Class Actions Consumer Rights

Our firm has decades of experience representing wronged consumers, employees, and borrowers in state and federal court under statutes and laws that govern consumer protection, predatory lending, ERISA, truth in lending, fair debt collection, and many other state and federal laws.  Wallace and Graham has extensive experience in prosecuting complex class actions, including litigating mass torts and consumer class actions.

Most recently, our firm has filed two class actions against large hospitals to include HCA/Mission Health and Vidant Health, alleging the chains are operating an unregulated monopoly in the Western and Eastern North Carolina resulting in inflated healthcare costs for citizens.  Our Complaints provide a deep dive into hospital and insurance markets and the effects of consolidation on health care costs. Our firm strongly believes that it is long past time that healthcare costs in America were transparently addressed and fixed.  To read our 2021 Complaint filed against the world’s largest for-profit hospital chain, HCA, click here.  To read our 2022 Complaint against Vidant Health, click here.

In 2021, our firm filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of gas station and convenience store owners located across the east an southeast alleging that Colonial Pipeline’s shutdown due to a ransomware attack on its computer system on May 7, 2012 was entirely avoidable and due to the six day shutdown, owners of gas stations ran out of gasoline to sell to their customers and suffered a loss of revenue as a result.

In 2020, our firm, along with co-counsel, filed a 94-page amended complaint against military housing giant, Corvias Group, on behalf of members of the United States Army stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina who leased inadequate military housing as supplied by Corvias.  Our complaint alleges Corvias knowingly leased substandard homes to military service members and conspired to conceal harmful environmental and structural housing defects, compounded by grossly inadequate repairs and maintenance services.  Many military service members use their entire housing allowance for the units.  Please read our blog to learn more about the suit.

For more information on our In Re Swine Farm Litigation, please visit our Environmental Litigation practice area.

Additional previous class action cases in which our law firm was lead counsel or actively involved co-counsel include the following:

