Judicial Panel Orders Vizio Complaints Centralized in Santa Ana Federal Court

Centralizing the various privacy complaints against Vizio in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, California (see 1602260059), “will serve the convenience of the parties and witnesses and promote the just and efficient conduct of this litigation,” the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation said in an April 7 transfer order (in Pacer). Nearly two dozen complaints have been filed against Vizio, all seeking class-action status on allegations that Vizio’s Inscape smart TV viewer-tracking feature violates the federal Video Privacy Protection Act. The judicial panel was “persuaded” that the Santa Ana federal court “is the appropriate transferee district for this litigation” because Vizio and most of the plaintiffs support moving the cases there, the order said. Vizio’s headquarters in Irvine, California, also are within the court’s jurisdiction, it said: “Thus, the district is a convenient and accessible forum, relatively close to potential witnesses and evidence.”