify a Class.

The requested extension does not necessitate changing any other
dates in the Scheduling Order, but the parties may later request
other accommodations.

The parties request the Court to issue an Order granting the
additional time and allowing Plaintiff to file a Motion for Class
Certification, if appropriate, no later than Wednesday, December
13, 2023.

A copy of the Parties' motion dated Nov. 17, 2023 is available from
PacerMonitor.com at https://bit.ly/49YUCVV at no extra charge.[CC]

The Plaintiff is represented by:

          Kathryn S. Whitlock, Esq.
          MCANGUS GOUDELOCK & COURIE, LLC
          270 Peachtree St. NW, Suite 1800
          Atlanta, GA 30343
          Telephone: (678) 500-7307
          E-mail: kate.whitlock@mgclaw.com

                - and -

          Sherwin P. Robin, Esq.
          JONES ROBIN& ROBIN, P.C.
          Metter, GA 30439
          E-mail: sprobin@collectionsga.com

The Defendant is represented by:

          Christine L. Mast, Esq.
          HAWKINS PARNELL & YOUNG LLP
          303 Peachtree Street, NE, Suite 4000
          Atlanta, GA 30308-3243
          Telephone: (404) 614-7400
          Facsimile: (855) 889-4588
          E-mail: cmast@hpylaw.com

ROLLINS INC: Plaintiffs Seek to Certify Class for Settlement
------------------------------------------------------------
In the class action lawsuit captioned as MARCIA G. FLEMING; CASEY
FREEMAN; DAVID GUYON; ANTHONY LOSCALZO; PATRICK ROSEBERRY; and
JULIO SAMNIEGO individually, on behalf of the Rollins, Inc. 401(k)
Savings Plan and on behalf of all similarly situated participants
and beneficiaries of the Plan, v. ROLLINS, INC., et al, Case No.
1:21-cv-05343-ELR (N.D. Ga.), Plaintiffs ask the Court to issue an
Order:

   (a) certifying the Class for settlement purposes and granting
       preliminary approval of the Settlement Agreement;

   (b) approving the proposed Class Notice, to the Settlement
       Agreement;

   (c) approving KCC as the Settlement Administrator;

   (d) approving the Plan of Allocation; and

   (e) setting a date for a Fairness Hearing on or after March 9,
       2024, or at least 110 days after entry of the Order granting

       Preliminary Approval.

The Defendants include THE ADMINISTRATIVE COMMITTEE OF THE ROLLINS,
INC. 401(k) SAVINGS PLAN, BOTH INDIVIDUALLY AND AS THE DE FACTO
INVESTMENT COMMITTEE OF THE ROLLINS, INC. 401(k) SAVINGS PLAN;
EMPOWER RETIREMENT, LLC F/K/A PRUDENTIAL INSURANCE AND ANNUITY
COMPANY; PRUDENTIAL BANK & TRUST, FBS, AS DIRECTED TRUSTEE OF THE
ROLLINS, INC. 401(k) PLAN TRUST; ALLIANT INSURANCE SERVICES, INC.;
ALLIANT RETIREMENT SERVICES, LLC; PAUL E. NORTHEN, JOHN WILSON,
JERRY
GAHLHOFF, JAMES BENTON, and A. KEITH PAYNE in their capacities as
members of the Administrative Committee; and John and Jane Does
1–10.

Subject to the Court's approval, the Parties have settled this
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) class action in its

entirety for a payment of $3,925,000, inclusive of attorneys' fees,
expenses, and costs of settlement administration (an average
recovery of approximately $100 per Class member before any fees and
expenses).

The Complaint alleges that the Defendants breached their fiduciary
duties and engaged in prohibited transactions under ERISA, causing
a loss to the Plan and Plan participants.

The proposed Settlement Class consists of all Participants in and
Beneficiaries of the Rollins Plan (including, prior to November 1,
2022, the Western Plan and Waltham Plan) at any time from December
30, 2015 through September 30, 2023.

Excluded from the Settlement Class are those individuals, including
the individual defendants, who served as voting members of the
Plans' administrative and/or investment committee during the Class
Period.

-- Benefits to the Class

    Once all conditions for approval have been met, Rollins will
cause
    a total of $3,925,000(Gross Settlement Amount) to be deposited

    into a Settlement Fund Account established by Plaintiffs'
Counsel
    or the Settlement Administrator at a federally chartered
financial
    institution, which shall be considered a common fund created as
a
    result of the Action.

Rollins is a North American pest control company serving
residential and commercial clients.

A copy of the Plaintiffs' motion dated Nov. 17, 2023 is available
from PacerMonitor.com at https://bit.ly/4115VsG at no extra
charge.[CC]

The Plaintiffs are represented by:

          Mark G. Boyko, Esq.
          BAILEY & GLASSER LLP
          34 N. Gore Ave., Suite 102
          Webster Groves, MO 63119
          Telephone: (314) 863-5446
          Facsimile: (314)-863-5483
          E-mail: mboyko@baileyglasser.com

RUBY HOLLOW: McGowan Appeals Securities Suit Dismissal to 2nd Cir.
------------------------------------------------------------------
GREGORY MCGOWAN, et al. are taking an appeal from a court order
dismissing their lawsuit entitled Gregory McGowan, et al., on
behalf of themselves and all other similarly situated, Plaintiffs,
v. Geoff Stanley, et al., Defendants, Case No. 1:22-cv-06971, in
the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

As previously reported in the Class Action Reporter, the lawsuit is
filed against the Defendants for breach of fiduciary duty, engaging
in a pattern of mail and wire fraud, and for carrying out a scheme
to defraud in violation of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

On July 12, 2023, the Defendants filed a motion for summary
judgment, which the Court granted through an Order entered by Judge
Denise L. Cote on Oct. 12, 2023. Accordingly, the case was closed.

