9-0 Supreme Court Win – The United States Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of the State of Mississippi in an antitrust lawsuit against manufacturers alleged to have conspired in a massive scheme to fix prices of LCD monitors. The ruling affirms attorneys generals’ right to enforce their states’ laws on behalf of their citizens in their own state courts. Zimmerman Reed represented the State in this lawsuit.
In re Vitamins Antitrust Litigation – Zimmerman Reed represented both direct and indirect purchasers of vitamin products used for both human and animal consumption, including porcine vitamins. The lawsuit alleged a long running international conspiracy to fix, raise and maintain the inflated prices of certain bulk vitamins and vitamin products. The case settled for $225 million in 2001.
Metroprolol Succinate End-Payor Antitrust Litigation – In a suit against AstraZeneca over its heart drug Toprol-XL, Zimmerman Reed represented the National Join Power Alliance, a company that supplies goods and services to school districts, cities, counties, and other governmental agencies. It alleged that AstraZeneca’s manufacturing and marketing of Toprol-XL violated antitrust and deceptive trade practices laws, causing it to pay significantly higher prices for the drug. The case settled for $20 million in 2002.
Ovation Pharmaceuticals – The parties reached a settlement in June 2011 on behalf of hospitals, pharmacies and health care organizations who directly purchased Indocin or NeoProfen from Defendant Ovation Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and/or Lundbeck, Inc.
National Computer Systems – Zimmerman Reed filed a lawsuit against National Computer Systems who had incorrectly scored standardized tests resulting in 7,997 students being told they failed the math section of their Basic Standards Test. Just days before trial, the case settled for more than $12 million.
Pilot Flying J – A settlement was reached in a lawsuit regarding whether or not Pilot Flying J diesel truck stops were issuing proper payment to individuals and businesses participating in the company’s fuel rebate and discount program. The settlement guarantees compensation of unpaid rebates and discounts from the class period as well as an additional 6% interest per year that the Principal rebate was unpaid for all eligible class members.
Target Security Breach – A $39 million settlement on behalf of banks and financial institutions following the massive 2013 data breach compromising 110 million credit and debit cards and personal information of Target customers. Zimmerman Reed served as Co-Lead Counsel.
Tobacco Litigation – Acting as part of the Castano Group (a consortium of 65 class action law firms from across the country) Zimmerman Reed participated in filing the first class action against the Tobacco industry. This lawsuit led to the filing of Attorneys General cases and, ultimately, led to a historic national settlement in June 1997.
Levaquin – $1.8 million jury verdict for our client for Achilles tendon rupture while on Levaquin.
Baycol – Co-Lead Counsel achieving a $1.15 billion settlement for 2,500 clients who had significant injury after taking the cholesterol lowering drug, Baycol.
Guidant – Negotiated a nationwide $240 million settlement for 8,500 patients after the Guidant heart defibrillator recall.
Medtronic – $95.6 million settlement on behalf of 2,682 patients who had faulty Medtronic heart defibrillators.
Stryker Hip Replacements – As a member of Lead Counsel Committee, Zimmerman Reed was part of a $1.4 billion global settlement that will help thousands of patients with recalled Stryker hip replacements.
Zicam – $27 million settlement for clients who lost their sense of smell arising out of their use of the Zicam Cold Remedy Nasal Gel product.
Daud, et al. v. Gold’n Plump Poultry, Inc. – $1.35 million settlement for employees facing religious discrimination in the workplace.
Fluegel v. FedEx Ground Package System – Zimmerman Reed headed the legal team that successfully challenged FedEx’s independent contractor model on behalf of 141 Illinois drivers in a lawsuit brought under federal and Illinois wage and hour laws.
Frank, et al. v. Gold’n Plump Poultry, Inc – Employer change of practices and $2.65 million monetary settlement for Minnesota and Wisconsin employees who were not paid for time spent performing work before and after paid shifts.
Grabman, et al. v. Brakebush Brothers, Inc. – Employer change of practices and $675,000 settlement for employees who were not paid for time spent performing work before and after paid shifts, and who were not properly paid for work performed during meal breaks.
Milner, et al. v. Farmers Insurance Exchange – $1.5 million settlement after a jury found that insurance claims adjusters in Minnesota had been misclassified as exempt from overtime.
