The Docket: April 27th 2026
Power, money, and bad behaviour, in court this week.
Each week we bring you The Docket: Lawsuits of the week.
UMG vs QUINCE
UMG, Capitol Records and Concord are suing direct-to-consumer fashion startup Quince for copyright infringement, alleging the brand and its influencer partners used unlicensed music by Sabrina Carpenter, Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, Drake, Fleetwood Mac and ABBA in promotional content. The complaint covers 67 sound recordings and 71 compositions and alleges the infringement was wilful—Quince having first been notified of the violations in September 2024.
GOOGLE
Google agreed to a $50M class action settlement over claims it systematically discriminated against Black employees—through hiring, leveling, pay and promotion—inside what plaintiffs described as a racially hostile work environment. Google admitted no wrongdoing but committed to analyzing pay for racial disparities, maintaining employee reporting channels, and publishing salary range information.
JUSTIN SUN vs TRUMP
Crypto billionaire Justin Sun is suing World Liberty Financial—the Trump co-founded crypto project—accusing it of extortion and an illegal scheme to seize his tokens. Sun's complaint goes further, claiming World Liberty is "on the verge of collapse" and questioning whether it holds sufficient reserves to back its USD1 stablecoin.
CFA vs META
The Consumer Federation of America filed suit against Meta, alleging the platform knowingly allowed scam ads to proliferate because they were too profitable to remove—citing internal documents suggesting the company generated roughly $16B annually, around 10% of total revenue, from fraudulent advertising. Meta denied the figure and pointed to the removal of 159M scam ads over the past year as evidence of good faith.
MUSK vs ALTMAN
Elon Musk narrowed his lawsuit against OpenAI, dropping fraud claims against Sam Altman and Greg Brockman and reducing 26 counts to 2. What remains: the allegation that OpenAI abandoned its founding nonprofit mission. What Musk wants: up to $134B in damages directed to OpenAI's charitable arm, restoration of nonprofit status, and the removal of Altman and Brockman—the last of which, as his complaint pointedly notes, "would likely benefit humanity on its own."
MRBEAST
A former MrBeast executive is suing Beast Industries for wrongful termination, pregnancy discrimination and sexual harassment—including claims she was demoted after filing a formal harassment complaint and was required to attend a work call from the delivery room. Beast Industries dismissed the lawsuit as "clout-chasing" built on "deliberate misrepresentation."