The appellate case is captioned McGowan v. Stanley, Case No.
23-7769, in the United States Court of Appeals for the Second
Circuit, filed on November 16, 2023. [BN]

Plaintiff-Appellant GREGORY MCGOWAN, et al., on behalf of
themselves and all other similarly situated, is represented by:

          Ambrose Madison Richardson, III, Esq.
          SOLOMON BLUM HEYMANN LLP
          40 Wall Street, 35th Floor
          New York, NY 10005
          Telephone: (212) 267-7600

RXO INC: Spencer Class Suit Removed to W.D. Wash.
-------------------------------------------------
The case styled as SHANNON SPENCER, individually and on behalf of
all others similarly situated, Plaintiff v. RXO, INC., a foreign
profit corporation; RXO LAST MILE, INC., a foreign profit
corporation; RXO CORPORATE SOLUTIONS, LLC, a foreign limited
liability company; RXO FREIGHT FORWARDING, INC., a foreign profit
corporation; RXO MANAGED TRANSPORT, LLC, a foreign limited
liability company; and DOES 1-20, Defendants, Case No.
23-2-20256-2-SEA, was removed from the Superior Court of Washington
in and for the County of King to the United States District Court
for the Western District of Washington on November 17, 2023.

The Clerk of Court for the Western District of Washington assigned
Case No. 2:23-cv-01760 to the proceeding.

The Plaintiff alleges three causes of action against Defendants,
which include: a. violation of the Revised Code of Washington
49.58.100; b. injunctive relief; and c. declaratory relief.

RXO, Inc. provides truck brokerage services.[BN]

The Defendants are represented by:

          Todd L. Nunn, Esq.
          K&L GATES LLP
          925 Fourth Avenue, Suite 2900
          Seattle, WA 98104-1158
          Telephone: (206) 623-7580
          Facsimile: (206) 623-7022
          E-mail: todd.nunn@klgates.com

SANTANDER HOLDINGS: To Settle Kelly Suit Over Repo Dispute
----------------------------------------------------------
Santander Holdings USA, Inc. disclosed in its Form 10-Q report for
the quarterly period ended September 30, 2023, filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission on November 30, 2023, that a
final settlement approval hearing was held last October 18, 2023
with regards to Hugh and Christina Kelly v. Santander Consumer USA
Holdings Inc., 2:20-cv-03698. The court has not yet issued an
order.

Said putative Pennsylvania-only class action is pending in the
United States District Court for the Eastern District of
Pennsylvania, alleging that Santander Consumer USA Holdings Inc.
(SC) violated the Uniform Commercial Code and Pennsylvania Motor
Vehicle Sales Finance Act, and that repossessions were not
commercially reasonable or done in good faith when the
post-repossession notice included a storage fee of $25 that was
less than the stated amount.

Plaintiffs also allege that SC failed to inform the consumers of a
required fee to retrieve their personal affects. Plaintiffs allege
that any fee charged by a recovery agent or auction house was
impermissible due to SC's failure to disclose them. On December 16,
2022, the court preliminarily approved a settlement with SC
pursuant to which SC will pay a total of $14 million to resolve the
litigation.

Santander Holdings USA, Inc. is the parent holding company of SC, a
consumer finance company headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The
company sells consumer vehicle loans and leases through flow
agreements.


SIEMENS MOBILITY: McIntyre Labor Suit Removed to E.D. Cal.
----------------------------------------------------------
The case styled ALAN BLAINE MCINTYRE JUNIOR, on behalf of himself
and all others similarly situated, Plaintiff v. SIEMENS MOBILITY,
INC.; and DOES 1 through 100, inclusive, Defendants, Case No.
23CV009953, was removed from the Superior Court of the State of
California in and for the County of Sacramento to the United States
District Court for the Eastern District of California on November
17, 2023.

The Clerk of Court for the Eastern District of California assigned
Case No. 2:23-cv-02695-KJM-KJN to the proceeding.

In the complaint, the Plaintiff alleges, on behalf of himself and
all others similarly situated, seven total causes of action, six of
which are for various violations of the California Labor Code and
one for "Unfair Competition" under the California Business &
Professions Code.

Siemens Mobility, Inc. provides transport solution services.[BN]

The Corporate Defendant is represented by:

          Samantha C. Grant, Esq.
          Armine Antonyan, Esq.
          REED SMITH LLP
          1901 Avenue of the Stars, Suite 700
          Los Angeles, CA 90067-6078
          Telephone: (310) 734-5200
          Facsimile: (310) 734-5299

               - and -

          Rafael N. Tumanyan, Esq.
          REED SMITH LLP
          355 South Grand Avenue, Suite 2900
          Los Angeles, CA 90071-1514
          Telephone: (213) 457-8000
          Facsimile: (213) 457-8080

STATE AND LIBERTY: Gomberg Files ADA Suit in E.D. Pennsylvania
--------------------------------------------------------------
A class action lawsuit has been filed against State and Liberty
Clothing Company, LLC. The case is styled as Matthew Gomberg, on
behalf of himself and all others similarly situated v. State and
Liberty Clothing Company, LLC, Case No. 2:23-cv-04639 (E.D. Pa.,
Nov. 22, 2023).

The lawsuit is brought over alleged violation of the Americans with
Disabilities Act.

