Investing.com
Voyager Hit With Class Action Lawsuit Over Alleged Hidden Fees
Cryptocurrency broker Voyager Digital has been hit with a proposed class-action lawsuit for allegedly misleading customers about hidden fees. According to the lawsuit, Voyager sells itself as a 100% commission-free trading platform.
However, there are allegations that there are secret commissions in the pricing of trades that could sometimes exceed the disclosed fees and commissions from competitors.
According to analyses cited by Adam Moskowitz, the attorney who filed the lawsuit, the total damages Voyager owes the platform’s users could be over $1 billion. He adds that the company seemed to be “set up, in a way, like a carnival — every consumer is going to lose.”
Mark Cassidy, the plaintiff in the Voyager case, who once used the platform, stated that Voyager was “basically ripping people off small pieces at a time.” however, Michael Legg, chief communications officer with Voyager, said the action was “without any merit.”
CoinDesk
Voyager Digital Sued for Allegedly Misleading Investors on Trading Fees
Publicly traded cryptocurrency exchange Voyager Digital is facing a proposed class-action lawsuit over alleged hidden fees being charged on its trades, according to a lawsuit filed in a federal Miami court on Dec. 24.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Florida resident Mark Cassidy, alleges that while Voyager claims to be a commission-free platform for users, it employs various methods to charge secret commissions on all its trades, including by keeping the spread (or the difference between the “bid” and “ask” price) intentionally wide.
These practices likely create more in hidden commissions than Voyager’s competitors collect from their disclosed commissions, the suit charges. One of the lawsuit’s experts estimated damages to Voyager’s customers could exceed $1 billion.
Cassidy is seeking restitution for himself along with “declaratory and injunctive relief to put an end to the Voyager Defendants’ unfair and deceptive marketing and sales practices.”
Daily Business Review
Mark Cuban-Linked Crypto Platform Hit With First Nationwide Class Action Lawsuit in Miami Federal Court
The South Florida attorneys alleged that the Voyager Digital companies inflicted over $1 billion in damages as a result of the company’s false common representations to its customers on its publicly traded cryptocurrency platform.
Coral Gables attorneys have hit a publicly traded cryptocurrency platform with a class action lawsuit in a federal court in Miami, in which one of their experts alleged common damages exceeding $1 billion.
Stuart Z. Grossman and Rachel Wagner Furst — partners at Grossman Roth Yaffa Cohen —and Adam M. Moskowitz, Managing Partner at The Moskowitz Law Firm, represent the plaintiff, Mark Cassidy.
They alleged that Voyager Digital Ltd. and its subsidiary, Voyager Digital LLC, made false common representations similar to those that evolved from the tactics of brokerage houses decades ago.
As a result, those alleged false representations, such as the claim that the defendants’ cryptocurrency platform is “100% commission-free” and that customers will receive the best possible price on their crypto trades, have enabled the companies to create billions of dollars in new revenue from inexperienced investors, like Cassidy, the complaint argued.
“Our main goal is to allow common investors a fighting chance, so if Voyager simply agrees to all of our proposed injunctive relief within 75 days, we will not seek any fees or costs from our extensive investigation,” Moskowitz stated in an email.
Plaintiffs counsel estimated the class would be in the “thousands, if not millions,” pending access to the defendants’ corporate records, according to the complaint.
For instance, plaintiffs counsel cited figures in which the company in January, February and March onboarded, respectively, 65,000, 70,000 and 95,000 new funded accounts of $170 million, $400 million and $650 million.
And plaintiffs counsel alleged in the complaint that they “will prove the Voyager platform is a house of cards, built on false promises and factually impossible representations that were specifically designed to take advantage of the cryptocurrency craze, to the direct detriment of any ordinary investor.”
Bloomberg
Crypto Broker Voyager Faces Proposed Class-Action Suit Over Trading Fees
Cryptocurrency broker Voyager Digital Ltd. is the target of a proposed class action lawsuit alleging the company misled customers by charging hidden fees on transactions.
The lawsuit alleges that while Voyager advertises its trades as “100% commission-free”, there are “secret commissions” built into the pricing of every trade that “in most cases exceed the disclosed fees and commissions charged by its competitors.” The suit was filed on Dec. 24 in federal court in Miami.
Cassidy, a 30-year-old who lives in Florida, found online reviews that speculated Voyager might be baking hidden fees into their process, contributing to wider spreads. “They’re basically ripping people off small pieces at a time,” he told Bloomberg News, adding that the experience turned him off of crypto investing generally.
The complaint against Voyager cites preliminary analyses conducted by two experts--Richard Sanders, the co-founder and lead investigator of CipherBlade, a blockchain forensics and cybercrime investigation firm, and Stephen Castell, chairman of U.K.-based Castell Consulting, which specializes in IT. Castell in his report predicted the total damages owed to the platform’s users may exceed $1 billion.
“What these experts have shown us is that Voyager is set up, in a way, like a carnival--every consumer is going to lose,” Adam Moskowitz, the attorney who filed the lawsuit, told Bloomberg News.
Moskowitz said that if Voyager agrees to injunctive changes to end their “unlawful practices” and provide adequate disclosures to investors within 75 days, his firm won’t seek any attorneys’ fees in the case.
The suit also mentioned the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks and the team’s billionaire owner Mark Cuban. According to the filing, Cuban’s support for and the Mavericks’ recent partnership with the crypto broker illustrate how Voyager is “targeting unsophisticated investors with false and misleading promises of reaping large profits in the cryptocurrency market.” The Mavericks declined to comment and Cuban didn’t return a request for comment.
Seeking Alpha
Voyager Digital Hit With Lawsuit Alleging Secret Trading Fees - Bloomberg
Yahoo Finance
Crypto Broker Voyager Faces Proposed Class-Action Suit Over Trading Fees
WPLG Local 10 - ABC
Subcontractor Found Liable For Massive 2019 Water Main Break In Fort Lauderdale
Florida Communication Concepts, a subcontractor of Florida Power & Light, could be out tens of millions of dollars after a jury found the company 98% responsible for a massive water main break in Fort Lauderdale in 2019, which affected thousands of businesses in surrounding areas for several days.
The trouble began on July 17, 2019, when the Wellington-based company’s workers damaged a 42-inch water main with an underground drill near Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport, according to city officials.
