The judge also said the plaintiffs could not pursue refunds as a group under U.S. Supreme Court precedent, because any refunds would vary from case to case, but could still seek individual refunds. She set an Oct. 19 trial date.

Facebook said it believes the lawsuit lacks merit, and said it will defend itself vigorously.

The April 2012 lawsuit said Facebook let children use their parents’ credit and debit cards to buy the virtual currency Facebook Credits, and violated California law by refusing refunds under its “all sales are final” policy when the parents complained.

In opposing class certification, Facebook said the plaintiffs’ claims were too disparate, and an injunction would not address them.

But Freeman said state law protects parents and their children when those children “occasionally use their lack of judgment” and buy things they should not.

“Though some minors undoubtedly may wish to continue making purchases through credit or debit cards they do not have permission to use, such a desire…

ECO-LAWSUIT: The Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a Washington, D.C.-based group, wants several tough new restrictions on human activity in manatee areas.

The Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit, filed an Intent to Sue notice this week accusing the federal agency of mistreating “the endangered Florida manatee.”

PEER, which last month sued FWS to stop dirt bike and off-road vehicle noise and air pollution in California, says the agency is “facilitating significant physical harassment” of manatees by allowing the public to swim with the animals in the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge.

The Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1983, and it’s the only refuge created specifically for the protection of the Florida manatee, according to FWS.

By issuing special-use permits to local dive shops that lead manatee swim tours, PEER says the environmental agency is harming the animals.

The effort has the appearance of an overreaction. Natural events such as cold water and toxic red-tides have done far more to harm manatees in recent years than human contact. In the overlapping period, the animals have made…

The suit, filed Thursday in federal court in San Francisco by Sasha Antman, an Uber driver in Portland, Oregon, says the company did not do enough to prevent the 2014 breach and waited too long — about five months — to disclose it.

Antman says Uber violated a California law requiring companies to safeguard employee’s personal information.

Last month, Uber said it had discovered in September that an unknown person had gained access to a database containing the names and driver’s license numbers of thousands of drivers.

The suit, which seeks more than $5 million in damages, says Antman and other drivers “now face years of constant surveillance of their financial and personal records…and loss of rights.”

A spokeswoman for San Francisco-based Uber did not immediately return a request for comment on Friday. When the company announced the breach, it said there had been no reports of drivers’ information being misused.

While Uber has been growing in popularity and is now among the most valuable U.S. startups, it is also facing mounting legal challenges from drivers,…

The lawsuit, filed in Franklin Circuit Court Wednesday, names Eric Acha as plantiff and Louis and Stacey Milligan as defendants. It accuses the health care facility of forcing Acha to quit after he reported that Damon Heath had sexually abused a male patient numerous times, including making the patient perform oral sex in a Wal-Mart restroom. Community Choice Unlimited manages facilities that provide care for intellectually disabled adults in the Frankfort area.

According to the lawsuit, Stacey Milligan is the owner of Community Choice Unlimited and Louis Milligan is the director and oversees the supervisory staff.

Acha, whose primary duties were to oversee and assist patients at the residential health facility with cooking, cleaning, giving medications and other daily activities, was told about the sexual abuse by a patient identified as John Doe on Aug. 14, 2014.

The next day, Acha told CCU Residential Director Randy Drivers about the reported abuse, including Acha witnessing Heath go into the patient’s room late at night, but was told “to keep his mouth shut,” the lawsuit said.

An investigation was opened, but Heath was allowed to work at the facility where John Doe and another man, identified as James Doe, lived.

An attorney for Acha, Joe Childers,…

The corridor was purchased from Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad in 2008 in a complicated deal concocted among King County, the Port of Seattle, Puget Sound Energy and other agencies.

Plans included converting the tracks to a pedestrian/bike path that could be shared with a light rail line. There was also a proposal for a possible major power line in the corridor.

The suit contends the plans have already damaged property values and once the rail line ceased to be a rail line, it could not be sold or developed.

Tom Stewart, one of the lawyers for the landowners said, “Washington law and federal law plainly establish that an easement for railroad use is only a surface easement and the railroad, which only had an interest in the surface, can’t transfer or sell to the Port or any of the other Defendants anything more than what it owned.”

Attorneys say the proposed class suit will consist of hundreds of potential class members.

King County officials said Wednesday they are aware of the lawsuit, but are unable to discuss until it is fully reviewed.

Texas horse breeder Jason Abraham and veterinarian Gregg Veneklasen sued the American Quarter Horse Assn., claiming that Lynx Melody Too should be allowed to register as an official quarter horse.

A Texas jury decided in their favor in 2013, but a three-judge panel of the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that ruling in January, saying there was “insufficient” evidence of wrongdoing by the association.

Abraham and Veneklasen are now seeking a rehearing before the full 15-judge circuit panel.

The suit is among the first to deal with the status of clones in breeding and competition, and its outcome could impact a number of fields, including thoroughbred horse racing and dog breeding.

The quarter horse association is adamant that clones and their offspring have no place in its registry.

“It’s what AQHA was founded on — tracking and preserving the pedigrees of these American quarter horses,” said Tom Persechino, executive director of marketing for the association. “When a person buys an American quarter horse, they want to know that my quarter horse has the blood of these horses running through it, not copies of it.”

But Abraham and Veneklasen say that cloning follows a long tradition of using the latest technology to improve and maintain the breed.

Cloning “is nothing more than an assisted…