State and Liberty Clothing -- https://stateandliberty.com/ -- is an
American clothing e-commerce company that makes and sells athletic
fit performance fabric menswear.[BN]

The Plaintiff is represented by:

          David S. Glanzberg, Esq.
          THE LAW OFFICE OF DAVID GLANZBERG
          123 S. Broad Street, Suite 1640
          Philadelphia, PA 19109
          Phone: (215) 981-5400
          Fax: (267) 319-1993
          Email: david.glanzberg@gtlawpc.com


STATE FARM: Seeks Leave to File Instanter Sur-Reply in Belotti
--------------------------------------------------------------
In the class action lawsuit captioned as JAMIE BELOTTI and BECKY
BELOTTI, v. STATE FARM FIRE AND CASUALTY COMPANY, Case No.
3:22-cv-01284-MEM (M.D. Pa.), the Defendant asks the Court to enter
an order granting its motion for leave to file instanter the
accompanying Sur-Reply.

On August 31, 2023, the Plaintiffs filed their Motion for Class
Certification and supporting Brief. The class definitions and class
claims proposed by Plaintiffs in their Motion were roughly similar
to the proposed class definitions and class claims pleaded in
Plaintiffs' Second Amended Complaint, filed on November 1, 2023.

On October 2, 2023, State Farm filed its Opposition to Plaintiffs'

Motion for Class Certification, identifying numerous fatal flaws in

Plaintiffs' certification requests.

On November 3, 2023, Plaintiffs filed their Reply in support of
their
Motion for Class Certification by which they purport to "amend"
their
Motion.

State Farm offers automobile, property, casualty, health,
disability, and life insurance services.

A copy of the Defendant's motion dated Nov. 17, 2023 is available
from PacerMonitor.com at https://bit.ly/47TyQRU at no extra
charge.[CC]

The Plaintiffs are represented by:

          Harry A. Cummins, Esq.
          Roman Rabinovich, Esq.
          Lee Squitieri, Esq.
          WILKOFSKY, FRIEDMAN, KAREL & CUMMINS
          299 Broadway, Suite 1700
          New York, NY 10007

The Defendant is represented by:

          Joseph A. Cancila, Jr., Esq.
          Nick Kahlon, Esq.
          Brian Neff, Esq.
          RILEY SAFER HOLMES & CANCILA LLP
          70 W. Madison Street, Suite 2900
          Chicago, IL 60602
          Telephone: (312) 471-8700
          E-mail: jcancila@rshc-law.com
                  nkahlon@rshc-law.com
                  bneff@rshc-law.com

                - and -

          Yolanda Konopacka DeSipio, Esq.
          BENNETT, BRICKLIN & SALTZBURG LLC
          960 Harvest Drive, Building B-Suite 100
          Blue Bell, PA 19422
          Telephone: (267) 654-1100
          E-mail: desipio@bbs-1aw.com

SYNCREON.US INC: Ayala Wage-and-Hour Suit Removed to E.D. Pa.
-------------------------------------------------------------
The case styled as RICARDO AYALA, on behalf of himself and others
similarly situated, Plaintiff v. SYNCREON.US INC., Defendant, Case
No. 2023-394M, was removed from the Pennsylvania Court of Common
Pleas, Philadelphia County, to the United States District Court for
the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on November 17, 2023.

The Clerk of Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
assigned Case No. 2:23-cv-04561 to the proceeding.

The Plaintiff brings his class action on behalf of himself and all
individuals -- whether paid by Defendant, Defendant's associated
businesses, or third-party staffing agencies -- who during any time
since October 3, 2020 have been paid an hourly wage to work at a
Pennsylvania warehouse operated by or on behalf of Defendant or any
related business entity for unpaid wages (including overtime
wages); prejudgment interest; litigation costs and expenses;
attorney fees; and any other relief deemed just and proper under
the Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act.

Syncreon.US, Inc. provides technology and automotive services.[BN]

The Defendant is represented by:

           Stephanie J. Peet, Esq.
           JACKSON LEWIS P.C.
           1601 Cherry Street, Ste. 1350
           Philadelphia, PA 19102
           Telephone: (267) 319-7802
           Facsimile: (215) 399-2249
           E-mail: Stephanie.Peet@jacksonlewis.com

T-MOBILE USA: Rouse Sues Over Failure to Pay Proper Wages
---------------------------------------------------------
HANK ROUSE, on behalf of himself and others similarly situated,
Plaintiff v. T-MOBILE, USA, INC., Defendant, Case No. 1:23-cv-16028
(N.D. Ill., Nov. 16, 2023) is a class action against the Defendant
for its alleged unlawful labor practices in violation of the Fair
Labor Standards Act and the Illinois Minimum Wage Law.

The Plaintiff worked for T-Mobile in "Sales" as a "Mobile Expert"
from January 27, 2017 to October 3, 2023. He asserts that Defendant
failed to fully compensate him and other similarly situated
commissioned employees by failing to include their commissions in
their regular rates of pay when calculating overtime. Further,
Defendant failed to compensate Rouse and other similarly situated
employees for periods designated as meal periods when said periods
were subject to frequent interruption and were predominantly for
the employer's benefit, the Plaintiff says.

