Justice Department Slams Proposed ADA Settlement as ‘Unfair,’ Says Lawyers Get Millions While Blind Consumers Get Little
SAN FRANCISCO – The Justice Department has intervened to oppose a proposed class action settlement against Fashion Nova Inc., arguing that the agreement would provide virtually no meaningful benefit to blind consumers while awarding more than $2.5 million in attorneys’ fees and costs.
In a Statement of Interest filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the department said the proposed settlement fails to ensure the online apparel retailer’s website becomes truly accessible to people with vision disabilities, instead offering only generic, unenforceable language.
“A class action under the ADA should, above all else, secure greater accessibility for consumers with disabilities,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Congress intended the Department and Courts to be skeptical of settlements that instead enrich private counsel.”
The lawsuit, Alcazar v. Fashion Nova Inc., alleged that the California-based company’s website violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by denying blind users full and equal access to its goods and services.
Under the proposed settlement, Fashion Nova agreed to pay approximately $2.43 million, to be divided evenly among class members in California who timely file valid claims. Meanwhile, plaintiffs’ lawyers seek more than $2.52 million in fees and costs. The settlement also includes injunctive relief that generically requires Fashion Nova’s website to be accessible – but with no confirmation or enforcement mechanism, according to the DOJ.
“The proposed injunctive relief for class members is not meaningful,” the department argued. “It is a mere recitation of the obligation to make visually delivered materials available to individuals who are blind or low vision with no confirmation or enforcement mechanism.”
The Justice Department’s filing comes under the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005, which gives the Attorney General and state officials an opportunity to review federal class action settlements before courts grant final approval
Justice Department Settles Lawsuits Alleging Biden Administration Coerced Social Media Censorship
WASHINGTON – The Justice Department has reached settlements in two federal lawsuits that accused the Biden administration of unlawfully pressuring social media companies to suppress disfavored speech, including conservative viewpoints, in violation of the First Amendment, officials announced Wednesday.
The settlements, finalized this week, implement President Trump’s executive order titled “Restoring Freedom of Speech and Ending Federal Censorship,” which declared that the previous administration “trampled free speech rights by censoring Americans’ speech on online platforms, often by exerting substantial coercive pressure on third parties, such as social media companies.”
The lawsuits — Missouri v. Biden and Children’s Health Defense v. Biden — were pending in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. That court had previously found that U.S. government actors likely caused certain plaintiffs to be deplatformed by major social media companies.
“The Biden administration coerced social media companies to stifle free speech that they disapproved of,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “These Department of Justice settlements are key steps in undoing those abuses of the First Amendment, especially against conservative media. We will never waver on protecting Americans’ right to speak freely.”
The agreements with the plaintiffs avoid the need for continued litigation, the department said. While the terms of the settlements were not detailed in the release, the Justice Department described them as a resolution of claims that the government induced social media platforms to suppress speech, including content related to COVID-19 policies and election integrity.
“This Department is committed to upholding the First Amendment rights of all Americans,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate of the Civil Division. “No one should have their right to engage in constitutionally protected speech online infringed by unlawful government coercion of social media companies.”
FBI Hacks the Hackers: Court-Authorized Operation Neutralizes Russian GRU Router Network on U.S. Soil
WASHINGTON – The Justice Department and FBI announced Tuesday that they have conducted a court-authorized technical operation to dismantle the U.S. portion of a network of home and office routers hijacked by a Russian military intelligence unit, preventing the Kremlin from continuing to steal sensitive data from American households, businesses, and critical infrastructure.
The operation targeted routers compromised by GRU Military Unit 26165 — known as APT28, Fancy Bear, or Sofacy Group — which has been exploiting known vulnerabilities in TP-Link routers since at least 2024. The Russian actors stole credentials for thousands of devices worldwide, then manipulated DNS settings to redirect internet traffic through GRU-controlled servers.
For select high-value targets, including individuals in the military, government, and critical infrastructure sectors, the GRU’s malicious DNS resolvers provided fraudulent records that mimicked legitimate services such as Microsoft Outlook Web Access. This allowed the hackers to conduct “Actor-in-the-Middle” attacks, harvesting unencrypted passwords, authentication tokens, emails, and other sensitive information.
“The GRU’s predatory use of networks in American homes and businesses for its malicious cyber operations remains a serious and persistent threat,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. “NSD will continue to use every tool at our disposal to detect such intrusions and expel hostile foreign actors from our Nation’s networks.”
The FBI developed a series of commands to send to compromised routers in the United States, designed to collect evidence, reset DNS settings to force routers to obtain legitimate resolvers from internet service providers, and block the GRU’s original means of unauthorized access. The government extensively tested the operation to ensure it would not impact normal router functionality or collect legitimate users’ content.
“Russian military intelligence once again hijacked Americans’ hardware to commandeer critical data,” said U.S. Attorney David Metcalf for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. “In the face of continued aggression by our nation-state adversaries, the U.S. government will respond just as aggressively.”
The operation — dubbed “Operation Masquerade” — was led by FBI Boston and involved field offices in Philadelphia and the Cyber Division. Technical contributions came from Black Lotus Labs at Lumen, Microsoft Threat Intelligence, and MIT Lincoln Laboratory.
“Given the scale of this threat, sounding the alarm wasn’t enough,” said Assistant Director Brett Leatherman of the FBI’s Cyber Division. “The FBI conducted a court-authorized operation to harden compromised routers across the United States. We urge all router owners to take the remediation steps outlined today, because defending our networks requires all of us.”
The FBI is working with internet service providers to notify users of affected routers. Owners of SOHO (small office/home office) routers are urged to replace end-of-life devices, upgrade to the latest firmware, verify DNS resolver settings, and review firewall rules. Legitimate users can reverse any changes made during the operation via a factory reset.
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