Wednesday, September 16, 2026

Daily Docket: Social Media School Suits Add 23 as Uber Files Rule 702 Motions

We tracked 71 new filings, down from 113, as school boards—not individual plaintiffs—supplied the volume in the Social Media Adolescent Addiction Personal Injury Products Liability Litigation (3047). Frantz Law Group APLC filed 21 of 30 complaints; 23 name school districts. Chief Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers has a further case-management conference set for Sept. 22 in Oakland. X Corp.'s motion to strike unauthorized amended short-form complaints remains pending for hearing Sept. 29. See the full filing feed and firm-level breakdowns here.

January Bellwether Locks Covidien Mesh Into Trial Track

U.S. District Judge Patti B. Saris on Sept. 15 set the second bellwether in Covidien Hernia Mesh Products Liability Litigation No. II (3029) for Jan. 11, 2027, moving the Symbotex case of Mississippi plaintiff Regina Stephen onto a defined trial track. The order requires pretrial memoranda by Dec. 1 and a final pretrial conference on Dec. 10, forcing the parties to crystallize their evidentiary and case-specific positions. The setting follows the first bellwether’s $88 million jury verdict against Covidien in August, giving the next trial elevated value as a gauge of the defense’s exposure across the proceeding. It does not determine the merits of Stephen’s claims, but it preserves the court’s forward trial cadence after that first outcome.

Connecticut Firefighter PFAS Claims Clear Dismissal Hurdle

U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson on Sept. 15 allowed Uniformed Professional Fire Fighters Association of Connecticut et al. v. 3M Company et al. to proceed against 3M, DuPont-related companies and other turnout-gear defendants. The decision also permits individual firefighters to pursue medical monitoring without a present cancer diagnosis, putting a testing remedy at the center of the case before class certification or merits discovery is complete. The court held that the unions have organizational standing to seek damages and that the complaint plausibly alleges a duty-to-warn theory against 3M, though it made no liability finding. The ruling intensifies discovery stakes over PFAS-containing gear and preserves a litigation vehicle focused on whether firefighters can obtain monitoring and damages for alleged exposure.