"Class Action Litigation In The Wake Of COVID-19," 13 May 2020

Class action claims have taken on a new twist in the wake of COVID-19. Already, the global pandemic has generated litigation across a broad swath of areas, including privacy, data security, and consumer, among others. To date, hundreds of business lawsuits related to the pandemic are pending, with dozens more filed weekly...

Among the first cases filed related to the pandemic were a variety of privacy and data security related class actions. Plaintiffs focused on companies that now have a spotlight on them due to increased usage during shelter-in-place orders. Across the technology industry, a variety of online services are blitzscaling—or rapidly growing—based on skyrocketing demand from consumers for food delivery, e-commerce, and virtual social connections...

TCPA cases continue to be active as COVID-19 issues have emerged. MoFo’s Class Dismissed blog recently reviewed the March 20, 2020 FCC Declaratory Ruling allowing certain calls for “emergency purposes” amidst the pandemic. That does not mean, however, that there is a blanket exemption from the TCPA’s rules governing certain calls and messages, and multiple TCPA lawsuits have been filed involving coronavirus-related communications. In a case filed in late April, the Texas Attorney General sued two parties for alleged violations of the TCPA and the Texas state law corollary. Specifically, the lawsuit alleges that a marketing service advertised health benefit plans by stating that they “include coronavirus testing and treatment.”..