Verizon “specifically denies” violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and further denies plaintiff Israel Mertz “sustained any damages whatsoever as a result of its alleged conduct,” said Verizon’s answer Thursday (docket 7:22-cv-10938) in U.S. District Court for Southern New York in White Plains to Mertz’s Dec. 28 complaint (see 2212300022).

The Supreme Court appeared to side with Google and Twitter in two days of oral argument last week, but the justices will likely set new precedent for Communications Decency Act Section 230 and social media liability when rulings come down, legal experts said in interviews. The high court heard oral argument in Gonzalez v. Google (docket 21-1333) (see 2302210062) and Twitter v. Taamneh (docket 21-1496) (see 2302220065). Rulings are expected in June.

All the parties in two 3G telematics class actions against Volkswagen Group of America (VWGoA), the U.S. distributor of Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini and Volkswagen vehicles, want court permission to consolidate their cases for pretrial efficiency, they told U.S. District Judge Esther Salas for New Jersey in Newark in a joint letter Thursday (docket 2:22-cv-05896).

Amid a “full spectrum of views” on antitrust enforcement, “we all seem to agree that competition is the goal,” Doha Mekki, principal deputy assistant attorney general in DOJ's Antitrust Division, told a New York University Law School conference Friday on antitrust and big tech in the 21st century.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy’s statements in an April 14 shareholder letter about the company’s “aggressive expansion efforts” to build out its fulfillment network to meet increasing demand for faster delivery were “materially false and misleading,” alleged shareholder and Pennsylvania resident Jay Smith in a complaint Wednesday (docket 1:23-cv-00196). The suit, filed in U.S. District Court for Delaware in Wilmington, named the company and 19 of its executives and/or board members who made statements on earnings calls and congressional testimony or signed SEC financial documents.

The Tax Injunction Act (TIA) precludes federal courts from reviewing Maryland’s digital ad tax, the state said Thursday in a brief (docket 22-2275) at the 4th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. The 4th Circuit should dismiss entirely a U.S. Chamber of Commerce appeal from the U.S. District Court for Maryland, the state said. "Plaintiffs’ suit is the sort of action Congress sought to prevent when it enacted the TIA.”

Lawyers for defendant Michael Smith in the seven-state robocalling litigation in U.S. District Court for Southern Texas in Houston are in limbo as they await approval from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Southern Florida to be appointed special counsel to represent him, they said in a status report dated Feb. 16 and posted Wednesday (docket 4:20-cv-02021). The attorneys are helpless to defend Smith as the litigation against him proceeds toward trial until the bankruptcy court gives them its OK, they said.

The U.S. District Court for Northern California in Oakland “properly dismissed” plaintiff Richard Wolf’s claims against the City of Millbrae for failing to provide a “reasonable accommodation” in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, said a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision Tuesday (docket 21-16649).

Meta uses identifiers to match health data it collects with Facebook users and encourages healthcare partners to upload patient lists for ad targeting, alleged Tuesday's consolidated class action against the company in U.S. District Court for Northern California in San Francisco (docket 3:22-cv-03580).

The 2019 11th U.S. Circuit Appeals Court decision in Salcedo v. Hanna that doomed plaintiff Stephen Muccio’s district court claims that Global Motivation and owner Jordan Belfort violated the Telephone Consumer Protection and Florida Telephone Solicitation acts are “not binding” on the 11th Circuit panel hearing Muccio’s appeal, said his opening brief Tuesday (docket 23-10081). Muccio is appealing the lower court’s dismissal of his FTSA claims, not his TCPA defeat.