Water was cut to downtown Fort Lauderdale, including at Galleria Mall, leaving a quarter of a million people without clean drinking water. The fire department ordered downtown offices closed because there wasn’t water for fire suppression systems in the buildings.
According to the South Florida Sun Sentinel, during the week-long trial, the jury learned that Florida Communication Concepts workers thought they had encountered a large rock when they drilled a 6-inch hole into the water main.
More than 9,000 businesses were represented in the class-action lawsuit. A spokesperson for class action attorneys Adam Moskowitz, Bill Scherer and Cristina Pierson said the lawyers already settled with FPL and the other defendants in the civil case.
“This should not have happened and we’re grateful to the jury system,” Moskowitz told Local 10 News.
The losses for those 9,000 businesses range from a few hundred dollars to the mid-six figures. The Marriott Harbor Beach, for example, believes it lost nearly $400,000 from that day alone. The hotel had to relocate 600 of its customers on the spot.
The next step is the damages phase, to determine how much money Florida Communication Concepts — or its insurance — should pay. It could reach $100 million.
WTVJ NBC 6
Jury: Contractor Responsible for Massive 2019 Fort Lauderdale Water Main Break
A jury found a private contractor responsible for leaving nearly a quarter-million people across seven South Florida cities without water for days in 2019.
The verdict late Monday in response to a class-action lawsuit means Florida Communications Concepts could be held liable for tens of millions of dollars, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported. A separate trial will be scheduled to determine damages, the newspaper said.
During the weeklong trial, jurors learned that workers for the company believed they had encountered a big rock and drilled a 6-inch hole into a 42-inch main at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport in June 2019.
The drilling affected a line that supplies water to Fort Lauderdale's main water plant, leading to disruptions in all or part of seven cities, plus Port Everglades.
The jury found the company and a subcontractor 98% responsible for the loss to area businesses that had to be shut down, court records show. More than 9,000 restaurants, law firms and retail stores were represented in the class-action lawsuit.
Florida Power and Light was originally named as a defendant in the lawsuit but settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.
Law360
Dentists' Virus Coverage Suits Struggle In Federal Courts
Dental offices make up many of the businesses suing insurance companies for pandemic-related coverage, but the practices have trouble convincing federal trial and appeals courts that carriers should pay their losses from being unable to perform nonessential procedures.
In a case that encapsulates a growing trend, a federal judge ruled Thursday that a Michigan dental office's losses caused by the state's restrictions on its ability to perform certain procedures during the pandemic weren't covered by The Cincinnati Insurance Co. The judge cited recent Sixth Circuit authority finding that COVID-19 closures don't involve covered physical loss or damage.
The Eighth and Eleventh Circuits were bound by the district court records, said Adam Moskowitz of The Moskowitz Law Firm PLLC, counsel for many dental practices across the country, but "crucial and previously hidden, game-changing documents are finally compelled" in these coverage suits.
Daily Business Review
Attorney Calls for 'State MDL' Rules Amid Favorable Ruling in Lawsuit Against University of Florida
A Coral Gables attorney is calling for state multidistrict litigation rules as trial courts across the state are looking at 18 of his class-action lawsuits against each of the public universities in Florida. Of these cases, three are before separate state appellate courts.
And in the latest trial ruling, a state court judge Monday allowed a student to proceed with a class action against a university over not receiving a partial tuition refund for services not provided as stated in a contract.
John A. Yanchunis, a partner at Morgan & Morgan in Tallahassee, and Adam M. Moskowitz, Managing Partner at The Moskowitz Law Firm in Coral Gables, represent Anthony Rojas against the University of Florida Board of Trustees.
“It would be good if Florida amended their rules of civil procedure to be more similar to Texas, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and California that have state multidistrict litigation rules,” Moskowitz said. “That means if there is a common case—like we do at the national MDL level—you could have a state MDL so all of those cases could be consolidated before one judge in the state of Florida.”
The comment comes as the District Court of Appeal Workload and Jurisdiction Assessment Committee recommended earlier this month to the Florida Supreme Court to create a sixth district court of appeal.
Moskowitz said there has been chatter among lawyers to work with the Florida Rules Committee to pass legislation to enact a state MDL.
The 18 class actions stem from the havoc the coronavirus pandemic inflicted on universities, particularly during the months immediately following March 2020, as social distancing measures required many to close their doors and run entirely online.
As a result, students such as Rojas sued their universities for charging and then refusing to refund fees paid for services that were not provided during the spring and summer academic semesters in 2020. Rojas asserted claims for breach of contract and unjust enrichment.
Now, Alachua Circuit Judge Monica Brasington ruled against the university on its motion to dismiss the breach-of-contract claims. However, the judge granted the school’s request to dismiss the unjust-enrichment count.
In doing so, Moskowitz said, the ruling is the third decision in which a trial court has ruled there is no “sovereign immunity” defense, because every school entered a written contract with each student to pay all of its required fees and costs. These include cases before the First, Second and Third District Courts of Appeal.
“Why should the universities waste so much more attorney fees now that three trial courts all across the State of Florida are all ruling the same way?” said Moskowitz, who is also an adjunct professor at the University of Miami School of Law. “The unfortunate part is that everyone in the state of Florida is paying for this, since it’s a public school system.”
The Daytona Beach News Journal
Judge Clears Way For Possible Class Action Suit Against UF Over Pandemic Campus Shutdown
An Alachua County circuit judge has refused to dismiss a potential class-action lawsuit that contends the University of Florida should refund fees to students who were forced to learn remotely last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Judge Monica Brasington issued a nine-page ruling Monday that cleared the way for the university to face a breach-of-contract claim. The case is one of numerous similar lawsuits filed against universities and colleges across the state.
The named plaintiff, Anthony Rojas, was a UF graduate student in spring and summer 2020 who paid tuition and fees. If the case is ultimately certified as a class action, it could affect tens of thousands of students who could not take in-person classes or participate in campus activities last year as UF tried to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The lawsuit, filed in April, seeks pro-rated refunds of such things as activity fees, transportation fees and athletics fees. It does not seek tuition refunds. In addition to the breach-of-contract claim, Rojas’ attorneys also alleged “unjust enrichment” by UF --- though Brasington dismissed that allegation.
"We are not challenging the required tuition or the ensuing diploma, but all of these other charges that were physically impossible to take advantage of during the height of the pandemic,” Adam Moskowitz, a Coral Gables attorney representing Rojas, said in a prepared statement. “Some states like Georgia already agreed to reimburse such specific funds."
