Landmark Cases

$56.4M Settlement Awarded

Mobile Home Parks

Kabateck LLP attorneys were successful in recovering over $56 million in settlements associated with damage caused by shifting land beneath the park causing sewage backups and flooding.  The owners of the park agreed to pay more than $50 million to those families who sued over the deplorable conditions.  Many of the residents, generally lower income or the elderly have had to deal with the infestation of rats and mice as a consequence of the dire conditions. 

$300M Settlement Awarded

Printer Ink Investigation

In March, 2005, Kabateck LLP filed a class action complaint in Los Angeles Superior Court (Epson Ink Cartridge Cases) against Epson America, Inc. The complaint alleged Epson installed a chip in its printers that prematurely blocked the printer from functioning while there was still a substantial amount of ink remaining in the printer cartridge. A settlement in 2006 was reached between Epson America, Inc. and the class represented by Kabateck LLP. The settlement, valued at over $300 million, is considered one of the largest consumer settlements ever.

$250M Settlement Awarded

Earthquakes

Kabateck LLP attorneys were successful in recovering over $250 million in settlements associated with damage and insurance bad faith claims related to the 1994 Northridge earthquake. Kabateck LLP attorneys have been involved in numerous published appellate court opinions relating to the Northridge earthquake litigation, including Parkview Villas Ass’n, Inc. v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. (2005) 133 Cal.App.4th 1197, Cordova v. 21st Century Ins. Co. (2005) 129 Cal.App.4th 89, Bialo v. Western Mutual Ins. Co. (2002) 95 Cal.App.4th 68, 20th Century Ins. Co. v. Superior Court (2001) 90 Cal.App.4th 1247, and Truck Insurance Exchange v. Superior Court (Park Northridge) (1998) 67 Cal.App.4th 142.

$41M Settlement Awarded

Homeowner Pipe Claims

With the representation of Brian Kabateck, homeowners in California’s Santa Clarita Valley, whose homes were damaged by defective pipes, filed a class action lawsuit against developers, suppliers, plumbing contractors, manufacturers and water softening companies. This case was settled for $41 million dollars. The homeowners alleged that foreign-made galvanized pipes prematurely corroded when they came into contact with water, and as the corrosion progressed, holes appeared in the pipes. The pipes were used in 5,000 homes in fifteen different housing developments. The settlement was paid by large and small builders throughout Santa Clarita Valley, including The Newhall Land and Farming Co., American Beauty Homes, Dale Poe Development, Larwin Co., Pacific Bay Homes, as well as pipe manufacturers, suppliers, contractors and water softening companies.

$40M Settlement Awarded

Unfair Lending Practices

Attorneys Brian Kabateck and Richard Kellner recovered more than $40 million on behalf of the NAACP, the nation’s largest civil rights organization, and helped reform unfair lending practices within the financial industry. The attorneys filed lawsuits against 15 lenders accused of coaxing African-American borrowers into high-cost loans, in the midst of the subprime lending boom, when many of those borrowers could have qualified for lower interest rates. The outcome of the litigation led to Wells Fargo agreeing to change its lending practices and later adopting NAACP’s Banking Principals on Fairness & Lending aimed at creating a safeguard against racial discrimination in lending. The settlement provided funding for a groundbreaking national network of “Financial Freedom Centers” which offer financial education and assistance to underserved African-American communities. Wells Fargo has also stepped up its efforts to work with the NAACP to improve fair credit access to black-owned businesses and bolster sustainable homeownership.

$37.5M Settlement Awarded

Armenian Genocide

Kabateck LLP was co-lead counsel in historic litigation that resulted in tens of millions of dollars for families of victims of the Armenian Genocide. The Marootian v. New York Life Insurance Company (Case No. CV99-12073 CAS, United States District Court, Central District of Los Angeles) class action is the oldest resolved case in U.S. history: 90 years passed between the original events and the $20 million settlement. It is also the first recorded case addressing issues involving the Armenian Genocide. In a subsequent class action, Kyurkjian v. Axa (Case No. CV02-01750 CAS, United States District Court, Central District of Los Angeles), a $17.5 million settlement was secured against French insurance giant, Axa S.A. In each of these class actions, the insurers were made to fulfill their long overdue obligations to the heirs of the victims of the Genocide. Kabateck LLP is currently prosecuting claims on behalf of heirs of the Armenian Genocide arising from bank deposits and other assets held by Deutsche Bank, as well as insurance claims against Victoria Versicherung AG insurance company.

$27M Settlement Awarded

Van Horn v. Nationwide Insurance Co.

Kabateck LLP obtained a settlement of over $27,000,000.00 in a lawsuit filed against Nationwide Property and Casualty Insurance Company. The lawsuit alleged that Nationwide had a company-wide policy of terminating rental car benefits prematurely, in breach of contract. Specifically, Plaintiffs alleged that their respective Nationwide insurance policies contained a provision which provided the insured the benefit of a fully paid rental car if the insured’s car sustained irreparable damage, for a period of thirty days or until a total settlement was agreed to by the insured. Despite this express policy provision, Nationwide had a company-wide practice and policy of prematurely terminating the car rental benefits before the end of the 30-day period and before any settlement agreement was reached by the insured and Nationwide. Settlement in this case followed certification of this case as a class action. The certified class consisted of over 200,000 insureds that were harmed by Nationwide’s company-wide policy to terminate care rental benefits before the contractually agreed time.

$20.2M Settlement Awarded

Employment, Overtime Violations

Kabateck LLP settled a case for $20.2 million dollars against Coca-Cola. The class action lawsuit was pursued on behalf of current and former employees of Coca-Cola Bottling of Los Angeles for Coca-Cola’s failure to provide legally required meal and rest periods.

$15M Settlement Awarded

StanPac

Kabateck LLP has brought an action against several excess insurance companies, which provide layers of insurance coverage totaling $95 million, on behalf of a homebuilder who suffered a loss exceeding $100 million to three condominium projects it was developing.  Kabateck LLP secured a settlement of $15 million to the homebuilder. 

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