New York
Retail customers file lawsuits over tariffs against FedEx and Ray-Bans maker
NEW YORK (AP) — At least two retail customers pursuing tariff-related refunds have filed proposed class-action lawsuits in U.S. courts against companies that also sued to recoup costs from the import taxes the U.S. Supreme Court ruled President Donald Trump imposed without the legal authority to do so.
The federal court lawsuits brought against delivery company FedEx and French eyewear company EssilorLuxottica, which makes Ray-Ban sunglasses, seek to ensure that consumers get a share of any refunds the businesses get. More than 1,000 companies, including large corporations like Revlon and Costco, filed suit in the U.S. Court of International Trade to preserve their right to reimbursement.
On Feb. 20, The Supreme Court invalidated tariffs implemented under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, worth an estimated $130 billion to $175 billion.
A refund process either through the U.S. Court of International Trade or the U.S. Customs and Border Protection is set to be worked out in coming days or months as a bevy of lawsuits and claims work their way through government systems. Companies have been filing lawsuits protectively to ensure they receive refunds.
FedEx said in a statement on Thursday that it would return any tariff refund it might get to shippers and customers who had paid them. The complaint filed against FedEx on Friday by Matthew Reiser of Miami states the company’s pledge “creates no legally enforceable obligation and is expressly contingent on future government and court guidance that may never materialize.”
Reiser claims he paid $36 in tariffs and customs brokerage and duty advancement fees on tennis shoes shipped via FedEx by Tennis Warehouse Europe, an online retailer based in Schutterwald, Germany.
FedEx did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a separate proposed class action filed this week, Nathan Ward of New York states that he purchased Ray-Ban sunglasses from ray-ban.com in August 2025 that were priced higher than in the past, reflecting a tariff surcharge.
“Despite seeking an order entitling it to a refund of the duties collected as a result of the subject tariffs, EssilorLuxottica continues to collect and has not refunded the tariff surcharges it collected from consumers,” the complaint states.
EssilorLuxottica also did not respond to a request for comment.
Barry Appleton, co-director of the Center for International Law at New York Law School, said he expected many more such consumer lawsuits to surface, especially against companies that issued invoices or receipts with itemized tariff charges. The legal viability of the cases is not clear-cut but they put pressure on businesses to share any tax refunds they manage to secure, he said.
“What we are watching is the predictable next chapter of the IEEPA story,” Appleton said. “The Supreme Court told the White House it overreached, the major importers lined up for refunds, and now ordinary consumers are asking the obvious question — if those duties were illegal, why shouldn’t we get our money back too?”
Kansas
2 trans men sue state over law invalidating their driver’s licenses
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Two transgender men are suing Kansas over a new law that invalidated their driver’s licenses and about 1,700 others for reflecting people’s gender identities and not their sex assigned at birth, arguing that the measure is “dehumanizing.”
The men filed their case Thursday, the same day the law took effect, and argue that it violates rights to privacy, personal autonomy and due legal process guaranteed by the Kansas Constitution. The men also are challenging the law’s tough, new enforcement provisions for the state’s 3-year-old policy of barring transgender people from using public restrooms or other single-sex facilities associated with their gender identities.
The men want to block the law, which also invalidated roughly 1,800 transgender people’s birth certificates. They filed their case in district court in Douglas County, where they live, which is home to the main University of Kansas campus and is a liberal bastion in a red-leaning state.
“The Kansas Constitution prohibits the Kansas Legislature’s targeting of transgender individuals for this discriminatory and dehumanizing treatment,” the lawsuit says.
The state Supreme Court declared in 2019 that the Kansas Bill of Rights confers and protects a right to bodily autonomy — a decision that protected abortion rights.
The new law was enacted last week when Republicans, who hold a supermajority in the Legislature, overrode a veto by Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly. The judge handling the lawsuit, James McCabria, was appointed to the bench in 2014 by Republican Gov.
Sam Brownback, and Douglas County residents have voted three times since to keep him on the bench.
A 2023 state law, also enacted over Kelly’s veto, defined male and female by a person’s “biological reproductive system” at birth. The Kansas Supreme Court hasn’t yet reviewed it.
This year’s law calls for stiff fines for cities, counties, public schools and state agencies that don’t restrict transgender people’s use of facilities, as well as fines and criminal prosecutions for transgender people who violate it. People also can sue trans individuals over alleged violations.
Republican legislators argued that the new law will protect girls and women and often described transgender women and girls as male.
“Kansans expect clarity, not confusion,” House Speaker Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican, said after the law was enacted. “They expect leadership, not surrender to radical activists.”
The law bars any “sex” listing on driver’s licenses and birth certificates other than the one assigned at birth and invalidates existing records that don’t comply. The state has started notifying transgender people by mail that their licenses are invalid and they must get new ones immediately.
At least eight other states don’t allow transgender people to change one or both documents, but only Kansas has invalidated documents that were previously changed.
The two men suing over the new law are from Lawrence, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) west of Kansas City, and represented by American Civil Liberties Union attorneys. They’re identified as Daniel Doe and Matthew Moe, saying they fear discrimination, harassment and violence if they don’t remain anonymous.