Law360
U Of Fla. Can't Avoid Fees Suit Over Pandemic Shutdown
A Florida state court judge has ruled that the University of Florida cannot hide behind a sovereign immunity defense to dodge a proposed class action seeking a refund of fees students paid for campus services they did not receive when the public university temporarily shifted to remote learning because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Alachua County Circuit Judge Monica Brasington found that graduate student Anthony Rojas' claim for breach of contract can advance because he had sufficiently shown that the school entered into an express written contract with him through itemized invoices and a "financial liability agreement" that he attached to his complaint.
"[W]hen a governmental entity enters into an express, written contract that is authorized by the powers granted to it by the Legislature, it waives its sovereign immunity," Judge Brasington explained in the 11-page order.
Daily Business Review
Multimillion-Dollar Settlement Reached in Broward Water Main Break; Liability Trial Set for Holdout Defendant
Now, Broward Circuit Judge Jeffrey R. Levenson will preside over the Dec. 6 liability trial involving Florida Communication Concepts.
Law360
Judge Says Holdout Won't Stop Proposed Erie Virus MDL
Multidistrict litigation over whether Erie Insurance should cover businesses' pandemic losses can move ahead with a joint complaint from 46 of the 47 plaintiffs, after a Pennsylvania federal judge ruled Tuesday that a single holdout wouldn't sabotage the "unanimity" requirement he'd previously set.
U.S. District Judge Mark R. Hornak said he hoped the consolidated amended complaint could address some of the concerns keeping Steven A. Udesky & Associates, a suburban Chicago eye care practice, from joining the rest of the plaintiffs, and said he'd also allow Udesky to choose whether to join the others after the consolidated complaint was filed.
Judge Hornak's order gave the plaintiffs' attorneys until Oct. 28 to file their new complaint, and dropped Erie's current motions to dismiss the individual suits.
Law360
Holdout Resisting Erie Virus MDL Could Sink Amended Suit
A lone holdout threatens to scuttle a proposed consolidated complaint in a multidistrict litigation by 47 businesses seeking coverage of their pandemic losses from Erie Insurance, according to the lead counsel on the case in Pennsylvania federal court.
Attorneys for Steven A. Udesky & Associates, a suburban Chicago eye care practice, were opposed to filing the consolidated amended complaint, which ran afoul of the judge's order earlier in August that said "all plaintiffs in the MDL action" had to consent to joining together in the complaint against Erie — or else the court would start considering Erie's motions to dismiss the individual cases and would deny further motions to amend.
"The court's order has placed co-lead counsel and the 46 plaintiffs in the other 31 cases that all have a consensus on filing a CAC in an untenable position: Plaintiffs cannot file a notice that complies with this court's order, but the court's alternate path is that co-lead counsel and the 46 plaintiffs in the other 31 cases will be required to litigate their cases separately," said Friday's motion for relief.
Law360
Erie Insurance Virus MDL Can Move Ahead
Businesses that couldn't get Erie Insurance to cover their pandemic-related losses should file a consolidated complaint in a Pittsburgh-based multidistrict litigation — or else face the possibility of being denied leave to amend if their cases are dismissed, a Pennsylvania federal judge said.
"The body of substantive law as to the resolution of such questions has so robustly and vigorously matured since the scheduling conference in this case, and with very mixed outcomes in the courts that have rendered merits decisions," Judge Hornak wrote Friday. "But, that said, this court also believes the various legal theories that would likely be relied upon by both plaintiffs and defendants have now been sufficiently ventilated so as to permit their assertion now in the context of a definitive consolidated amended complaint such that these matters may proceed with a degree of confidence."
Daily Business Review
Lawyer Objects to Class Counsel’s Nearly $3 Million in Attorney Fees 'Most of the Relief is Illusory'
A Washington, D.C.-based lawyer objected to a settlement in a false advertisement class action in Miami federal court, in part by pointing to the multimillion-dollar attorney fee award as a reason the presiding judge should nix the deal.
But this objection is causing a stir, as critics point to Theodore H. Frank, the director of Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute and the Center for Class Action Fairness, as a “professional objector.”
In an objection filing in Williams v. Reckitt Benckiser, Frank said that U.S. Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman, who sits in the Southern District of Florida, should deny final approval of the attorneys fees sought as part of the settlement in the Neuriva memory supplement case.
“The underlying issue is that most of the relief is illusory,” Frank said. “They are not going to provide $8 million to the class, even though they are calling it an $8 million settlement. The injunctive relief is generally not going to change anything. You have a settlement where the attorneys are getting almost $3 million, and the class is going to get substantially less than that.”
However, Adam Moskowitz, a partner at The Moskowitz Law Firm in Coral Gables, said he sees troubling similarities between this case and the Spartan Race Inc. class action in which Frank also objected. Moskowitz is not involved in the Williams v. Reckitt Benckiser litigation.
Among the similarities, according to Moskowitz: Frank allegedly provided a scientific argument and evidence without citing an expert, did not show evidence of his damages and filed the objection to “show his supporters how he fights class actions.”
And Moskowitz, a University of Miami School of Law professor, suggested this raised a larger question of whether lawmakers should take another look at class action law in the context of “professional objectors.” He added that valid objections can play an important role after the parties agree to a settlement, but those objections must be viewed in context.
“It must be the law that simply buying a product after he knows a motion for class certification will be filed, cannot be what the Rule 23 drafters meant, when they encouraged aggrieved class members to voice their concerns,” Moskowitz said.
The Spartan Race class action dispute involved an alleged pass through fee the company charged those participating in its events.
Law360
Ponzi Victims Seek Class Cert. Against Ex-DLA Piper Atty
Investors who got burned when an alleged real estate Ponzi scheme imploded last year have asked a Florida federal judge to certify their proposed class action against the scheme's lawyer and his two former firms, DLA Piper and Fox Rothschild LLP, claiming he helped EquiAlt LLC sell securities despite allegedly knowing they were illegal.
In a motion filed Friday, the investors asked U.S. District Judge Mary Scriven to certify three classes of victims in California, Arizona and Colorado. They said each set of claims against DLA Piper partner Paul Wassgren will hinge on whether he knowingly helped EquiAlt violate those states' securities laws, and will thus be easy to pursue as a class action.