T-Mobile USA, Inc. provides telecommunications services.[BN]

The Plaintiff is represented by:

          Sergei Lemberg, Esq.
          Michael T. Petela, Jr., Esq.
          LEMBERG LAW, LLC
          444 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 1200
          Chicago, IL 60611
          Telephone: (203) 653-2250
          Facsimile: (203) 653-3424
          E-mail: slemberg@lemberglaw.com
                  mpetela@lemberglaw.com

TRAVEL INSURED: Court OK's Class Certification in Edleson Suit
--------------------------------------------------------------
In the class action lawsuit captioned as LOUIS B. EDLESON, on
behalf of himself and all others similarly situated, v. TRAVEL
INSURED INTERNATIONAL, INC., and UNITED STATES FIRE INSURANCE
COMPANY, Case No. 3:21-cv-00323-WQH-SBC (S.D. Cal.), the Hon. Judge
William Q. Hayes entered an order granting motion for class
certification.

-- The Court will certify the Subclass.

-- The Motions to File Documents Under Seal are granted.

-- The Document numbers 59 and 68 shall remain under seal as
proposed
    Documents.

-- The Daubert Motion to Exclude Opinions and Testimony of Charles
C.
    DeWeese is denied without prejudice.

-- The Court concludes that the requirements under Rule 23(a) and

    23(b)(3) for class certification are satisfied.

The Plaintiff seeks to certify a California Subclass1 as follows:

   "All persons in California who, at any time between February 23,

   2017 and the present, purchased a single-trip insurance plan
   administered by Travel Insured International, Inc. and
underwritten
   by United States Fire Insurance Company that provided both pre-
   departure and post-departure benefits, whose covered trips were

   cancelled prior to departure, and who did not receive any refund
of
   the amount paid for the plan."

   Plaintiff additionally states:

   Excluded from … the Subclass are all persons who received a
refund
   from Defendants of any amount paid for the plan or received a
   voucher from Defendants for the amount paid for the plan and
   already used such voucher to purchase a new single-trip
insurance
   plan. Also excluded from the Subclass are all officers,
directors,
   and employees of Defendants.

Travel Insured "administers single trip insurance plans."

A copy of the Court's order dated Nov. 20, 2023 is available from
PacerMonitor.com at https://bit.ly/3N5Obqo at no extra charge.[CC]

TRUMP CORP: Bids for Class Cert Sealing in McKoy Tossed
-------------------------------------------------------
In the class action lawsuit captioned as CATHERINE MCKOY, et al.,
v. THE TRUMP CORPORATION, et al., Case No. 1:18-cv-09936-LGS-SLC
(S.D.N.Y.), the Hon. Judge Lorna G. Schofield entered an order
granting the motions for sealing -- which relate to the Plaintiffs'
motion to exclude Dr. Peterson's expert opinions and to preclude
Dr. Hair's supplemental declaration.

The presumption of public access is weaker and can be overcome here
because the motion at issue was denied as moot.

-- The motions for sealing which relate to the Plaintiffs' motion
for
    class certification are denied without prejudice to renewal.

-- All documents currently filed under seal shall remain under
seal
    at this time. By November 28, 2023, ACN and/or any party to
this
    action may file requests to maintain under seal the documents
    identified in the motions for sealing to the extent such
documents
    were not made public in their entirety by the November 3, 2023,

    Order.

On March 10, 2023, Plaintiffs filed a letter motion to seal in
conjunction with their memorandum of law in support of the motion
for class certification and supporting exhibits.

The Plaintiffs stated that the materials were designated as
confidential under the operative protective order or by Defendants,
non-party ACN Opportunity, LLC or other non-parties and took no
position concerning confidentiality designations by those parties.

Trump operates as a real estate development company.

A copy of the Court's order dated Nov. 16, 2023 is available from
PacerMonitor.com at https://bit.ly/3GjAEHZ at no extra charge.[CC]

TT USA LLC: Gomberg Files ADA Suit in E.D. Pennsylvania
-------------------------------------------------------
A class action lawsuit has been filed against TT USA, LLC. The case
is styled as Matthew Gomberg, on behalf of himself and all others
similarly situated v. TT USA, LLC, Case No. 2:23-cv-04640-PD (E.D.
Pa., Nov. 22, 2023).

The lawsuit is brought over alleged violation of the Americans with
Disabilities Act.

TT USA, LLC doing business as Transition Technologies USA, Inc. --
https://tt-us.com/ -- provide a professional services in the field
of combustion optimization, focusing on improving power plant
efficiency and reducing combustion pollution, such as nitride
oxides, carbon oxides, and fly ash.[BN]

The Plaintiff is represented by:

          David S. Glanzberg, Esq.
          THE LAW OFFICE OF DAVID GLANZBERG
          123 S. Broad Street, Suite 1640
          Philadelphia, PA 19109
          Phone: (215) 981-5400
          Fax: (267) 319-1993
          Email: david.glanzberg@gtlawpc.com


TURQUOISE HILL: Bid to Certify Class Withdrawn w/o Prejudice
------------------------------------------------------------
In the class action lawsuit re Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd.
Securities Litigation, Case No. 1:20-cv-08585-LJL (S.D.N.Y.), the
Hon. Judge Lewis J. Liman entered an order that the current motion
to certify the class is withdrawn without prejudice to renewal
after the Court rules upon the proposed amended complaint.

A copy of the Court's order dated Nov. 17, 2023 is available from
PacerMonitor.com at https://bit.ly/3R01tG7 at no extra charge.[CC]

The Defendants are represented by:

          Corey Worcester, Esq.
          QUINN EMANUEL URQUHART & SULLIVAN, LLP
          51 Madison Avenue, 22nd Floor
          New York, NY 10010-1601
          Telephone: (212) 849-7000
          Facsimile: (212) 849-7100
          E-mail: coreyworcester@quinnemanuel.com





TYSON FOODS: Fails to Accommodate Religious Belief, Pearson Says
----------------------------------------------------------------
SARAH PEARSON, for herself and all other similarly situated
individuals, Plaintiff v. TYSON FOODS, INC., Defendant, Case No.
4:23-cv-01080-BSM (E.D. Ark., Nov. 16, 2023) is a class action
complaint brought against the Defendant under Title VII of the
Civil Rights of 1964 and the Arkansas Civil Rights Act for failure
to accommodate a religious belief, and for religious
discrimination.

