Major Breach of MAPCO Database May Affect Thousands of Consumers

 

MAPCO Express, a retail gas station and convenience store company based out of Brentwood, Tennessee, experienced a major security breach earlier this year. MAPCO has locations in Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Virginia and Arkansas.

On May 6, 2013, MAPCO first publicly announced that it was hit by a wide-reaching security breach that left thousands of customers exposed to fraud and identify theft from transactions that date back as far as March of this year.  Computer hackers stole the credit/debit card information of MAPCO customers and have been making unauthorized transactions with this financial information.

The rules that cover transactions on credit cards, check cards, and debit cards require merchants to validate a series of security measures, such as the establishment of firewalls to protect databases.  Among other things, merchants, such as MAPCO, are prohibited from storing unprotected cardholder information. 

Pittman, Dutton & Hellums, P.C., has filed a class action complaint against MAPCO for those injured by this security breach. A recent story in The Tuscaloosa News was published on its affiliated website which discusses the story in greater detail:

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20130625/NEWS/130629888/1291/living?Title=Northport-lawyer-sues-convenience-store-chain&tc=ar

We have reason to believe that one MAPCO location in particular, located on the corner of McFarland and 69^th in Tuscaloosa, was hit by the hackers.

The relevant dates of the security breach occurred between March 19-25, April 14-15 and April 20-21 of 2013. If you used a credit or debit card at any MAPCO location  and were injured by the MAPCO breach, please contact Booth Samuels at 1-866-515-8880 or by email at booths@pittmandutton.com

Chinese Drywall Registration Deadline Extended (Again)

Yesterday's deadline to register claims for any of the Chinese drywall settlements was again extended by Judge Fallon. The Order came through late yesterday evening.

The deadline to register a claim is now set for July 8th. If you do not register a claim, you will be excluded from receiving any benefits from the settlements, absent good cause shown.

DEADLINE TODAY FOR CDW REGISTRATION

Today, June 24th,  is the last day to register for any of the Chinese drywall settlements. The Registration is the first step. The second step is the submission of claims.  No claim form will be accepted absent a registration. The claims must be filed by August 26, 2013.

 

Three More Pilot Employees Plead Guilty

Three more employees of the truck stop chain owned by Jimmy Haslam have pleaded guilty in an alleged scheme to cheat trucking firms out of rebates. Jimmy Haslam is also the new owner of the NFL franchise Cleveland Browns and brother of the Governor of Tennessee.

Regional sales manager Kevin Clark, account manager Holly Radford and senior regional salesman Jay Stinnett, all pleaded guilty to mail fraud in federal court in Knoxville. Kevin Clark was based out of Missouri.

Prosecutors allege that the sales team of Pilot Flying J, the country's largest diesel retailer, short-changed trucking companies to boost profits and commissions. The rebate scheme involved Pilot executives singling out trucking companies and manually reducing the fuel rebates they were owed on diesel purchases. They chose customers they thought were unsophisticated and would not catch the discrepancy.

 

 

Stinnett helped set up a training session to teach others how to carry out the fraud. Another was a sales manager who was secretly recorded bragging about his role in shorting customers. A third was an account representative based in Knoxville who helped handle the reductions.

Stinnett faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a $150,000 fine and restitution. Clark faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. It is unknown what kind of prison time or fine Radford faces.

Along with two Pilot executives who pleaded guilty last month, the federal government has garnered five total plea deals since agents raided the Pilot's Knoxville headquarters April 15.

 

Senate Judicial Hearing Begins Tomorrow

Tomorrow, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee will conduct hearings on Obama's appointments to the Federal Bench. Of particular importance to our area will be the panel's hearing over Judge Haikala for a lifetime appointment as a federal district judge for the Northern District of Alabama. Judge Haikala has spent the last several months as a magistrate judge for our district. Below is the link to the story on al.com:

http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2013/06/obama_pick_for_north_alabama_l.html#incart_river_default

O'Bannon v. NCAA: Class Cert Hearing This Week-What's On the Line?