Law360
Virus Exclusion Freezes Out Ice Cream Shop's COVID Claims
A New Jersey federal judge terminated an ice cream store's proposed class action against Twin City Insurance Co. over COVID-19-related losses on Monday, finding that the policy's virus exclusion left the shops' case out in the cold.
Sweetberry filed a proposed class action against The Hartford subsidiary last year, claiming the virus-led shutdown of its 13 stores in New Jersey, Florida and Illinois resulted in massive losses to it and other businesses with similar policy language from the insurer.
Adam M. Moskowitz of The Moskowitz Law Firm, who represents Sweetberry, told Law360 on Monday that his firm had successfully defeated motions to dismiss in other business interruption lawsuits, and that he is now working with expert epidemiologists on each case.
Law360
Fla. Court Names Lead Attys In Surfside Condo Collapse Suits
Attorneys from Kozyak Tropin Throckmorton, Podhurst Orseck PA and The Moskowitz Law Firm will oversee the economic loss, wrongful death and personal injury claims arising from the Surfside condominium collapse under an attorney leadership structure approved by a Florida judge Friday.
At a hearing in Miami, Judge Michael Hanzman signed off on the proposal by Kozyak Tropin partner Harley Tropin, who had been tasked by the court with putting together a team that would lead two proposed classes of victims.
Adam Moskowitz and Kozyak Tropin's Javier Lopez are the lead lawyers for the proposed class of victims who lost property when the 12-story Champlain Towers South building collapsed on June 24. Podhurst Orseck's Ricardo Martinez-Cid will lead the subclass of plaintiffs who also have personal injury or wrongful death claims, with Curtis Miner of Colson Hicks Eidson and Stuart Grossman of Grossman Roth Yaffa Cohen as liaison counsel.
USA Today
Workers Discovered Extensive Concrete Damage and Suspended A Repair Effort Last Fall At Collapsed Florida Condo
Raysa Rodriguez, a retired postal worker who had nearly finished paying off the mortgage on unit 907 is among them. She survived Thursday’s tragic collapse.
A third class-action lawsuit filed by the Moskowitz law firm, chronicled Rodriguez’s harrowing escape as the stairs crumbled underneath her and her neighbors. The lawsuit alleges the condo association's "reckless and negligent conduct caused a catastrophic deadly collapse of Champlain Towers South in Surfside."
"I ran to the balcony. I open(ed) the doors and a wall of dust hit me. I couldn’t see anything outside," she said in a detailed statement included in a lawsuit filed this week.
A video taken by Rodriguez of the garage in August 2018 and provided to USA TODAY, shows corroded pipes, water damage and buckets placed underneath to capture water.
In the video, Rodriguez tells a neighbor she raised concerns with management but they ignored her.
"This is extremely disturbing video that our client recorded in 2018. It was her effort to truly get somebody to listen to her and other residents as they found clear examples that the garage was falling apart,” said attorney Adam Moskovitz in a statement, who is representing Rodriguez and other residents.
He added: “No one would look at this video and not think this was a serious problem."
CNN
Adam Schwartzbaum Interviewed On CNN’s Don Lemon Tonight About The Surfside Condo Collapse & The Class Action Lawsuit Filed
CNN
Emotional Interview of Adam Moskowitz with Alisyn Camerota of CNN Featuring Audio Recorded During The Surfside Building Collapse
New York Post
Gripping Recording Captures Frantic Escape From Collapsed Florida Building
A chilling voicemail captures a survivor’s terrifying escape from last week’s deadly collapse of a beachfront Florida building, a recording obtained by The Post shows.
“Oh my God!” a shocked Raysa Rodriguez is heard yelling during the recording. “The whole entire building is gone!”
Rodriguez, 59, was sleeping in her ninth-floor condo unit at Champlain Towers South in Surfside early Thursday morning when she was awoken by the thunderous collapse — and walked out into the hellish devastation.
Rodriguez, who filed a class-action lawsuit against the building’s condo association this week, led the group of survivors to a second-floor balcony and were able to climb to safety on a ladder hoisted by firefighters.
Her lawyer, Adam Moskowitz, reportedly said Rodriguez was leaving a voice message for her brother and thought she hung up, but hadn’t — and the phone kept recording.
“She was going apartment to apartment because she was nervous that a lot of her neighbors were older and a lot of them couldn’t move and some of them had small children,” Moskowitz told CNN. “She was so nervous she spent 10 or 15 minutes just going apartment to apartment.”
Moskowits said Rodriguez had tried to raise the alarm before, including a 48-second video she shot of leaking pipes in the garage in 2018.
“This is extremely disturbing video that our client recorded in 2018,” Moskowitz said in a statement to The Post Wednesday.
“It was her effort to truly get somebody to listen to her and other residents as they found clear examples that the garage was falling apart,” he said. “No one would look at this video and not think this was a serious problem.”
Authorities said Wednesday that 18 people have been confirmed to have died in the collapse with two children pulled from the rubble, while another 145 are still unaccounted for.
WSVN 7 - Fox
Moskowitz Law Firm Releases Voicemail of Woman Calling Brother During Surfside Condo Collapse
WSVN 7 - Fox
In Lawsuit Against Condo Association, Surfside Collapse Survivor Details Harrowing Escape
Raysa Rodriguez’s account is part of a lawsuit she filed late Monday against the association of her now destroyed home.
In the document, the resident said she was asleep in her unit, number 907.
“Something woke me up, and I found myself in the middle of the room. The building swayed like a sheet of paper,” she wrote. “I ran to the balcony. I open the doors, and a wall of dust hit me. I couldn’t see anything outside.”
Rodriguez’s attorney, Adam Moskowitz, said the condo association should have listened to her concerns much sooner.
“Raysa Rodriguez has been raising there’s red flags for months,” he said. “She’s been taking pictures of her garage. She has been taking pictures of cement falling, water dripping on her car, and it seems like all of this fell on deaf ears. Nobody seemed to take any of this seriously, unfortunately.”
The lawsuit states, “Raysa and her neighbors were four of the more fortunate victims” of the collapse.
WSVN 7 - Fox
Surfside Brings In Structural Engineer Allyn Kilsheimer To Determine Cause of Condo Building Collapse
One resident is joining a class action lawsuit against Champlain Towers South Condo association claiming her complaints were ignored.