1. Anthony v. Koch Industries, No. 1:05CV00806 (M.D.N.C.) (class action claims arising under ERISA in regard to a retiree benefit plan – class settlement and fee motion were approved by orders filed September 7, 2007);
2. George v. Duke Energy Retirement Cash Balance Plan, No. 8:06-CV-373 (D.S.C.) (class action claims arising under ERISA in regard to a pension plan – class action settlement approved by order filed May 16, 2011 – class settlement and fee approved);
3. Merkner v. AK Steel, No. 1:09-CV-423-TSB (S.D. Ohio) (class action arising under ERISA in regard to employee welfare benefits – class settlement and fee approved);
4. Lowther v. AK Steel, No. 1:11 cv 877 (S.D. Ohio) (class action arising under ERISA in regard to employee welfare benefits – class settlement and fee approved);
5. Curtis v. Alcoa Inc., No. 3:06-CV-448 (E.D. Tenn.) (mass and class action claims arising under ERISA in regard to retirement medical benefits);
6. Mills v. Hendrick Automotive, No. 04 CVS 2301 (Union County Superior Court) (class action against car dealer chain – class settlement and fee approved);
7. Clark v. Alan Vester Auto Group, No. 06 CVS 141 (Vance County Superior Court) (class action against car dealer chain – class settlement and fee approved);
8. Owens and Price v. Automobile Protection Corp. and Sonic Automotive, class arbitration before the American Arbitration Association, Consolidated Case No. 30 459 00642 05, and in state and federal court (unfair and deceptive finance and sales practices involving car dealer chain – class settlement and fee approved);
9. Kucan v. Advance America, No. 04-CVS-2860 (New Hanover County Superior Court) (class action against payday lender – class settlement and fee approved);
10. Hager v. Check into Cash, No. 04-CVS-2859 (New Hanover County Superior Court) (same – class settlement and fee approved);
11. McQuillan v. Check n Go, No. 04-CVS-2858 (New Hanover County Superior Court) (same – class settlement and fee approved);
12. Knox v. First Southern Cash Advance, No. 05-CVS-0445 (New Hanover County Superior Court) (action against payday lender);
13. Torrence v. Nationwide Budget Finance, 05-CVS-0447 (New Hanover County Superior Court) (same);
14. Murdock v. Rebate Cash Advance, No. 06-CVS-1865 (Iredell County Superior Court) and AAA class arbitration (class action/arbitration against payday lender – class settlement and fee petition approved);
15. Inetianbor v. CashCall, 0:2013cv60066 (S.D. Fla.) (class action against lender – class settlement and motion for attorney fee approved);
16. Johnson v. Duke Energy Retirement Cash Balance Plan, et al., No. 1:13-cv-00156-WO-JEP (M.D.N.C.) (ERISA putative class action);
17. Lewis v. Allegheny Ludlum, 11-1619 (N.D. Ohio, transferred to W.D. Pa.) (putative class action for retiree medical benefits);
18. Adams v. Alcoa Inc., 7:07-cv-01291 (N.D.N.Y) (putative class/mass action for unpaid overtime wages);
19. Powell-Perry v. BB&T, 11th Cir. No.10-12374-AA (S.D. Florida and appeal to 11th Cir.) (putative class action for bank overdraft fees);
20. Rowan County et al. v. Federal National Mortgage Association et al., Fourth Circuit case number 13-2255, District Court case no. 1:12-CV-00859-WO-LPA (M.D.N.C.) (putative class action for alleged real estate transfer taxes); 
21. In re Harris Teeter Merger Litigation, No. 13 CVS 12579 (NC Business Court) (shareholder claim regarding a corporate merger/acquisition; final approval of class settlement in 2014; attorney fee award approved);
22. In re Pokertek Merger Litigation, 14-CVS-10579 (NC Business Court) (court-approved class settlement of shareholder claim regarding corporate merger/acquisition; class settlement and fee petition approved); and
23. Brown v. Lowe's Companies, Inc., 5:13-cv-00079-RLV-DSC (W.D.N.C.) (class action under Fair Credit Reporting Act – class settlement and fee petition approved).

In 2018, Mona Lisa and John were nominated, and won, the American Trial Lawyer of the Year Award for their outstanding work in the matter of Inetianbor v. Western Sky Financial.  In Inetianbor v. Western Sky, Western Sky had defrauded tens of thousands of borrowers in Florida by charging excessive interest rates and evading justice by forcing borrowers into a Native American trial-law based arbitration system that they claimed was off-limits to American courts. Our firm was able to help client, Abe Inetianbor, have his day in court.  Our legal team further won payment of fines and restitution to Florida agencies in excess of $14,000,000 for class members and the voiding of thousands of loans worth nearly $15,000,000.  The defendants were permanently prohibited from future lending in Florida.

In In re: Outer Banks Power Outage Litigation, many businesses were devastated by the nine-day power outage that plunged the Outer Banks into darkness last summer. The defendant, PCL Construction, had received a contract to replace the Herbert C. Bonner Bridge, the only point of road access connecting the Outer Banks islands to the rest of the state. On July 27, 2017 its workers accidentally drove a steel casing through underground power cables near the south end of the bridge, severing the cables and cutting the islands’ power at the height of the tourist season. Gov. Roy Cooper declared a state of emergency and mandatory evacuations were issued.  Our law firm, Wallace & Graham, along with the firms of Whitfield Bryson & Mason and Zaytoun Law Firm served as lead counsel for the class, which consisted of more than 1,400 businesses and 4,100 residents and property owners. The settlement agreement earmarked $8.1 million for businesses that were affected by the power outage, with the rest reserved for residents, renters and vacationers.  Amount: $10.35 million | Date of settlement: May 2, 2018

Our firm is proud of the work we do to help and protect consumers and those that have been harmed and defrauded by individuals and corporations.  If you have a consumer or class cause of action that you would like our firm to investigate, please do not hesitate to give us a call 800.849.5291 or email us.