The Plaintiff worked for Tyson from November 18, 2002 until she was
terminated in December 2022. Her most recent position was as a
Senior Controller, which she accepted in February 2020.

The Plaintiff made a valid and timely accommodation request, based
upon her sincerely held religious belief, to be exempt from Tyson's
COVID Vaccine Mandate and continue working remotely (telework) as
she had been doing. Tyson agreed that Plaintiff was entitled to an
accommodation based upon her religious beliefs, but denied
Plaintiff's request. Further, Tyson treated Plaintiff differently
than other similarly situated employees by not requiring them to be
vaccinated beginning in early 2022 through Plaintiff's termination
in December 2022, says the suit.

Tyson Foods, Inc. is an American multinational corporation based in
Springdale, Arkansas that operates in the food industry.[BN]

The Plaintiff is represented by:

          Brian A. Vandiver, Esq.
          COX, STERLING, VANDIVER & BOTTEICHER, PLLC
          8201 Cantrell Rd., Ste. 230
          Little Rock, AR 72227
          Telephone: (501) 954-8073
          E-mail: bavandiver@csmfirm.com

UNITED STATES: Completion of Class Cert Discovery Due Jan 24, 2024
------------------------------------------------------------------
In the class action lawsuit captioned as BRIAN WEGMAN and THOMAS
HORROM, v. THE UNITED STATES SPECIALTY SPORTS ASSOCIATION, INC.,
DONALD DEDONATIS III, RICHARD FORTUNA, WENDY ANDERSON, COURTNEY CEO
and JACOB HORNBACHER, Case No. 6:23-cv-01637-RBD-RMN (M.D. Fla.),
the Hon. Judge Roy B. Dalton Jr. entered a case management and
scheduling order:

                   Event                            Deadline

  Motions to Add Parties or to Amend Pleadings    Feb. 26, 2024  
  Mediation                                       Apr. 30, 2025

  Completion of Discovery                         Jan. 24, 202

  Summary Judgment, Daubert, and Markman          March 3, 2025
  Motions

  Pre-Trial Meeting                               July 21, 2025
  Must take place in person

  Commencement of the Trial Term                  Sept. 2, 2025

United States Specialty Sports Association is a volunteer, sports
governing body and a nonprofit organization based in Viera,
Florida.

A copy of the Court's order dated Nov. 20, 2023 is available from
PacerMonitor.com at https://bit.ly/3uI41Bn at no extra charge.[CC]

UNITED STATES: Plaintiffs' Class Cert Response Due Dec. 8
---------------------------------------------------------
In the class action lawsuit captioned as SHERRILL FARRELL, et. al.,
v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE, et. al., Case No.
3:23-cv-04013-JCS (N.D. Cal.), the Hon. Judge Joseph C. Spero
entered an order setting briefing schedule for the Defendants'
motion to dismiss and stay the defendants' deadline to respond to
the Plaintiffs' motion for class certification:

-- The Defendants' motion to dismiss will            Nov. 17,
2023
    be due by:

-- The Plaintiffs' Response will be                  Dec. 8, 2023
    due by:

-- The Defendants' Reply will be due by:             Dec. 22,
2023

-- Motion to Dismiss will be heard on:               Jan. 19,
2024

-- The Plaintiffs' Motion for Class Certification is denied
without
    prejudice to refiling after a ruling on the Motion to Dismiss.

-- The Initial Case Management Conference set for January 26,
2024,
    is advanced to January 19, 2024, at 9:30 AM to occur after the

    hearing on the motion to dismiss.

-- Case management conference statement              Jan. 12,
2024
    Due:

The Plaintiffs filed their First Amended Complaint on October 26,
2023. The Defendants intend to respond to Plaintiffs' First Amended
Complaint with a Motion to Dismiss.

U.S. Department of Defense provides the military forces needed to
deter war and ensure the nation's security.

A copy of the Court's order dated Nov. 17, 2023 is available from
PacerMonitor.com at https://bit.ly/3RoBOIz at no extra charge.[CC]

The Plaintiffs are represented by:

          Jocelyn D. Larkin, Esq.
          IMPACT FUND
          2080 Addison Street, Suite 5
          Berkeley, CA 94704
          Telephone: (510) 845-3473
          Facsimile: (510) 845-3654
          E-mail: jlarkin@impactfund.org

                - and -

          Elizabeth Kristen, Esq.
          LEGAL AID AT WORK
          180 Montgomery Street, Suite 600
          San Francisco, CA 94104
          Telephone: (415) 864-8848
          Facsimile: (415) 593-0096
          E-mail: ekristen@legalaidatwork.org

                - and -

          David K. Willingham, Esq.
          KING & SPALDING LLP
          633 West Fifth Street, Suite 1600
          Los Angeles, CA 90071
          Telephone: (213) 443-4433
          Facsimile: (213) 443-4310
          E-mail: dwillingham@kslaw.com

The Defendants are represented by:

          Brian M. Boynton, Esq.
          Andrew E. Carmichael, Esq.
          U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
          1100 L St., N.W.
          Washington, D.C. 20005
          Telephone: (202) 514-3346
          E-mail: andrew.e.carmichael@usdoj.gov

WELLS FARGO: Hummel Files Suit Over Unfair Trade Practices
-----------------------------------------------------------
JENNIFER LYNN HUMMEL AND SHAWN DAVID HUMMEL Senior, Plaintiffs v.
WELLS FARGO BANK, N.A., Defendant, Case No. 2:23-cv-02002-CCW (W.D.
Pa., Nov. 17, 2023) is a class action brought by the Plaintiffs, on
their own behalf and on behalf of all others similarly situated,
seeking monetary redress through Pennsylvania's Fair Credit
Extension Uniformity Act and the Unfair Trade Practices and
Consumer Protection Law.