“Our client has been raising these red flags for months,” said attorney Adam Moskowitz. “She’s been taking pictures of her garage, she’s been taking pictures of the cement falling, water dripping on her car, and it seems like all of this just landed on deaf ears. Nobody seemed to take any of it seriously, unfortunately.”
The president of the condo association told residents living in the building in April that the building needed major repairs and urged them to pay the $15 million in assessments to fix the issues.
ABC - World News Tonight
Adam Schwartzbaum Interviewed On ABC’s World News Tonight About The Tragic Surfside Condo Collapse & Subsequent Class Action Lawsuit
CNN
Adam Schwartzbaum Interviewed On CNN’s Erin Burnett Outfront Regarding The Class Action Lawsuit Filed In The Surfside Condo Collapse
CNN
Adam Moskowitz Appears on CNN To Discuss The Class Action Lawsuit Filed As A Result of The Surfside Building Collapse
CNN
Adam Schwartzbaum Appears on CNN With Wolf Biltzer To Discuss The Devastation of The Surfside Condo Collapse & Legal Steps Being Taken By The Firm
CNN
Another Lawsuit Has Been Filed Against Condo Association After The Deadly Collapse In Surfside
In an interview with CNN, one of Rodriguez's attorney's, Adam Schwartzbaum, argued the association has known that the building was in "critical" condition for years and that warning signs have been apparent for more than a decade.
Schwartzbaum said his grandparents lived at Champlain for 30 years until they moved out about 10 years ago. He said his grandmother used to complain that she would get water spots on her car in the garage, as if there was a leak. "She didn't understand why there would be water on her car even though it was underground," he said.
Referring to the 2018 report that identified cracked concrete and other damage, Schwartzbaum said, "Certainly for at least three years, there was a major red flag...sirens flashing, alerting the condo association of this danger."
"Based on our investigation there were many warning signs more than 10 years ago, maybe even longer. These are not things that were just a few years ago," he said.
The lawsuit accuses the condo association of negligence and breach of contract for failing to "exercise reasonable care in performing its management, maintenance and repair" of the Champlain Towers South condominium building. The "Defendant knew or should have known there was a significant and foreseeable risk of unreasonable harm to Plaintiff and class members and their property," the complaint stated.
Wall Street Journal
Miami-Area Collapsed Condo Crews Keep Up Search For Survivors On Day 6
Officials acknowledged difficult odds ahead as the search of the collapsed Miami-area condo tower entered its sixth day, with the death toll standing at 12 and 149 people unaccounted for.
Thirty-seven survivors were pulled from the site in the early hours after the collapse on June 24, but none have been in the days since.
President Biden and first lady Jill Biden plan to visit Surfside on Thursday, the White House said. The Bidens will thank first responders and search and rescue teams as well as meet with families, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said. She said the trip was being planned so as to not draw away resources or have a negative impact on the recovery.
The Miami Herald
‘A Wall Of Dust Hit Me.’ Lawsuit Details Surfside Condo Collapse Survivor’s Harrowing Tale
Raysa Rodriguez, a retired postal worker, lived in Unit 907 of Champlain Towers South for 17 years. She was a few payments away from paying off her mortgage.
But the dream retirement ended in the middle of the night, when a giant rumble shook her from her sleep. The building, Rodriguez wrote in a dramatic first-person account included in a newly filed lawsuit, “swayed like a piece of paper.”
She switched on the bedroom lamp — but there was no power. She ran to the balcony “and a wall of dust hit me.”
Rodriguez’s lawyers contend that the condo association engaged in “reckless and negligent conduct” by ignoring long-needed repairs to the building. The class-action suits ask that similar lawsuits be consolidated, and that evidence be preserved to “determine everyone who is to blame for this tragedy and all of them be held responsible.”
Adam Schwartzbaum, Rodriguez’s lawyer, grew up in the building — his grandparents lived there. He said his family complained about water intrusion in the parking garage, and the building was sued over it back in 2003.
“We’re talking 15-20 years ago,” Schwartzbaum said Tuesday. “This is a problem that’s been in the building for decades.”
NBC - The Today Show
Adam Moskowitz Appears on NBC’s The Today Show Regarding Class Action Lawsuit Filed In Surfside Condo Collapse
WTVJ NBC 6
Surfside Building Collapse Feature Story with Adam M. Moskowitz of The Moskowitz Law Firm
WFOR CBS 4
Adam Moskowitz Appears on CBS 4 Regarding Class Action Lawsuit Filed In Surfside Condo Collapse
Today, Adam Moskowitz appeared on CBS 4 News to discuss our ongoing investigation into the Champlain Towers South collapse. Our hearts go out to all of those affected by this disaster, which include many of us here at The Moskowitz Law Firm. We are working diligently to investigate and file a class action lawsuit seeking to recover losses on behalf of unit owners affected by this tragedy. If you are interested in speaking with an attorney about how you can help, please contact us at 305-740-1423.
Please also visit SUPPORTSURFSIDE.ORG to learn about more ways you can help the victims and their families.
The Washington Post
Inside The Collapsed Tower, A Microcosm Of A Multicultural City
The collapse of the south building at Champlain Towers is a Miami story — a multicultural tragedy in a microcosm of a metropolis that sits at the nexus of the United States and Latin America and battles deep in the trenches of climate change. The residents of Champlain, like most of Miami’s multilingual masses, face constantly encroaching coastlines, rising waters, flooding streets and parking garages. They put up with the challenges for the perks, living what seem like the last heady days of Atlantis in a city that has always toed a line between paradise and precarious.
It symbolized the Latin money that turned Spanish into Miami’s language of power. Like the satellite town they lived in — Surfside, where 40 percent of the restaurants are Kosher — its residents were also heavily Jewish.
The blow to Miami’s Jewish population — the most diverse community of its kind in the country as 33 percent of it is foreign born — is palpable in the tear-streaked beards and impromptu prayer services at community centers, synagogues, sidewalks and front yards along Collins and Harding avenues.
“Wait, Rabbi, I can see the Applebaums coming,” said a woman one and a half blocks from the disaster site, as Pearlson began a prayer service for the two dozen members of his congregation still missing in the pile of rubble just within eyeshot. “I can see his cane.”
After the short service — held on a neighbor’s front yard under the shade of a palm tree as feral parrots flew overhead — Adam Schwartzbaum, a 36-year-old attorney, fought back tears.
