Public Interest Cases

Examples of Public Interest Cases

Bottled Water Litigation (Cal. Super. Ct., San Francisco Cty.). Zelle Hofmann attorneys represented a consumer suing on behalf of the general public in this consolidated action against a number of bottled water producers. The complaint alleged that the defendants sold to consumers certain bottled water products containing excessive levels of unhealthful contaminants, including arsenic, trihalomethanes and heterotrophic bacteria. The complaint asserted that the sale of those bottled water products was unlawful under California's bottled water quality laws, and that certain bottled water producers were deceptively marketing their products. Zelle Hofmann attorneys, along with their co-counsel, obtained consent judgments against all of the defendants.

Disability Rights Litigation (C.D. Cal. and Cal. Super. Ct, Alameda Cty.) Zelle Hofmann attorneys have represented people with mobility disabilities in several cases. In one action, four wheelchair users alleged that two Southern California department stores of a major national chain violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and California disability access laws by failing to provide equal access to the merchandise. The action settled with an agreement that recognized plaintiffs as the prevailing party and required defendant to take significant steps to ensure access to the merchandise display areas for people with mobility disabilities. Zelle Hofmann also represents a disability rights organization in a pending private attorney general action against another major department store chain. The complaint, which seeks injunctive relief, alleges that the chain denies people with mobility disabilities equal access to the merchandise in its California stores in violation of California's Unfair Competition Law, Business and Professions Code section 17200 et. seq., and the Unruh Civil Rights Act. The Superior Court denied defendant's motion for summary judgment in the case.

In re Austrian and German Bank Holocaust Litigation (S.D.N.Y.). A complex action against a number of German and Austrian banks. This action involved tort and international law claims on behalf of Holocaust survivors and their heirs. The claims allege, among other things, that the German and Austrian banks were complicit in and profited from the use of slave and forced labor, and from the seizure, looting and laundering of assets of persecutees of the Nazi regime during World War II. This and other related cases resulted in the establishment of a $5 billion fund which is being used to compensate slave laborers and forced laborers during World War II, Holocaust survivors and their heirs, and other victims of Nazi persecution during World War II.