The Plaintiffs' litigation effort did not begin with the filing of
their complaint commencing this action. Rather, they first
attempted to intervene in another pending class action involving
Wells Fargo's repossession of vehicles in Pennsylvania styled,
Sorace, et al. v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., E.D. Pa., Case no.
20-cv-04318. The Sorace Litigation involves claims against Wells
Fargo under the Uniform Commercial Code arising from the bank's
conduct during its repossession of vehicles from its consumer
borrowers. The Plaintiffs are members of a proposed settlement
class, to which the court presiding over that case has granted its
preliminary approval.

But the Plaintiffs here hold claims against Wells Fargo beyond
those at issue in the Sorace Litigation that are not dependent upon
the repossession of their vehicle. For that reason, the Plaintiffs
sought to intervene in the Sorace Litigation to prevent those
further claims against Wells Fargo from being quietly swept away in
an agreement to resolve repossession claims. Unable to intervene,
the Plaintiffs submit this complaint on behalf of similarly
situated residents of Pennsylvania, seeking monetary, equitable,
injunctive, and declaratory relief. The Plaintiffs will also object
to the proposed class settlement agreement to avoid forfeiture of
the distinct claims presented in this class action, says the
complaint.

Wells Fargo is a federally chartered bank and is a subsidiary of
Wells Fargo & Company.[BN]

The Plaintiff is represented by:

          Aurelius Robleto, Esq.
          Renee M. Kuruce, Esq.
          ROBLETO KURUCE, PLLC
          6101 Penn Ave., Ste. 201
          Pittsburgh, PA 15206
          Telephone: (412) 925-8194
          Facsimile: (412) 346-1035
          E-mail: apr@robletolaw.com
                  rmk@robletolaw.com

WILLIAM LEE: Suit Filed in M.D. Tennessee
-----------------------------------------
A class action lawsuit has been filed against William Lee. The case
is styled as John Does 1-8, on behalf of themselves and all others
similarly situated v. William Lee, in his capacity as Governor of
the State of Tennessee; David Rausch, in his capacity as Director
of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation; Case No. 3:23-cv-01240
(M.D. Tenn., Nov. 22, 2023).

The nature of suit is stated as Constitutional - State Statute for
Civil Rights Act.

William Byron Lee is a seventh-generation Tennessean and the 50th
Governor of Tennessee.[BN]

The Plaintiff is represented by:

          David R. Esquivel, Esq.
          Jeffrey H. Gibson, Esq.
          BASS, BERRY & SIMS (NASHVILLE OFFICE)
          150 Third Avenue South, Suite 2800
          Nashville, TN 37201
          Phone: (615) 742-6285
          Email: desquivel@bassberry.com
                 jgibson@bassberry.com

               - and -

          Jorie Edith Zajicek, Esq.
          Ryan C. Davis, Esq.
          RYAN C. DAVIS LAW, PLLC
          1224 2nd Ave. S. Suite 102
          Nashville, TN 37210
          Phone: (615) 649-0110
          Fax: (615) 649-0110
          Email: jorie@ryancdavislaw.com
                 ryan@ryancdavislaw.com


WILLIAMS-SONOMA STORES: Atkinson Suit Removed to W.D. Wash.
-----------------------------------------------------------
The case styled as JACOB ATKINSON, individually and on behalf of
all others similarly situated, Plaintiff v. WILLIAMS-SONOMA STORES,
INC., a foreign profit corporation doing business as WILLIAMS
SONOMA, POTTERY BARN, POTTERY BARN KIDS, and WEST ELM; and DOES
1-20, Defendants, Case No. 23-2-20029-2-SEA, was removed from the
Superior Court of the State of California, King County, to the
United States District Court for the Western District of Washington
on November 17, 2023.

The Clerk of Court for the Western District of Washington assigned
Case No. 2:23-cv-01764 to the proceeding.

The complaint asserts three causes of action, all of which arise
from the same fundamental claim. First, the complaint seeks
statutory or actual damages, whichever is greater, based on the
alleged failure to disclose wage or salary ranges on job postings
for positions in Washington State, purportedly in violation of RCW
49.58.110. Second, the complaint seeks an injunction requiring
Williams-Sonoma to disclose wage scales and salary ranges in each
job posting. Finally, the complaint seeks a declaration that the
alleged practice of failing to disclose wage scales or salary
ranges in job postings is illegal.

Williams-Sonoma Stores, Inc. is an American retailer of cookware,
appliances, and home furnishings.[BN]

Defendant Williams-Sonoma Stores, Inc. is represented by:

          Damon C. Elder, Esq.
          Claire M. Lesikar, Esqq.
          MORGAN, LEWIS & BOCKIUS LLP
          1301 Second Avenue, Suite 2800
          Seattle, WA 98101
          Telephone: (206) 274-6400
          E-mail: damon.elder@morganlewis.com
                  claire.lesikar@morganlewis.com

WIS INTERNATIONAL: Samuels Files Suit in Cal. Super. Ct.
--------------------------------------------------------
A class action lawsuit has been filed against WIS International,
Inc., et al. The case is styled as Kenton Samuels, on behalf of
himself, all others similarly situated, and on behalf of the
general public v. WIS International, Inc., et al., Case No.
23CV012186 (Cal. Super. Ct., Sacramento Cty., Nov. 22, 2023).

