Welcome to Critical Mass, Law.com's weekly briefing for class action and mass tort attorneys. Marriott, Hilton and other hotels charged at a plaintiffs' request to coordinate all the sex trafficking lawsuits against them. Lawyer says Ikea's $46 million wrongful death settlement broke records. The states take sides in several appeals of climate change lawsuits against Big Oil.

Feel free to reach out to me with your input. You can email me at [email protected], or follow me on Twitter: @abronstadlaw.

In Sex Trafficking Cases, Hotels Have Reservations

Attorneys for dozens of hotel chains across the country are fighting a request from the plaintiffs' bar to coordinate all the lawsuits alleging they violated the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) by renting rooms to people known to engage in sex trafficking. Marriott and Hilton are among the hotels sued.

On Jan. 30, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation plans to hear the request to coordinate the cases in the Southern District of Ohio before Judge Algenon Marbley. But on Jan. 2, the hotels opposed the move, citing the distinct circumstances of each sex trafficking victim and the different franchise agreements of some hotel chains. They also accused plaintiffs' attorneys of forum shopping, given that Marbley refused to dismiss a case.

Here's a snapshot of what some of the hotel's lawyers had to say:

Constantine Passodelis (JonesPassodelis), for Best Western International Inc.: "Clearly, plaintiffs are attempting to quickly transfer and consolidate cases in a favorable venue before other hotel brand defendants raise similar defenses to plaintiffs' complaints that could prohibit the actions from going forward."

Nicole Perry (Jones Day), for Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc.: "Movants seek an unprecedented consolidation. This is not a mass tort case. There is no common cause behind the alleged injuries. There are no common injuries. The only common thread tying together over 60 different defendants in the underlying cases is that they are hotel industry defendants accused of violating the TVPRA."

Michael O'Day (DLA Piper) for Marriott International Inc.: "Marriott has no quarrel with Movants' description of Chief Judge Marbley as a 'thoughtful, deliberate, and dedicated' jurist; however, he admittedly has no prior MDL experience and presides as the Chief Judge over one of the most congested federal dockets."

Behind Ikea's $46M Wrongful Death Settlement

Ikea agreed to pay $46 million to settle a wrongful death case brought by the parents of 2-year-old killed by one of its dressers. On Monday, Alan Feldman (Feldman Shepherd) announced the settlement, which he called the largest in the country in a wrongful death case involving a toddler. Other firm partners Daniel Mann and Edward Goldis handled the case, which alleged a MALM dresser tipped over onto Jozef Dudek after his father Craig Dudek put him down for a nap in 2017. Ikea, represented by Keith Heinold (Marshall Dennehey), recalled the dressers in 2016, when the same plaintiffs' attorneys got a $50 million settlement for three other families.

I asked Law.com's Max Mitchell what prompted such a larger settlement figure this time. He told me:

"It sounds like they had a lot more ammo in this case, since IKEA had already admitted liability in the $50M settlements. Plus, they had another cause of action contending that the company failed to do a good enough job to inform the public about the recall. In this particular case, the family supposedly was a member of Ikea's family loyalty program, and had bought the dresser in 2008, but they still didn't get any email notifying them that their dresser was being recalled."

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and New York Attorney General Letitia James

Climate Change Cases in States' Crosshairs

Governments are split over whether to support lawsuits against the oil industry over their alleged role in climate change, with 13 states siding with the state of Rhode Island, whose case is now before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. Among the supporting states are California, New Jersey and New York, which also filed amicus briefs in the city of Baltimore's case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit; a case brought by the city and county of San Francisco and city of Oakland before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit; and the city of New York's case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

More than a dozen other states, including Georgia and Texas, filed amicus briefs opposing the cases, which make public nuisance claims.

Who's handling the cases: John Moore (New York City Law Department) is handling the city of New York's case, but Victor Sher (Sher Edling) represents the governments in the three other cases, as well as a fifth case brought by the California counties of San Marin, San Mateo and Santa Cruz, and the city of Imperial Beach. Ted Boutrous (Gibson Dunn) represents the oil companies in all the cases. Oral arguments were Nov. 22 in the Second Circuit and Dec. 11 in the Fourth Circuit. The Ninth Circuit holds oral arguments in both California cases on Feb. 5.

Here's what else is happening:

Green Light: A class of Walmart truck drivers got their $55 million verdict affirmed on Monday by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in the latest case about when California workers should get paid. The 2016 verdict had awarded the drivers compensation for their time spent on rest breaks, layovers and inspections, both before and after their trips. Two veterans in California wage cases handled the appeal: Ted Boutrous (Gibson Dunn) for Walmart, and Michael Rubin (Altshuler Berzon) for the drivers.

Talc Truce: Johnson & Johnson settled a talcum powder case on Monday in the middle of trial in California. The case, brought by mesothelioma victim Linda O'Hagan and her husband, Mark, began trial on Dec. 2 in Alameda County Superior Court. "The O'Hagans are grateful to have had their day in court, satisfied with the settlement reached, and resolved to continue fighting this horrible disease together," said plaintiffs' attorney Moshe Maimon (Levy Konigsberg). Johnson & Johnson's lawyers were Morton Dubin (Orrick) and Julia Romano (King & Spalding). No settlement figure was disclosed, but Bloomberg reported a value of more than $2 million. Meanwhile: A new study came out Tuesday that found no meaningful association between talcum powder and ovarian cancer.

Skin Deep: The makers of Coppertone sunscreen got hit with a class action alleging they misled consumers into purchasing their mineral-based products, which actually contained a significant proportion of chemical active ingredients. Bayer and Beiersdorf, which acquired the Coppertone brand in 2019, launched the mineral-based sunscreen amid growing concerns about the potential adverse health effects of chemical-based sunscreens. Clarkson Law Firm and Moon Law filed the Jan. 3 lawsuit in federal court in the Northern District of California.

Thanks for reading Critical Mass! I'll be back next week.