Schwartzbaum’s grandparents, who moved to the United States from Cuba in 1961, had lived at Champlain for 30 years. They passed before the tragedy, but he remained close to their now-missing neighbors, Arnold “Arnie” Notkin, 87, a jovial former gym teacher, and his wife, Myriam Caspi Notkin, 81.
“Arnie was hilarious — he always had a twinkle in his eye, he’d always have a funny story, always telling a joke,” Schwartzbaum said. “Myriam was like the sweet, regular, Jewish lady. She was friends with my great aunt, who spoke to her the day before this happened. They spoke together every day.”
“Oh, that building! It was the center of our lives growing up,” he said. “I’d walk back from Shul with my father, and we’d spend the night there. You’d hear the Celia Cruz playing, mostly from my grandmother’s apartment. We’d have big barbecues by the pool. There would always be plantains.”
Law360
Fla. Court Affirms Class Cert. In Water Main Break Row
A Florida state appeals court has upheld class certification for thousands of Fort Lauderdale businesses seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in economic damages after a water main break in 2019 forced them to temporarily close.
Florida's fourth district court of appeal on Thursday affirmed without elaboration Broward County Circuit Judge William Haury's December order granting class certification in a case against Florida Power & Light Co. and several contractors. Also on Thursday, the court denied FPL and the contractors' request for oral argument.
The water main break happened July 17, 2019, court records show. The class claims that subcontractors working on a project for FPL accidentally drilled a hole in a main near Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport, and that the break also cut off fresh water for 200,000 residents for a few days.
WTVJ NBC 6
Student Files Class Action Lawsuit Demanding Refunds For College Campus Fees
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Pile of COVID-19 Business Suits Against Erie Insurance End Up An A Pittsburgh Court
Erie Insurance Co. is one of about a dozen major insurers facing lawsuits from businesses across the country for refusing to pay claims for lost income the businesses suffered due to COVID-19 shutdowns.
A multidistrict litigation panel has decided all of the business interruption cases filed nationwide against Erie Insurance will be consolidated into one case and heard in Pittsburgh before Chief District Judge Mark R. Hornak in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.
Judge Hornak recently chose two lawyers to handle the case on behalf of dozens of other lawyers who filed suits for clients with claims against Erie Insurance. Kelly Iverson of the Carlson, Lynch law firm in Downtown and Adam Moskowitz of The Moskowitz Law Firm in Miami will lead the effort.
“We will make sure that Erie follows through on their promises, to the tens of thousands of consumers across the country, that all paid millions of dollars in premiums each and every month, just so they would be protected when their businesses were interrupted,” said Mr. Moskowitz, who has taught class-action litigation for 27 years as an adjunct professor at University of Miami School of Law.
Law.com
Peloton's Recall of Treadmills Could Halt Consumer Lawsuits. Plus: Key Decisions Coming on Pandemic Business-Interruption Insurance Cases
The exercise equipment company is offering full refunds, software upgrades and other perks designed to diminish the potential economic damages available through a consumer class action
Law360
Coronavirus Litigation: The Week In Review
In Pennsylvania, a federal judge appointed The Moskowitz Law Firm and Carlson Lynch LLP as co-lead counsel to represent policyholders in their multidistrict litigation against Erie Insurance Co. seeking coverage for COVID-19 business interruption losses. Last December, a seven-member Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation centralized in Pennsylvania more than a dozen cases alleging Erie has wrongfully refused to cover businesses' lost income due to COVID-19 stay-at-home orders.
Yahoo Finance
Adam A. Schwartzbaum Promoted To Partner at Moskowitz Law Firm
The Moskowitz Law Firm is proud to announce that Adam A. Schwartzbaum has been promoted to Partner. Founding and Managing Partner Adam Moskowitz says: "Adam has become a very important part of our Firm family and has helped lead many of our largest state and national class actions, making him a perfect fit to help our great Firm grow in the future. Adam is also a true friend, son and colleague and we all enjoy working with Adam and look forward to a very successful future with him as a leader of our team."
Since its founding in 2018, The Moskowitz Law Firm has quickly grown to become one of the preeminent Plaintiffs' Class Action law firms in the country. The Firm has resolved some of the largest class actions in Florida and nationwide, co-counseling with over 50 different plaintiffs' firms in their quests for justice.
Adam has contributed to the Firm's great success by taking a leading role in many of the Firm's class action cases, including coordinating with co-counsel from across the country in over a dozen class action lawsuits against the nation's largest insurance companies seeking coverage for business owners' business interruption losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Firm was recently recognized for its national leadership in this area by being appointed as Plaintiffs' Co-Lead Counsel in multidistrict litigation centralized in the Western District of Pennsylvania, In re Erie COVID-19 Business Interruption Protection Insurance Litigation, MDL No. 2969. Adam has also played an important role in generating and successfully resolving several noteworthy class actions, including a case against the largest property insurance company in Florida.
In addition, Adam leads the Firm's busy state and federal appellate practice, utilizing his ten years of appellate experience to represent the Firm in the Florida District Courts of Appeal and the federal Circuit Courts of Appeal. For example, Adam helped lead a team of lawyers to brief and argue Cherry v. Dometic, 986 F.3d 1296 (11th Cir. 2021), an appeal that resulted in an opinion clarifying and revising the "ascertainability" standard to the benefit of class action plaintiffs across the country.
Law360
Moskowitz, Carlson Lynch To Lead Policyholders In Erie MDL
A Pennsylvania federal judge on Friday appointed The Moskowitz Law Firm and Carlson Lynch LLP as co-lead counsel to represent policyholders in their multidistrict litigation against Erie Insurance Co. seeking coverage for COVID-19 business interruption losses.
In the order, Chief U.S. District Judge Mark R. Hornak asked Adam M. Moskowitz of The Moskowitz Law Firm and Kelly K. Iverson of Carlson Lynch to lead the plaintiffs in their fight for pandemic-related loss coverage against Erie. The judge also appointed George L. Stewart of Reed Smith LLP to be the policyholders' liaison counsel and look over administrative matters of the litigation.
The panel granted a transfer petition filed last August by several groups of Erie policyholders and sent 13 COVID-19 coverage actions pending against the insurer across four states to Judge Hornak in Pittsburgh, where Erie is headquartered.