WIS International -- https://wisintl.com/ -- is a services
solutions leader to the world's most respected and profitable
companies across multiple sectors.[BN]

WORLD WRESTLING: Pension Fund Alleges Breach of Fiduciary Duty
--------------------------------------------------------------
LABORERS' DISTRICT COUNCIL AND CONTRACTORS' PENSION FUND OF OHIO,
Plaintiff v. VINCENT K. MCMAHON, NICK KHAN, PAUL LEVESQUE, GEORGE
A. BARRIOS, STEVE KOONIN, MICHELLE D. WILSON, and FRANK A. RIDDICK,
III, Defendants, Case No. 2023-1166-JTL (Del. Ch., Nov. 17, 2023)
is a verified class action complaint brought by the Plaintiff, on
behalf of itself and similarly situated former stockholders of
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., asserting breach of fiduciary
duty claims against the Defendants

The suit arises from the merger of World Wrestling with a
subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings, Inc., resulting in the
formation of TKO Group Holdings, Inc..

According to the complaint, Vincent K. McMahon, WWE's chief
executive officer and chairman, had the power to control,
influence, and cause -- and actually did control, influence, and
cause -- the Company to enter into the merger. In pursuing and
executing the unfair merger for less than fair value while
dismissing alternative bidders, McMahon breached his fiduciary
duties to Plaintiff and the Class, asserts the complaint.

World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American professional
wrestling promotion.[BN]

The Plaintiff is represented by:

          Kimberly A. Evans, Esq.
          Robert Erikson, Esq.
          BLOCK & LEVITON LLP
          3801 Kennett Pike, Suite C-305
          Wilmington, DE 19807
          Telephone: (302) 499-3600
          E-mail: kim@blockleviton.com
                  robby@blockleviton.com

               - and -

          Jason M. Leviton, Esq.
          Joel A. Fleming, Esq.
          Lauren Godles Milgroom, Esq.
          BLOCK & LEVITON LLP
          260 Franklin St. Suite 1860
          Boston, MA 021110
          Telephone: (617) 398-5600

ZARA USA: Parra Suit Removed to C.D. California
-----------------------------------------------
The case captioned as Adrian J. Parra, an individual and on behalf
of all others similarly situated v. ZARA USA, INC., a New York
corporation; IVANKA RAYMOND, an individual; and DOES 1 through 100,
inclusive, Case No. 23STCV23683 was removed from the Superior Court
of the State of California County of Los Angeles, to the United
States District Court for the Central District of California on
Nov. 22, 2023, and assigned Case No. 2:23-cv-09956.

In the Complaint, Plaintiff asserts individually and on behalf of
purportedly similarly situated individuals ten causes of action
against Zara and Ms. Raymond: Failure to Pay Overtime Wages for All
Hours Worked at Minimum Wage; Failure to Pay Minimum Wages; Failure
to Provide Meal Periods; Failure to Provide Rest Periods; Failure
to Pay All Wages Due Upon Termination; Failure to Provide Accurate
Wage Statements; Failure to Timely Pay Wages During Employment;
Violation of Labor Code; Violation of Labor Code; Unfair
Competition Against All Defendants.[BN]

The Defendants are represented by:

          Adam R. Rosenthal, Esq.
          SHEPPARD, MULLIN, RICHTER & HAMPTON LLP
          A Limited Liability Partnership
          Including Professional Corporations
          12275 El Camino Real, Suite 100
          San Diego, CA 92130-4092
          Phone: 858.720.8900
          Facsimile: 858.509.3691
          Email: arosenthal@sheppardmullin.com

               - and -

          Krista Stevenson Johnson, Esq.
          SHEPPARD, MULLIN, RICHTER & HAMPTON LLP
          Four Embarcadero Center, 17th Floor
          San Francisco, CA 94111-4109
          Phone: 415.434.9100
          Facsimile: 415.434.3947
          Email: ksjohnson@sheppardmullin.com


ZARBEE'S INC: Bid for Class Certification Due June 28, 2024
-----------------------------------------------------------
In the class action lawsuit captioned as Krystal Lopez, and Damany
Browne, individually and on behalf of all others similarly
situated, v. Zarbee's, Inc., Case No. 3:22-cv-04465-CRB (N.D.
Cal.), the Hon. Judge Charles R. Breyer entered a case management
order as follows:

                 Event                              Deadline

  Zarbee's initial disclosures                    Dec. 8, 2023

  Substantial completion of document discovery    May 3, 2024

  Complete fact depositions                       June 14, 2024

  Plaintiffs' motion for class certification      June 28, 2024
  & any expert reports in support thereof

  Complete depositions of Plaintiffs'             Within 3 weeks of

  class certification experts                     Plaintiffs’
motion
                                                  for
certification

  Zarbee's opposition to class certification      Aug. 23, 2024
  & any expert reports in support thereof

  Complete depositions of Zarbee's class          Within 3 weeks of

  certification experts                           Zarbee's
opposition

  Plaintiffs' reply in support of class           Sept. 20, 2024
  certification

  Hearing on class certification motion           Oct. 11, 2024

In this putative class action, the Plaintiffs allege that Zarbee's
Children’s Sleep melatonin supplements are mislabeled and
unreasonably overdosed.