With the class certification hearing in the Ed O'Bannon case set for this Thursday in San Francisco, the case is drawing a lot of heat from the media. A great synopsis of what's at stake from both the plaintiffs' and defendants' sides and what the implications of the hearing will have for the lawsuit going forward was written by Jon Solomon for al.com this weekend. Below is a link to the story:

http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2013/06/ed_obannon_v_ncaa_the_argument.html

What Happens When Businesses Give Judges Money?

What happens when businesses give judges money?

 

According to an article by The Washington Post and a study by the American Constitutional Society, the answer depends on if the judge was selected or elected. Not surprisingly, the article and report found that typically, those judges who receive large donations from business entities tend to rule in favor of business over an individual or consumer.

 

Click on the link below for the full article:

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/06/11/when-businesses-give-judges-money-they-usually-get-the-rulings-they-want/

Stryker Hip Cases Consolidated in MDL

A federal judicial panel has created a consolidated docket for all lawsuits alleging injury caused by the Stryker Rejuvenate and ABG II hip implant devices. The makers of the hip replacement system is a company named Howmedica Osteonics Corporation.

The Order from the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) agreed to transfer nearly four dozen cases and all future Stryker hip claims to a single federal judge in Minnesota for coordinated pretrial proceedings. The Order came out today, June 12.

 

A consent order signed by the Minnesota court’s Chief Judge Michael James Davis indicated that the docket will be presided over by Judge Donovan W. Frank.

 

This just happens to be one more consolidated action in a long line of MDL’s concerning metal on metal hip defects. See my blog post from March of this year to learn more about the Stryker hips involved in this latest MDL.

 

The attorneys at Pittman, Dutton & Hellums, P.C., are investigating claims against Stryker for the Rejuvenate and ABG II hips. If you or a loved one have been implanted with a Stryker Rejuvenate Hip or the ABG II Modular Hip, contact Booth Samuels at booths@pittmandutton.com or toll free at 1-866-515-8880.

BP Has Paid $573 Million to Alabama Claimants So Far

More than 32,367 individuals and businesses in Alabama have filed claims in a settlement stemming from a class action lawsuit against BP over its 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, but many who might qualify for settlement funds have not yet filed. In fact, thousands of Alabama individuals and businesses have filed but have not been paid yet.

Of the claims filed thus far in Alabama, about 9,600 have been declared eligible and $573 million has been paid to Alabama claimants. Millions more have been paid to residents of neighboring states as well. In total, 172,000 claims have been filed in five states, and claims administrators have paid out more than $3.5 billion.

Businesses do not have to be located on the Gulf Coast to qualify for payment. An accounting formula is used to determine if a business lost revenue during the oil spill period. Businesses must demonstrate that their revenue during three consecutive months between May and December of 2010 was 15 percent lower than during a benchmark period from before the oil spill, and that revenue over the same three month period in 2011 was at least 10 percent higher than during the oil spill months. Claims must be accompanied by documents including federal tax returns.

Even if you think your business was healthy during these time periods, you may still qualify for the settlement.

As of today, claimants must file by April 2014. This seems like a long way into the future, but the close out date is fast approaching. It would be an absolute mistake not to inquire if you even qualify for a BP payment.

The BP Deepwater Horizon spill in April of 2010 dumped 5.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf, more than 17 times the amount of crude that was spilled by the wreck of the Exxon Valdez tanker in 1989.

The attorneys at Pittman, Dutton & Hellums, P.C. are currently investigating BP claims. If you or someone you know, or represent, owns a business in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and certain areas of Florida and Texas, you may qualify for a BP claim payment. Please contact Booth Samuels toll free at 1-866-515-8880 or via email at booths@pittmandutton.com.

