Consumer Products

Blood Hurst & O’Reardon represents purchasers of all types of consumer products related to false advertising and other deceptive and unfair business practices. These cases are litigated to obtain refunds for consumers and to force companies to change their business practices. Some of Blood Hurst & O’Reardon’s consumer product cases include: Johnson & Johnson’s failure to inform consumers of ovarian cancer risks from using talcum baby powder; Apple’s software update that intentionally slowed the performance of older iPhones; Suunto Oy’s and Aqua Lung’s failure to inform consumers about safety defects in scuba dive computers; Skechers’ and Reebok’s false advertising of ‘rocker bottom’ shoes concerning health benefits the shoes did not provide; and so called ‘negative option’ sales practices on Active.com where consumers unknowingly registered and paid for memberships they did not want.

The firm has worked with the Federal Trade Commission as part of a public/private partnership to obtain record setting recoveries for consumers, including in In re Skechers Toning Shoes Prods. Liab. Litig. (W.D. Ky.), which resulted in the largest consumer recovery in a false advertising action in FTC history.

Privacy and Data Protection

Blood Hurst & O’Reardon is a leader in representing people who had had their private and personal information breached. In fact Tim Blood helped write the landmark California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 and testified before the Senate and Assembly. In one of the first data breach cases involving Sony PlayStation, the Firm represented consumers whose personal and financial information was taken due to Sony’s deficient security standards of information it collected from customers in one of the largest data breaches at that time. The Firm currently represents consumers whose private health information was taken from UCLA and are actively litigating to force Experian to provide notice to data breach victims as is required by law.

Drugs, Food and Dietary Supplement Litigation

The firm represents consumer purchasers of a wide variety of food and dietary supplements for false and misleading advertising by manufacturers and retailers about the benefits, ingredients, safety and other attributes of the product. Examples include false and misleading promises about joint health, nutritional attributes and “probiotic” benefits.

Recoveries include a $45.6 million recover against P&G for its Align probiotics and a $45 million recovery against Dannon arising out of its “probiotic” yogurt. The Dannon recovery was the largest false advertising recovery in the history of the food industry. Blood Hurst & O’Reardon also achieved $14 million for consumers of falsely advertised “clinically proven” safe and effective Hydroxycut weight-loss supplements.

Defective Vehicles

Blood Hurst & O’Reardon’s attorneys represent purchasers and lessees of defective vehicles. Our cases have forced vehicle manufactures to recall defective vehicles, make repairs, adequately inform purchasers and lessees of defects, and have obtained significant monetary recoveries. We have successfully obtained relief resulting from rusted out and dangerous vehicle frames, malfunctioning door latches, unintended acceleration, and vehicle features that never work. Our attorneys have been instrumental in getting unsafe vehicles off the road. We have taken on companies such as Toyota, Ford, Nissan, General Motors, BMW, Porsche, and Honda, including obtaining a landmark $3.4 billion settlement with Toyota.

Utility Ratepayer Protection

Blood Hurst & O’Reardon takes on utilities that overcharge customers. On several occasions they have sued the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power for overcharging customers for improper fees, overbilling and possibly illegal taxation. They also uncovered fraud in a class action settlement brokered by the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office, while working with individual ratepayers who were threatened with termination of their water and power.

Insurance

The lawyers at Blood Hurst & O’Reardon have extensive experience litigating against life, auto, and other types of insurance companies on behalf of consumers. This includes actions against insurers for deceptive and unfair sales practices, overcharges, failing to provide the insurance promised and racial discrimination in the sale of burial insurance and other types of small-value “industrial” life insurance. The Firm’s attorneys have represented consumers against automobile insurance companies who failed to pay their customers all the money due under their insurance policies, failed to pay for the diminished value of their cars after an accident, and for overcharging their customers. Our lawyers are responsible for one of the few class-wide recoveries in the “imitation parts” automobile insurance actions, where auto insurance companies failed to pay their customers all they were required to pay. We also represents health care providers against HMOs and other health insurers. Our lawyers have litigated against many different insurance companies, including State Farm, Farmers, American General Life Insurance Companies, Metropolitan Life, General American, AIG and others.

Banks and Other Financial Institutions

The Firm’s lawyers are representing credit card users, home loan borrowers and other types of borrowers and investors against major banks and lending institutions, including Bank of America, Washington Mutual, Countrywide, GMAC and Wells Fargo. They have enforced the rights of borrowers under a variety of state and federal laws, including the federal Real Estate Settlement Practices Act and the Truth in Lending Act and for breach of contract and violations of unfair competition laws.

Real Estate

The Firm represents home and condominium owners concerning misrepresentations by developers, illegal foreclosures, and illegal collections. In a case against Bosa development regarding misrepresentations in the square footage of condominium units, the Firm achieved significant relief for homeowners that purchased units smaller than represented. The Firm also obtained significant relief for homeowners who paid money pursuant to illegal collections by Chase Bank related to mortgages that were not due. Currently, the Firm represents homeowners in Hawaii whose homes were illegally taken by their condominium associations through illegal nonjudicial foreclosures.