There’s something almost everyday about how this story began. A man goes to a Florida Trader Joe’s, buys some food, gets his receipt, and leaves to go home. Millions of times a day, all over the country, this kind of deal is made without giving it much thought. But Brian Keim seems to have looked twice at that receipt. What he saw in March 2019 was the start of a lawsuit that would last more than five years and cost Trader Joe’s $7.4 million in the end. The problem was clear and important to understand. FACTA, which stands for the…
Author: Sierra Foster
Sierra Foster
Born in Kansas City, Sierra Foster writes about politics and serves as Senior Editor at kbsd6.com. She was raised paying attention to this city, not just living in it. Sierra has a strong, deep connection to Kansas City, from the neighborhoods east of Troost to the discussions that take place in the city hall halls. Sierra, who is presently enrolled at the University of Kansas to pursue a degree in Political Science, applies the rigor of academic study to her journalism. She writes about politics in Missouri and Kansas as someone who genuinely cares about what happens to the people in these communities—the policies that impact them, the leaders who represent them, and the civic forces influencing their futures—rather than as an outsider watching from a distance. Her editorial coverage encompasses state-level policy, local government, and the national political currents that permeate bi-state regional life. Whether it's a city council vote or a Senate race, she has a special gift for turning complex policy language into writing that feels urgent, relatable, and worthwhile. Sierra seldom sits still off the page. She claims that playing soccer on a regular basis has sharpened her instincts for political reporting because of the sport's teamwork, strategy, and requirement to read a changing game in real time. She's probably somewhere in Kansas City with her friends when she's not writing or on the pitch, discovering new reasons to adore a city she already knows so well.
It’s a little unsettling to think that the phone you carry around with you all the time—the one you use to call your doctor, order groceries, and argue with your partner about dinner—may have been recording conversations you didn’t want to share. That’s basically what the people who sued Google in the privacy class action said. After years of going to court, Google has finally agreed to pay $68 million to get rid of the case. People who bought a Google-made device in the US between May 18, 2016, and March 19, 2026 are covered by the settlement. These people…
This story sounds like one you’ve heard before. A company raises its prices by saying that its costs are going up, and then, quietly, the reason it gave for the increase goes away. The prices don’t change. People no longer buy. A lot of the time, no one does anything about it. This time, someone did it. A group lawsuit filed on June 30, 2026, in federal court in Washington, DC, says that Lululemon took hundreds of millions of dollars from customers by raising prices because of tariffs that were later found to be unconstitutional. The filing was made by…
Like many big court cases, it began with a simple question: Are you paying more than you should? In the case of De Coster et al. v. Amazon.com, Inc., a federal court in Seattle has decided that the question should be put to a jury. The answer could affect about 288 million American customers. A lawsuit was first filed on May 26, 2021, by a group of consumers led by Elizabeth De Coster. They say that Amazon used its huge market power to stop other online sellers from offering lower prices. Think of Walmart, eBay, and Target as examples of…
Gatorade has been almost mythical in American sports culture for many years. It was thrown at coaches who won. It was in every locker room. As kids, they thought that was what serious athletes drank. Because the branding was so good, questioning whether the drink does what it says it does seems almost rude, like questioning the idea that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. However, a federal class action lawsuit brought in May 2026 does just that, and the issues it brings up are harder to ignore than one might think. People from PepsiCo and The…
Standing in line at a Starbucks and watching baristas write names on cups with happy markers can be unsettling because you know that, somewhere in the background, attorneys are debating labor violations and benzene levels in federal court. The picture, which shows a class-action lawsuit against a warmly lit counter, perfectly depicts the company’s situation in 2026. Consumers represented by Hagens Berman, a firm with a long history of taking on big businesses in consumer protection cases, filed a class-action lawsuit in January of this year in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. There are two…
A court summons feels different from other unsolicited correspondence for some reason. A past-due notice, you can set aside. You can send a collections call to voicemail. But a legal document sitting on your kitchen table — that one tends to stay. It is not forgotten in a pile or buried beneath grocery receipts. It simply remains motionless, maintaining its position. Most people are unaware of how frequently credit card lawsuits occur. Creditors eventually determine that the expense of filing a lawsuit is worthwhile when accounts remain past due for an extended period of time, particularly when the balances are…
A grocery run was the first step. When Brian Keim left a Trader Joe’s in Palm Beach, Florida, in July 2019, he looked at his receipt and saw something he probably wasn’t expecting: too many numbers from his Visa debit card were printed in plain sight. Not just the final four digits, as is customary. The first six too. Ten digits total, out of sixteen. Along with his produce bag, he gave over half of his card number. That moment — small, easy to overlook, the kind of thing most people pocket without reading — eventually became the basis for…
Online shoppers used to joke for years that canceling Amazon Prime was like leaving a timeshare. After clicking cancel, you would be taken to screen after screen of offers, guilt-trip messages, and perplexing prompts, but for some reason, you would still be subscribed. As it happens, that was more than just a nuisance. Federal regulators said it was a serious legal issue. One of the biggest consumer protection settlements in recent memory occurred on September 25, 2025, when a federal court in Washington state reached a $2.5 billion settlement between the Federal Trade Commission and Amazon. The Federal Trade Commission…
The timing has an almost cinematic quality. Prince Harry is expected to be back in Britain — walking into public engagements, cameras tracking every step — just as a judge in London’s High Court prepares to hand down a verdict in one of the most closely watched privacy cases the country has seen in years. Circle July 7. The publisher of the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday, Associated Newspapers Limited, is sued by Harry and six other plaintiffs, including Elton John, his husband David Furnish, actress Liz Hurley, Sadie Frost, Doreen Lawrence, and former MP Simon Hughes. The…