Phelps, et al. v. Green Bay Dressed Beef, LLC – Employer change of practices and $1.175 million settlement for employees who were not paid for time spent performing work before and after paid shifts.
Robinson, et al. v. Novellus Systems, Inc – Settlement for field service engineers in California and Oregon who had been misclassified as exempt from overtime.
Airport Noise – Zimmerman Reed represented homeowners whose property was within a certain distance of the MSP International Airport. The lawsuit, filed against the Metropolitan Airports Commission (“MAC”), alleged that MAC breached a promise to provide noise mitigation to certain homes surrounding the Minneapolis-St. Paul Intl. Airport after the decision was made to expand rather than build another location. Weeks before trial, a settlement was reached with the MAC and then with the Cities who were also seeking to enforce promises made, providing noise mitigation for more than 9,500 homes in the areas surrounding the International Airport.
Minot Train Derailment – On January 18, 2002, the largest release of anhydrous ammonia in U.S. History occurred when a Canadian Pacific Railway train derailed in Minot, North Dakota. Zimmerman Reed represented hundreds of individuals injured by the release and obtained a $1.2 million in jury verdict in Minneapolis, MN on behalf of two clients.
MTBE – Since 2003, we have worked with other environmental lawyers, on behalf of numerous municipalities across the country whose water was contaminated with MTBE. MTBE (methyl tert-butyl ether), a gasoline additive, can affect water’s taste and odor making it undrinkable. A global settlement was reached in 2009 with the oil companies on behalf of the various plaintiffs, including five municipalities represented by Zimmerman Reed.
Imprelis – A settlement was reached on behalf of a class of homeowners, golf course companies, and other property owners in a lawsuit against E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company after their herbicide product, Imprelis, caused mature trees to die across the country following lawn application.
In re Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. Securities, Derivative and ERISA Litigation – Current and former employees filed a case against Merrill Lynch under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) for losses suffered as a result of 401k investments in company stock. A $75 million dollar settlement was approved in August 2009.
Minnesota Corn Processors Litigation – Farmer/shareholders achieved a $5.75 million settlement shortly before trial. The farmers brought breach of fiduciary claims against MCP officers related to their improper communications with competitor Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), and an ultimate sale of the company to ADM that included lavish golden parachute compensation packages for those officers.
Morgan Keegan Securities Litigation – Investors brought a series of lawsuits against the defendants, including Regions Financial, Regions Bank, Morgan Keegan & Company, Inc., Morgan Asset Management, and PricewaterhouseCoopers, Inc., alleging violations of federal securities laws, breach of fiduciary duty and other state law causes of action that resulted in three open-end mutual funds to tank in 2007. In January 2015, Regions Financial Corp. agreed to pay $125 million to end both a putative class action and shareholder derivative lawsuits.
Wells Fargo Securities Lending – $62.5 million settlement reached, two days before trial. The City of Farmington Hills’ pension fund brought this case on behalf of itself and more than 60 other funds/investors. The Fund–and a certified class–sought to recover investment losses caused by Wells Fargo’s misrepresentations about its securities lending program and its mismanagement of the program that put investors’ money into high risk funds, in violation of program’s policies. One of the largest recoveries achieved in a securities lending case stemming from the 2008 financial crisis.
Citigroup Litigation – Zimmerman Reed and Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP represented a large corporation in an action against Citigroup Inc., alleging fraud and negligent misrepresentation in connection with the sale of mortgage-backed securities. The parties successfully resolved all of the claims relating to this action in 2014.
Deutsche Bank Litigation – Zimmerman Reed, along with Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP represented a large corporation in an action against Deutsche Bank AG, alleging fraud, aiding and abetting, and negligent misrepresentation in connection with the sale of mortgage-backed securities and collateralized debt obligations. The parties successfully resolved all of the claims relating to this action in 2014.
NFL Concussion Lawsuit – A $765 million settlement was announced on behalf of 4,500 former NFL players. This settlement would resolve concussion-related lawsuits; the settlement would fund medical exams, concussion-related compensation, and medical research.
Retired NFL Players Publicity Lawsuit – A historic settlement was approved between retired NFL players and the League to resolve the retired players’ publicity rights class action. The settlement creates a licensing agency that, for the first time, will market the group rights of retired players. The NFL has agreed to partner with the Agency to help retired players establish commercial opportunities.