Daily Business Review
Miami-Dade Lawyers Lead $25M Settlement—But 'Professional Objectors' Stand In Their Way
The professional objectors could influence whether U.S. District Judge Bloom in a fairness hearing next week approves or rejects the proposed $25.6 million settlement reached on behalf of around 800,000 class members that previously competed in Spartan Races.
A Coral Gables lawyer said two professional objectors are the only hurdle standing in the way of a court-approved class action settlement with Spartan Race Inc. at a federal fairness hearing scheduled for next week.
Adam Moskowitz, managing partner at The Moskowitz Law Firm in Coral Gables, is among the attorneys representing Aaron fruit stone and 800,000 class members in a class action lawsuit filed against or race.
“The Eleventh Circuit has repeatedly held that one of the most important factors in determining final approval is the actual reaction of the proposed class,” Moskowitz said. “Especially in cases where you have these professional objectors or lawyers with their own competing cases.”
The class action accused Spartan Race of charging a fraudulent $14 insurance pass-through fee. Ultimately, both sides settled subject to preliminary approval by the court. But Frank Mari, a partner at Bell & Roper Law in Orlando and his client, Jed Nolan, have pushed back and objected to the proposed $25.6 million settlement. They represent .000000016% of the class.
Tampa Bay Business Journal
After A String of 'Refund' Lawsuits Across Florida Universities, Lawmakers Back Higher Ed Protections
Two Tampa Bay higher education institutions have been sued in recent months with allegations of not giving sufficient refunds for students. Under a new proposal, the schools would be protected.
Tampa Bay Times
Florida Lawmakers Target Lawsuits Seeking Pandemic-Era Refunds From Colleges
A bill making its way through the Legislature would shield Florida’s public colleges and universities from the lawsuits many students have filed during the pandemic, contending their schools should refund them for the value they never received when campuses were largely shut down.
The legislation would apply retroactively, nullifying what it describes as “a wave” of class action student lawsuits that have hit the court system since last spring. The students contend their schools were wrong to continue charging full tuition and fees at a time when most classes were shifted to online platforms and other student services were curtailed.
A passage in the bill argues that the legislation is an “overpowering public necessity” since colleges and universities “had little choice but to close or restrict access to their campuses in an effort to protect the health of their students, educators, staff and communities.” It says there is “no legal precedent” on how to handle the situation.
Those provisions are part of a large bill dealing with the many ways the pandemic has impacted education, from K-12 school grades to testing requirements for graduation.
The Senate version went through that chamber’s rules committee Tuesday and a similar version passed on the House floor Wednesday.
Adam Moskowitz, an attorney and law professor whose firm is representing students in 16 lawsuits against Florida universities and colleges, said he first approached the Board of Governors and the State Board of Education to resolve the cases. He argued that other states have chosen to credit students for fees during the COVID-19 crisis. Members of both boards told him to sue the schools directly, he said.
Trying to change the law retroactively sets “horrible” legal precedent, Moskowitz said.
If a university went to buy 10,000 computers, he argued, it wouldn’t tell the computer company to wait for payment because of COVID-19.
“So why are they treating the students worse than a vendor?” he asked. “It’s horrible precedent. It’s not even on behalf of a private company. These are the public schools that are supposed to look out for the students.”
Daily Business Review
Defense Lawyers Note Potential Statewide Ripple From Miami Dade College Class Action
Boca News Now
FAU Sued, Students Demand Refund Of Fees Paid During COVID-19
BocaNewsNow.com was first to report that a class action lawsuit, seeking a refund of “student fees” assessed during COVID-19 distance learning, was filed against Florida Atlantic University and its Board of Trustees. We have now obtained the 33 page filing. It is published below.
Attorneys are preparing to sue other schools, as well.
“By next week, we expect to have 10 more class actions filed against many of the schools that comprise the Florida Board of Governors and Florida State Board of Education,” said attorney Adam Moskowitz of The Moskowitz Law Firm in Coral Gables. ”We originally tried to quickly resolve these cases directly with these Boards, by having them simply arrange for their schools to reimburse the students with credits, but these Boards specifically refused and demanded that we sue each of their schools individually, so we have.”
“This is a class action brought by Plaintiff Heine, who was an undergraduate student in the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters at Florida Atlantic University during the Spring 2020 academic semester, on behalf of all person who paid fees to FAU for any academic semester in 2020 and who, because of FAU’s response and policies relating to the Novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, did not receive the benefits of the on-campus services for which their fees were paid, without having pro-rated portion of those fees and costs refunded to them or otherwise refunded or waived in full and without condition.”
“This is one of many lawsuits around the country in which students have demanded that colleges and universities refund them the fees they paid for on-campus services and resources which were not available to them as a result of the campus closures in 2020. The universities make millions of dollars in revenue from the mandatory fees they charge students (in addition to their increasing tuition costs) in exchange for the services and resources they provide for students…students like Plaintiff, who were already struggling financially due to the unique challenges brought on by the pandemic, were nonetheless charged for and paid these fees.”
“Courts in Florida have concluded that similar class action lawsuits brought against other Florida colleges and universities state viable causes of action that are not barred by sovereign immunity.”
According to Moskowitz, “All of the courts have concluded that the schools entered a contract with each student and therefore waived any immunity defense. These same schools attempt to collect over $1 billion in student debt each day, so they obviously think they have an agreement and basis to collect the alleged debt.”
Law360
Feds Say $12.6M Ocwen, PHH Fees Deal Lacks Value To Class
The federal government has slammed a $12.6 million settlement over consumers' claims that Ocwen Loan Servicing LLC and successor PHH Mortgage Corp. unlawfully charged fees for online and phone payments, saying most class members would not benefit because the deal grants the company release to continue charging the fees.
The U.S. Department of Justice's Consumer Protection Branch joined 33 state attorneys general and a group of intervenors in voicing objections. The government said the court should reject the agreement because it fails to meet requirements under the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 to be fair, reasonable and adequate.
Ocwen and PHH reached the deal with consumers in August, whereby they agreed to offer a partial refund to customers who paid convenience fees of $7.50 or $17.50 for phone and internet mortgage payments. The companies agreed to set up a $12.58 million settlement fund, of which 30% is proposed to be set aside for plaintiffs' attorney fees and costs.
