Squitieri & Fearon, LLP represents plaintiffs and large groups or classes of individuals who have suffered losses as a result of the misdeeds of corporations or other individuals. Below is a sample of some of the notable cases that Squitieri & Fearon, LLP is prosecuting.
In October of 2009 we brought a class action lawsuit against Live Nation and the PNC Bank Arts Center for violating the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act. In particular, the complaint alleges that defendants violated the law by (1) charging parking fees to all patrons regardless of whether the patrons were driving and irrespective of the number of available parking spaces; (2) charging an unauthorized charity surcharge; and (3) raising the ticket price on so-called “No Service Fee Wednesdays” in order to cover any potential loss in revenue. Plaintiffs have survived the motion to dismiss this action. Have you been misled by Live Nation’s surcharges or claims of no-fee tickets? Report Your Case.
Squitieri & Fearon, LLP is investigating claims for people who had annuities through MetLife Securities, Inc. (MSI) and had those annuity contracts replaced by MetLife with more expensive annuities or with annuities that had less favorable features.
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) recently fined MSI $25 million for its improper practices. FINRA ordered MetLife to pay $5 million to its customers for making negligent material misrepresentations and omissions on variable annuity (VA) replacement applications for tens of thousands of customers. Each misrepresentation and omission made the replacement appear more beneficial to the customer, even though the recommended VAs were typically more expensive than customers’ existing VAs. MSI’s VA replacement business constituted a substantial portion of its business, generating at least $152 million in gross dealer commissions for the firm over a six-year period.
FINRA found that from 2009 through 2014, MSI misrepresented or omitted at least one material fact relating to the costs and guarantees of customers’ existing VA contracts in 72 percent of the 35,500 VA replacement applications the firm approved, based on a sample of randomly selected transactions.
FINRA also found that MSI failed to ensure that its registered representatives obtained and assessed accurate information concerning the recommended VA replacements, and did not adequately train its registered representatives to compare the relative costs and guarantees involved in replacing one VA with another.
In addition, FINRA found that since at least 2009, firm customers have received misleading quarterly account statements that understate the total charges and fees incurred on certain VA contracts.
If you or somebody you know had annuities through MSI and had those annuity contracts replaced by MetLife, please contact Stephen J. Fearon, Jr. at (212) 421-6492 or stephen@sfclasslaw.com. You can also complete the following form, and someone from the firm will contact you.
Squitieri & Fearon, LLP is investigating claims that certain mutual fund companies charge investors excessive fees for investment advice. We’ve repeatedly seen investors who have been charged excessive fees by the mutual funds, often mischaracterized and disguised as “investment advisory fees”. As one part of the scheme, the investment adviser subcontracts investment management duties to sub-advisers and doesn’t perform any duties as an asset manager but still charges the funds and its shareholders for investment advisory fees.
Frequently the fees are so disproportionately large that they bear no reasonable relationship to the services provided to the mutual funds.
If you or somebody you know has been charged excessive or hidden fees by your mutual fund, we would like to hear from you.
Please contact Stephen J. Fearon, Jr. by e-mail at stephen@sfclasslaw.com or by phone at (212) 421-6492. You can also complete the following form, and someone from the firm will contact you.
North American Company For Life And Health Insurance Cost/Premium Increase
Squitieri & Fearon, LLP is investigating possible claims for a class action against North American Company For Life And Health Insurance for improperly using its cost-of-insurance charges as a profit mechanism and not reducing those charges as projected mortality rates have improved, especially for certain universal life policies. We are investigating whether North American is charging more than it should for the cost of insurance or deducting from the cash value of the policies more than it is entitled to deduct, causing the cash value to decrease and sometimes causing the policies to lapse or to be cancelled because the costs are excessive.
This has happened mostly with the Company’s universal life policies.
If you or someone you know has a universal life policy with North American and would like to learn more about our investigation, please fill out our online form, or contact Stephen J. Fearon, Jr. at stephen@sfclasslaw.com or by phone at (212) 421-6492.
Squitieri & Fearon, LLP is pursuing claims for New York City teachers who have been shortchanged on their pension payments. In particular, the firm is representing teachers who retired but were not credited with their payments in July and August that they earned while teaching during the regular school year. Teachers earned those payments by teaching during the school year but when the Retirement Board calculates pensions for retiring teachers it excludes from the teachers’ “Final Average Salary” the payments that were due in July and August, leading to teachers receiving too little in retirement benefits.
The law firm is pursuing claims on behalf of teachers who are receiving retirement benefits that are less than the amount to which they are entitled.
If you retired from the New York City school system, are receiving a pension, and are interested in finding out more about the class action or whether you have a claim for increased retirement benefits, please fill out our online form or contact us by email at stephen@sfclasslaw.com or by phone at (212) 421-6492.
To view a copy of the complaint click HERE
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If you have suffered loss from an action not described above, please click here to Report Your Case.