Another Pa. School District Case Filed Against Social Media
Conditional transfer orders were finalized for six more school districts and individuals Friday by the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) to join the over 190 similar cases against social media platforms for their alleged role in a U.S.…
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mental health crisis among U.S. youth. The cases are consolidated, or waiting to be consolidated, (docket 4:22-md-3047) under U.S. District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Northern California. Orders were filed Friday for school districts in Kentucky counties Martin, Larue, Bullitt, and Jefferson; Gervais, Oregon; and Pittsburgh. Also Friday, Blackhawk School District, Beaver County, Pennsylvania, filed a similar complaint (docket 2:23-cv-00657) in U.S. District Court for Western Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh, suing Facebook, Instagram, Snap, TikTok, YouTube and What’s App for violations of public nuisance law, negligence, gross negligence, and racketeering. Plaintiff seeks an order that defendants are jointly and severally liable; that they are enjoined from further actions contributing to public nuisance; equitable relief to fund prevention education and treatment for excessive and problematic use of social media; actual, compensatory and statutory damages; and attorneys’ fees and legal costs. At least 16 cases brought by San Diego-based law firm Frantz Law, including the Blackhawk suit, are part of the social media MDL. The firm filed another suit in March on behalf of the Blackhawk School District, based in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, against Norfolk Southern Railway, over the firm's February freight train derailment and toxic chemical spill in East Palestine, Ohio, about 25 miles away. Counts in that case include negligence, liability, private and public nuisance, future health monitoring and trespass.