REGINA — A Regina law firm is planning a class-action lawsuit on behalf of thousands of farmers after a laptop containing their personal information was stolen.

The Merchant Law Group has filed papers in Court of Queen's Bench saying it intends to pursue the federal government and the Canadian Canola Growers Association.

In March, a laptop was stolen from the association, which administers Agriculture Canada's advance payments to farmers.

Some of the information on the computer included bank account information and social insurance numbers.

The association has said the computer was password protected, but the lawsuit alleges the information was not encrypted and the laptop was not stored in a secure place.

Some farmers were angry when they found out about the theft because it took the federal government more than two months to send out letters warning that the information was missing.

About 32,000 farmers were alerted to the breach.

http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5g5hq4N-UzXHPjpWmRUCqfB0XEJ3w

The suit was filed on behalf of Richard Spangle, a resident of Santa Ana, CA, by the Newport Beach, CA, law firm of Capretz & Associates against the following companies, all of which are involved in the manufacture, distribution and marketing of Digitek:

• Actavis Totowa, LLC, Totowa, NJ
• Actavis Group PTC, Dalshraun, Iceland
• Mylan Bertek Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Sugar Land, TX

According to the law suit, the Federal Drug Administration initiated on April 25, 2008, a Class I nationwide recall of all Digitek tablets regardless of strength. The recall was in response to Actavis Totowa’s discovery that a certain number of the tablets that it had manufactured, and Mylan Pharmaceuticals distributed in the U.S., were twice the standard dosage, endangering the patients taking the more powerful pills.

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/capretz-amp-associates-files-class,434633.shtml

MILWAUKEE - Eight years after a 3-year-old girl died from exposure to tainted meat at a Sizzler restaurant, her family reached a $13.5 million settlement with the company's meat supplier and others, according to court records.

The settlement is among the largest in the nation involving a food-borne illness, according to William Cannon, a lawyer for the family.

Brianna Kriefall and her family had eaten at a Sizzler in South Milwaukee in July 2000. While Brianna didn't eat meat during the meal, lawyers argued that the watermelon she ate had touched tainted meat.

She died a week later after battling E. coli-related hemolytic uremic syndrome, which causes kidney failure and low blood-cell counts. Another 140 people fell sick in the outbreak at two Sizzler restaurants.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080615/ap_on_re_us/sizzler_lawsuits_1

MIAMI — From “Scarface” to “Miami Vice,” Florida’s drug problem has been portrayed as the story of a single narcotic: cocaine. But for Floridians, prescription drugs are increasingly a far more lethal habit.

An analysis of autopsies in 2007 released this week by the Florida Medical Examiners Commission found that the rate of deaths caused by prescription drugs was three times the rate of deaths caused by all illicit drugs combined.

Law enforcement officials said that the shift toward prescription-drug abuse, which began here about eight years ago, showed no sign of letting up and that the state must do more to control it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/14/us/14florida.html?_r=1&ref=health&oref=slogin

The complaint charges Fidelity Management & Research Company ("Company") and certain related entities, among others, with violations of the Securities Act of 1933. The Company is the investment advisor to the entire group of mutual funds under the Fidelity name.

No class has yet been certified in the above action. If you are a member of the proposed Class, you may, no later than August 4, 2008, ask the Court to allow you to serve as lead plaintiff for the proposed Class. To serve as a lead plaintiff, you must satisfy certain legal requirements. In making your decision, you should take into account that those with large financial losses resulting from the alleged federal securities law violations are given preference in being appointed lead plaintiff.

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/brower-piven-announces-the-filing,438886.shtml

TYLER, Texas, June 18 --

This latest action follows similar suits against LifeLock filed by Marks & Klein in Florida, California, West Virginia, Maryland and New Jersey. They allege LifeLock's multi-million-dollar advertising campaign misled consumers by dramatically overstating the level of identity protection the company provides, and by falsely suggesting its customers could receive up to $1 million in reimbursements should LifeLock fail to protect them from identity theft. Moreover, the suits allege, the CEO himself has had his own identity stolen at least 20 times while supposedly under the protection of LifeLock.

In recent months, Marks & Klein has received multiple calls from LifeLock customers for whom the company's primary service -- the placement and constant renewal of fraud alerts on its subscribers' credit profiles -- has offered no protection from identity theft, noted David Paris, a Marks & Klein attorney and lead counsel in the class actions. An example is 25-year-old Nathaniel Faulhaber of Parsonsburg, Md., who began paying $10 a month for LifeLock's services in May 2007 but later learned an identity thief had obtained a total of five credit cards in his name -- all while Faulhaber was under the purported protection of LifeLock. "Not only did the primary service not work, but he also found LifeLock's guarantee to rectify any defect in that service to be useless," Paris said. "LifeLock and the third-party entities it employs have provided so little meaningful assistance to Faulhaber that, ironically, he now finds himself in the same situation he would have been in had he never paid LifeLock a dime."

According to the Complaints, potential LifeLock subscribers are enticed by the 'safety net' of what appears to be a $1 million insurance policy against any losses sustained as a result of identity theft. To add to this impression of safety, the company's national media marketing campaign showcases CEO Davis broadcasting his own social security number as testimony to his confidence in LifeLock's services.

But the Tempe, Ariz.-based operation appears to have been founded in deception, Paris charged. As noted in the Complaints, for example, Davis and initial LifeLock co-founder Robert Maynard have repeatedly claimed that Maynard hatched the idea for LifeLock while serving seven days in jail for a crime committed by a thief who had stolen Maynard's identity. "Numerous in-depth investigations have revealed that the story Maynard was spinning, along with CEO Davis, was false," Paris said. "Maynard had actually been arrested for reneging on a $16,000 marker at the Mirage Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas."

Deron Dacus of Tyler-based Ramey & Flock serves as local counsel for the Texas action, which seeks to recover the money subscribers have paid to LifeLock and to prohibit the company from continuing to promote its services through its deceptive marketing campaign. Marks & Klein plans to file similar actions on behalf of consumers in other states. LifeLock presently has approximately 1 million subscribers across the United States.

LifeLock customers seeking information about or participating in the class action should contact David Paris at Marks & Klein, (732)-747-7100.

http://www.sunherald.com/prnewswire/story/633170.html

Shareholders of Restoration Hardware (RSTO) are the beneficiaries of a class action lawsuit against the buyout that saw the firm go to the low private equity-backed bid rather than the higher bid from Eddie Lampert’s Sears Holdings (SHLD). Shareholders will receive an extra $0.19 per share from the litigation in addition to the $4.50 merger consideration. After legal fees, total payout should be roughly $4.63, a 2.9% increase over the price negotiated by the board. Nothing to make you rich, but a lot more than the annual dividend yield of the S&P index. The extra payout explains why Restoration Hardware trades currently a few cents above the $4.50 merger consideration.

The Restoration Hardware settlement is atypical in that the payment has been agreed well before the merger has closed. Shareholders approved the $179 million acquisition by private equity firm Catterton Partners only last week, and the settlement of the litigation was announced a day before the shareholder meeting. For the most part settlements are struck years after the deals have closed.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/81804-restoration-hardware-class-action-payout-still-leaves-shareholders-short