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.
Squitieri & Fearon, LLP has filed a federal lawsuit against Heartland Payment Systems, Inc., one of the largest credit card processors in the U.S.
The suit was filed in the District Court of New Jersey and accuses Heartland of charging customers “unjustifiable fees – sometimes retroactively” – in flagrant disregard of the promises Heartland made to merchants. Among other things, the lawsuit alleges that in 2014 Heartland announced that merchants would be able to process American Express transactions through Heartland at the same rates that they process Visa and MasterCard transactions. But in October 2014 Heartland violated those promises by retroactively charging its customers higher fees for processing American Express than they were paying to process their Visa and MasterCard transactions. Those charges showed up in the October 2014 account statement in a section called “Other Processing and One-Time Fees” and were labeled as “American Express Fee Adjustment”. The lawsuit alleges that these fees were unauthorized and that Heartland improperly charged merchants across the country for these fees. Then, beginning in November 2014 Heartland started charging merchants much more to process American Express than it charged to process Visa and MasterCard transactions, creating enormous, unauthorized profits for Heartland at the expense of its merchants, many of whom are small businesses.
Heartland increased its profits by tens of millions of dollars by doing so and violated its contracts with merchants. Plaintiff seeks to recover those improper charges and has asserted the claims as a class action for merchants across the country who processed American Express transactions with Heartland in 2014.
A copy of the Complaint is available HERE
For more information about this case, please contact: Stephen J. Fearon, Jr. at (212) 421-6492 or stephen@sfclasslaw.com; or Raymond Barto at (212) 421-6492 or raymond@sfclasslaw.com.
Heartland is Imposing Unfair Additional Fees on Merchants
Heartland Payment Systems, Inc. is one of the largest credit card processors in the United States.
Heartland recently began charging its customers fees that were not included in customers’ agreements with Heartland, such as a monthly $125 “PCI Non-Compliance Fee”, a $69 “Reporting Fee”, a monthly $8.50 “Service & Regulatory Mandate” fee, a monthly $54.95 “Customer Intelligence Suite” fee, as well as a “Non-EMV Assessment Fee” and a “Non-EMV Program Fee”.
Each of these fees was unauthorized, violated Heartland’s agreements with its customers, and was imposed by Heartland without proper notice and without providing an Amended Schedule of Fees or an amended Merchant Processing Agreement.
Heartland charged these fees to its merchants, often amounting to hundreds of dollars of extra fees for each merchant each month. By charging its merchants these fees, Heartland increased its revenues by tens of millions of dollars, violated its contracts with its merchants, and reneged on its representations to those merchants.
Squitieri & Fearon, LLP is pursuing a class action for merchants who have been charges any or all of these fees. We are seeking to recover the fees, including the PCI Non-Compliance Fee, the Reporting Fee, the Service & Regulatory Mandate fee, the Customer Intelligence Suite fee, as well as the Non-EMV Assessment Fee and the Non-EMV Program Fee.
If you or someone you know uses Heartland Payment Systems, Inc. to process debit card or credit card transactions you may be eligible to participate in a class action. 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.
We have several actions pending in different federal courts that are brought under both state and federal law on behalf of current and former merchandizing assistant store managers of Home Depot for Home Depot’s failure to properly pay them overtime. In these actions, we allege that Home Depot intentionally misclassifies merchandizing assistant store managers as “executive employees,” both during and after their in-store training period, so that it can avoid paying them overtime compensation. We allege that the merchandizing assistant store managers receive fixed salaries but routinely work more than 55 hours each week. We further allege in these actions that although Home Depot classifies them as “executives” exempt from overtime pay, the merchandizing assistant store managers spend most of their time doing non-exempt work such as stocking the shelves, running the register and providing customer service while on the floor. Has Home Depot or your employer improperly denied you income? Report Your Case.
In the action brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act, stylized Aquilino et al. v. The Home Depot, Inc., Case No, 04-cv-4100, (D.N.J.) the District Court recently decertified the case that had been previously preliminarily certified as a collective action. The District Court then dismissed without prejudice those plaintiffs that opted into the litigation and extended the tolling of the statute of limitations on those plaintiffs’ claims until June 15, 2011 so they could file. To read the Court’s decisions click here.
Squitieri & Fearon, LLP is investigating claims on behalf of people who have been injured after using Juul e-cigarette devices and Juul Pods. Many users have suffered a lung and heart injury. JUUL targeted young people and the devices deliver dangerous toxins and carcinogens into the user’s lungs and bloodstream. Users are reporting severe lung problems.
We believe JUUL engaged in false and deceptive sales, marketing, labeling, and advertising of Juul e-cigarette devices and Juul pods. JUUL specifically targeted young people with its advertising and marketing efforts in order to encourage JUUL use.
If you or someone you know has been injured after using Juul e-cigarette devices or Juul Pods and would like to learn more about our investigation, please fill out our online form, or contact Stephen Fearon 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.
In September 2010, we filed a class action lawsuit against KeyCorp and the fiduciaries of the KeyCorp 401(k) Savings Plan for violations of ERISA. We allege that KeyCorp stock was an imprudent investment for the plan because (a) the company was overexposed to substantial mortgage-related losses and other high-risk loans including construction loans to residential real estate developers; (b) the company failed adequately and timely to record accruals for losses from its exposure to delinquent mortgages and for its exposure to future taxes; and because (c) the company’s enormous market expansion, including homebuilder construction loans centered primarily in Florida and California left it overexposed to losses, as the mortgage and housing markets suffered extreme downturns. more »
If you have suffered loss from an action not described above, please click here to Report Your Case.