The Orlando Sentinel
Millions of Homeowners Face Higher Fees To Pay Their Mortgage Online
Nearly a million homeowners, including thousands in Florida, would be subjected to possibly illegal service fees and mortgage modifications under a proposed court settlement, 33 state attorneys general contend.
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody joined her counterparts in 32 states opposing the proposed settlement with PHH Mortgage Corp. of West Palm Beach, formerly called Ocwen Loan Servicing. The settlement would resolve a class action lawsuit that challenged the legality of “convenience charges” for mortgage payments made through the company’s website or its telephone payment system.
But attorneys who negotiated the proposed settlement pointed out that most of the same attorneys general did not object to the 2018 settlement of a different class action suit against the same company that allowed the fees to continue.
The current suit claimed that the company has violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act since March 2016 by charging fees for online and telephone payments by consumers whose mortgage contracts did not expressly permit the charges.
As part of the settlement, PHH has agreed to refund customers 18% to 28% of convenience fees paid since March 2016. Existing customers would get their refunds as a credit toward the balance of their loans, minus any late fees they owe.
Attorneys with three law firms that negotiated the proposed settlement filed a joint statement on Feb. 16 calling much of the attorney generals’ argument “meritless.”
The joint statement was signed by Adam Moskowitz of The Moskowitz Law Firm LLC in Coral Gables, Josh Migdal of Mark Migdal & Hayden in Miami, and Timothy Andreu and Michael Pennington of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP in Tampa.
It notes that 32 of the 33 objecting attorneys general signed a consent agreement settling a separate suit with PHH in 2018 that allows the disputed fees.
The consent agreement required the company to pay $45 million and established “servicing standards” that allowed PHH to charge, unless barred by state law, “disclosed and agreed-to convenience fees” as long as borrowers have other payment options that do not require a fee, the attorneys said.
In asserting that continued collection of convenience fees would be “likely illegal,” the attorneys general ignore dismissals of at least eight other recent cases challenging the legality of convenience fees charged by other loan servicers, the statement said.
Law360
Florida Lawyers Say Bailey & Glasser's Fee Fight Delayed $12.5M Ocwen Settlement
Plaintiffs argued that U.S. District Judge Rodney Smith should grant preliminary approval so class members could proceed.
Two Coral Gables attorneys are calling out a small group of lawyers as the alleged remaining obstacle in a case that could provide millions of dollars in refunds to consumers, and several million to their lawyers, according to a recent response to an amicus brief.
MSN / Tribune Content Agency
Kids And Money: Pandemic-Related Lawsuits Seeking College Refunds Making Slow Progress
When the coronavirus pandemic prompted colleges and universities to shut their doors last spring and send students home for virtual learning, many families cried foul and fought back in the courts.
More than 200 lawsuits have been filed by students and their parents demanding a refund of at least part of their tuition, room and board, and other fees. The common thread in these suits: The education they paid for was not the education they got.
Over the past year, several suits have been dismissed and most of the others continue to slowly work their way through the courts.
But earlier this month, parents scored a courtroom victory in a Florida class-action case involving fees collected by Miami-Dade College, when a judge refused a motion to have the complaint against Miami Dade College dismissed. The judge’s ruling could have broader implications regarding similar suits around the country.
“We have great empathy for everyone affected by (the pandemic), including the schools, but this order would apply to millions of students who have already paid these exact...charges” at many other colleges across the country,” said Adam Moskowitz, the attorney who handled the class action case.
Moskowitz said he will file similar cases seeking class action status on behalf of students who attend other schools in Florida. The ruling against Miami-Dade has been appealed.
The court cases can be divided into two types of lawsuits. One is for COVID-19-related tuition reimbursement; the others are asking for room and board, or fees refunds, for such things as lab supplies, athletics passes, and transportation.
Law360
11th Circ. Clarifies Ascertainability Standard For Class Actions
Providing a significant clarification on its requirements for certifying class actions, the Eleventh Circuit ruled Tuesday that a Florida federal judge erred when he tossed a suit worth upwards of $2 billion because a group of consumers failed to prove the "administrative feasibility" of identifying class members.
Adam M. Moskowitz, an attorney for the consumers, whose appellate representation was led by the national nonprofit Public Justice, told Law360 that the ruling represents a notable change in the Eleventh Circuit's standard for ascertainability.
"This is a great step in the right direction for all class actions and will finally put an end across the country to this misreading of what is required for 'ascertainability' in all class actions under Rule 23," he said.
Bloomberg Law
Florida Public College Lacks Immunity From Covid Refund Suit
Miami Dade College failed to shake off tuition reimbursement claims stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic after a Florida trial court ruled that sovereign immunity doesn’t protect the state from an action for breach of an express contract under Florida law.
The denial of sovereign immunity in a Covid-19 refund suit is “the first ruling of its kind nationwide,” counsel for the plaintiffs, Adam Moskowitz, told Bloomberg Law.
Law360
DLA Piper Atty Can't Shake Ponzi Tie Suit, Judge Told
Real estate investors have urged a Florida federal judge not to toss their proposed class claims that a DLA Piper attorney and his previous firm, Fox Rothschild LLP, took part in a Ponzi scheme, arguing the complaint adequately alleges how the lawyer helped sell securities he purportedly knew were illegal.
In a response filed Friday to a motion to dismiss, the investors say DLA Piper partner Paul Wassgren did not need to know that his former client EquiAlt LLC, a Tampa real estate firm, was running a Ponzi scheme in order to be held liable. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued EquiAlt in February 2020 on allegations it operated as a $170 million Ponzi scheme.
They investors say their complaint lays out in detail how Wassgren knew that the unregistered securities from EquiAlt were being illegally sold through integrated public offerings by unlicensed sales agents and how he vouched for the unregistered sales to investors, sales agents and state securities investigators.
Law360
Judge OKs Cruise Ship Workers' Deal Over Severance Pay
A Florida federal judge signed off Thursday on a settlement that will provide up to two months' severance pay for former employees of a Bahamas cruise ship operator who were terminated when the cruise industry shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom granted a request for preliminary approval of a deal in which Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line agreed to pay about $612,000 to 276 class members who were not paid the two months' severance required under their employment agreements after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a No Sail Order on March 14.
The deal includes up to $262,500 in fees and expenses for the two firms representing the class: Lipcon Margulies Alsina & Winkleman PA and The Moskowitz Law Firm PLLC.