 

 

California Judge Denies DePuy's Motion to Toss Out $8.3M Verdict

 

 

A California Superior Court judge has denied DePuy Orthopaedics’ motions for new trial or judgment notwithstanding the verdict, upholding the $8.3 million judgment that resulted from the state’s first trial of a DePuy ASR hip implant case. The case is Kransky v. DePuy, BC456086, California Superior Court, Los Angeles County.

 

In March, the jury hearing the DePuy ASR recall lawsuit in California found the ASR hip was defectively designed, and awarded more than $8.3 million to the Plaintiff, Loren Kransky. Mr. Kransky sued the company under the theory that the ASR was defectively designed as well as DePuy's failure to warn his doctors that its product was dangerous. He claimed that the ASR hip caused him to suffer severe side effects, including metal poisoning. The jury found in favor of Mr. Kransky on the design defect claim and in favor of DePuy on the failure-to-warn claim.

 

During that trial, evidence was introduced which indicated Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary, DePuy Orthopaedics, had knowledge that the ASR hip product was defective years before the recall was announced. The recall occurred in August 2010. However, that information was not shared with the public at large or the medical community. According to a New York Times report published on April 16th, much of the same evidence was introduced in a second trial that concluded last month in Illinois state court. However, the jury hearing that case found for Johnson & Johnson. For more information on that case, see my previous blog posts.

 

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge J. Stephen Czuleger issued his decision from the bench following a hearing May 24 and has scheduled a hearing in June on the plaintiff’s attorneys’ request for approximately $1.2 million in costs. DePuy submitted its motion for JNOV April 17^th in the corporation’s bid to persuade Judge Czuleger to throw out the verdict. In their motion, Depuy argued that the jury had erred and its verdict was inconsistent.Thus far, there has been no written order.

 

Judge Czuleger ruled that although there was a "legitimate conflict" in the evidence at trial as to when DePuy knew that its ASR hip implants were dangerous, this did not bar Mr. Kransky's ability to hold DePuy liable for a defectively designed product. The judge also rejected DePuy's claim that the overall body of evidence was insufficient to support Mr. Kransky's verdict, noting that there was "strong evidence" in support of his claim.

Court records indicate that there are more than 11,000 DePuy ASR hip lawsuits currently pending throughout the United States, most of which have been filed in a multidistrict litigation underway in U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio. The first trials in the MDL are expected to begin in September 2013. That date is subject to change as the first bellwether case has been continued already this year. The ASR MDL is titled In re: DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc. ASR Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation – MDL 2197.

Our firm is currently investigating claims for those people who have been implanted with the DePuy hip replacement devices, both ASR and Pinnacles. If you would like a free case evaluation, please contact Booth Samuels toll free 1-866-515-8880 or by email at booths@pittmandutton.com.



 

 

 

Pilot Flying J Execs Plead Guilty

Two of Pilot Flying J’s executives, Arnold Ralenkotter and Ashley Judd, have recently pleaded guilty to the federal crime of conspiracy to commit mail fraud. It seems as if a number of other executives will also have criminal charges brought against them in the near future for their participation in a scheme to reduce promised rebates to truckers across the country. The crimes could bring prison sentences of up to 20 years.

The FBI raided Pilot’s headquarters in Knoxville, Tennessee, on April 15, and it was there that the government found overwhelming evidence against Ralenkotter and Judd. Ralenkotter has since admitted to participating in the scheme from 2008 through April 2013.

Details of the fraudulent scheme can be found here:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/05/29/2-plead-guilty-in-feds-probe-of-truck-stop-chain/2370797/

Jimmy Haslam, Pilot’s Chief Executive, denied having any knowledge of the rebate scheme and has voiced his intent to repay truckers with 10% interest for any money owed. Jimmy Haslam is the current owner of the NFL franchise Cleveland Browns and brother of the Governor of Tennessee.

Pittman, Dutton & Hellums, P.C. is currently investigating claims against Pilot Flying J over fuel refunds. If you or someone you represent has been defrauded by Pilot Flying J, please contact Booth Samuels at 1-866-515-8880 or by email at booths@pittmandutton.com.