The parties agreed to phase discovery and previously submitted a
schedule for the first phase. In the first phase (now complete)
Zarbee’s took discovery from the named plaintiffs. That phase
ended when the Court ruled on Zarbee's recent motion for summary
judgment.

Zarbee's is a company that designs and develops natural syrups for
calm coughs, sore throats, night coughing, and hoarseness in
children.

A copy of the Court's order dated Nov. 17, 2023 is available from
PacerMonitor.com at https://bit.ly/3Gofclc at no extra charge.[CC]

                        Asbestos Litigation

ASBESTOS UPDATE: Ashland Inc. Reports $472MM Litigation Reserves
----------------------------------------------------------------
Ashland Inc., at September 30, 2023, has reserves for asbestos
litigation amounting to $472 million, according to the Company's
Form 10-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Company states, "Ashland has liabilities from claims alleging
personal injury caused by exposure to asbestos. Ashland retained
third party actuarial experts to assist in developing and annually
updating independent reserve estimates for future asbestos claims
and related costs given various assumptions. The methodology used
by the actuarial experts to project future asbestos costs is based
largely on recent experience, including claim-filing and settlement
rates, disease mix, open claims and litigation defense. Further,
the claim experience identified is compared to the results of
previously conducted third party epidemiological studies estimating
the number of people likely to develop asbestos-related diseases.
Using that information, the Company estimates a range of the number
of future claims that may be filed, as well as the related costs
that may be incurred in resolving those claims. Ashland records the
amount it believes to be the best estimate of future payments for
litigation defense and claim settlement costs using the results of
a non-inflated, non-discounted approximate 40-year model developed
with the assistance of the Company's third party actuarial
experts."

A full-text copy of the Form 10-K is available at
https://shorturl.at/amBX3


ASBESTOS UPDATE: Cabot Corp. Defends Product Liability Lawsuits
---------------------------------------------------------------
Cabot Corporation is a party to or the subject of lawsuits, claims,
and proceedings, including, but not limited to, those involving
environmental, and health and safety matters as well as product
liability and personal injury claims in connection with a safety
respiratory products business previously owned by one of its
subsidiaries, according to the Company's Form 10-K filing with the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Company states, "Generally, these respirator liabilities
involve claims for personal injury, including asbestosis, silicosis
and coal worker's pneumoconiosis ("CWP"), allegedly resulting from
the use of respirators that are alleged to have been negligently
designed and/or labeled. At no time did this respiratory product
line represent a significant portion of the respirator market."

A full-text copy of the Form 10-K is available at
https://shorturl.at/bfkV4

ASBESTOS UPDATE: Scotts Miracle-Gro Defends Exposure Lawsuits
-------------------------------------------------------------
The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has been named as a defendant in a
number of cases alleging injuries that the lawsuits claim resulted
from exposure to asbestos-containing products, apparently based on
the Company's historic use of vermiculite in certain of its
products, according to the Company's Form 10-K filing with the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission.

In many of these cases, the complaints are not specific about the
plaintiffs' contacts with the Company or its products. The cases
vary, but complaints in these cases generally seek unspecified
monetary damages (actual, compensatory, consequential and punitive)
from multiple defendants. The Company believes that the claims
against it are without merit and is vigorously defending against
them. No accruals have been recorded in the Company's consolidated
financial statements as the likelihood of a loss is not probable at
this time; and the Company does not believe a reasonably possible
loss would be material to, nor does it expect the ultimate
resolution of these cases will have a material adverse effect on,
the Company's financial condition, results of operations or cash
flows. There can be no assurance that future developments related
to pending claims or claims filed in the future, whether as a
result of adverse outcomes or as a result of significant defense
costs, will not have a material effect on the Company's financial
condition, results of operations or cash flows.

A full-text copy of the Form 10-K is available at
https://shorturl.at/lKX17



ASBESTOS UPDATE: WestRock Co. Faces 600 PI Lawsuits as of Sept. 30
------------------------------------------------------------------
WestRock Company has been named a defendant in asbestos-related
personal injury litigation, according to the Company's Form 10-K
filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Company states, "To date, the costs resulting from the
litigation, including settlement costs, have not been significant.
As of September 30, 2023, there were approximately 600 such
lawsuits. We believe that we have substantial insurance coverage,
subject to applicable deductibles and policy limits, with respect
to asbestos claims. We also have valid defenses to these
asbestos-related personal injury claims and intend to continue to
defend them vigorously. Should the volume of litigation grow
substantially, it is possible that we could incur significant costs
resolving these cases. We do not expect the resolution of pending
asbestos litigation and proceedings to have a material adverse
effect on our results of operations, financial condition or cash
flows. In any given period or periods, however, it is possible such
proceedings or matters could have an adverse effect on our results
of operations, financial condition or cash flows. At September 30,
2023, we had $13.7 million reserved for these matters."

A full-text copy of the Form 10-K is available at
https://shorturl.at/aqDK0




                            *********

S U B S C R I P T I O N   I N F O R M A T I O N

Class Action Reporter is a daily newsletter, co-published by
Bankruptcy Creditors' Service, Inc., Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania,
USA, and Beard Group, Inc., Washington, D.C., USA.  Rousel Elaine T.
Fernandez, Joy A. Agravante, Psyche A. Castillon, Julie Anne L.
Toledo, Christopher G. Patalinghug, and Peter A. Chapman, Editors.

Copyright 2023. All rights reserved. ISSN 1525-2272.

This material is copyrighted and any commercial use, resale or
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Information contained herein is obtained from sources believed to
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