A federal judge in Los Angeles refused on Monday to throw out a class action against Toyota over defective headlights on the company’s Prius vehicles. The case alleges that Toyota failed to inform consumers that the headlights on recent-model Priuses can sporadically turn on and off

A judge in Los Angeles threw out a $2.3 million verdict against Dole Food Co. on Thursday, ruling that widespread fraud orchestrated by the plaintiffs’ attorneys prevented the company from deposing witnesses

A jury must decide whether TV talk show host and media mogul Oprah Winfrey defamed the former headmistress of her South Africa-based Leadership Academy for Girls in the wake of an abuse scandal at the school, a federal judge has ruled. The judge concluded that numerous statements made by Winfrey at a 2007 press conference were “capable of defamatory meaning,” rejecting arguments that the remarks were merely expressions of opinion

A New York judge concluded that a juror who sent a Facebook “friend” request to a witness made “a serious breach of her obligations and a clear violation of the court’s instructions.” Juror online behavior has prompted revisions to suggested jury instructions in federal and state courts.

In a ruling that defines the scope of individual liability under the Family and Medical Leave Act, a federal judge has refused to dismiss claims against a trio of human resources executives and a manager who allegedly set out to find a reason to fire a worker after learning he needed a leave for a surgery.