California
Former MLB pitcher sentenced to life in prison without parole for shooting in-laws
Auburn, Calif. (AP) — Former MLB pitcher Daniel Serafini was sentenced Friday to life in prison without the possibility of parole in the 2021 shooting of his wife’s parents during a burglary at their home by Lake Tahoe, authorities said.
Serafini, 51, was convicted in July 2025 of first-degree murder of his father-in-law, Gary Spohr, attempted murder of his mother-in-law, Wendy Wood, and first-degree burglary. Spohr was killed and Wood survived, though she died a year after the shooting.
Placer County District Attorney Morgan Gire said in a Friday statement that Spohr and Wood were loving grandparents and that Serafini’s crimes greatly impacted family members and friends.
“The impact of this attack has extended far beyond the immediate victims, deeply affecting family members and the broader community, and highlighting the lasting harm caused by deliberate violence,” Gire said.
Serafini’s attorney did not return requests for comment.
During his sentencing hearing, Serafini addressed the court and maintained his innocence, according to MyNews4. He said he was out partying with his wife the night of the shooting and described himself as a “broken, imperfect man that makes mistakes.”
Serafini was drafted in 1992 by the Minnesota Twins. In a career spanning 11 years, the left-hander played for the Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds and Colorado Rockies.
Prosecutors said Serafini hated his wife’s wealthy parents and was heard saying he was willing to pay $20,000 to have them killed, according to the Sacramento Bee. Prosecutors showed jurors transcripts of angry emails and text messages between Serafini and his in-laws.
During the six-week trial, Serafini’s attorney David Dratman argued there was no physical evidence linking his client to the crime scene. He told the jury that although Serafini had a rocky relationship with his in-laws, he did not have motive to kill them.
Following his conviction, Serafini filed multiple motions for a new trial, but those were denied.
Serafini will serve his sentence at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, according to the Placer County District Attorney’s Office.
New York
Woman who duped investors and funneled money to Trump fundraiser gets 9 years in prison
CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) — A New York businesswoman was sentenced Friday to nine years in federal prison over a financial scheme that ripped off more than $30 million from foreign investors and funneled some of the stolen money into U.S. political campaigns, including a fundraiser for President Donald Trump.
Sherry Xue Li was also ordered to forfeit $31.5 million, as well as property at three locations, and to make restitution to her victims.
The 54-year-old Oyster Bay resident, who has been detained since her arrest in 2022, pleaded guilty last year to money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to defraud the U.S. by obstructing the Federal Election Commission’s administration of campaign finance laws.
Her co-defendant, Lianbo Wang, also pleaded guilty to similar charges and was sentenced to five years in prison.
Li’s lawyer didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment Friday, but U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella said she “faces justice for her cynical schemes.”
“She peddled false promises and outright lies to her many investors and stuffed her pockets while they suffered devastating losses,” he said in a statement.
Prosecutors say Li and Wang for years convinced investors, many of them from China, into contributing $500,000 each to a fictitious development project, with a false promise that it would guarantee them lawful permanent resident status in the U.S.
Instead, the two, who are naturalized U.S. citizens, used millions of dollars from those investments for personal expenses, including clothing, jewelry, housing, vacation travel and upscale dining, according to prosecutors.
They say Li and Wang also sold investors access to U.S. politicians and used the proceeds to make illegal contributions to U.S. political campaigns and committees.
In one instance, the two charged investors $93,000 each for admission to a 2017 Trump fundraiser, then used the money to make illegal donations totaling $600,000 to the committee hosting the event.
Li even took a photograph with Trump and his wife, Melania, at the event, and used the image to solicit donations to the fake development project, prosecutors said.
The campaigns and committees were unaware of the scheme, and no allegations of criminal wrongdoing were lodged against them, prosecutors said.
Retail customers file lawsuits over tariffs against FedEx and Ray-Bans maker
NEW YORK (AP) — At least two retail customers pursuing tariff-related refunds have filed proposed class-action lawsuits in U.S. courts against companies that also sued to recoup costs from the import taxes the U.S. Supreme Court ruled President Donald Trump imposed without the legal authority to do so.
The federal court lawsuits brought against delivery company FedEx and French eyewear company EssilorLuxottica, which makes Ray-Ban sunglasses, seek to ensure that consumers get a share of any refunds the businesses get. More than 1,000 companies, including large corporations like Revlon and Costco, filed suit in the U.S. Court of International Trade to preserve their right to reimbursement.
On Feb. 20, The Supreme Court invalidated tariffs implemented under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, worth an estimated $130 billion to $175 billion.
A refund process either through the U.S. Court of International Trade or the U.S. Customs and Border Protection is set to be worked out in coming days or months as a bevy of lawsuits and claims work their way through government systems. Companies have been filing lawsuits protectively to ensure they receive refunds.
FedEx said in a statement on Thursday that it would return any tariff refund it might get to shippers and customers who had paid them. The complaint filed against FedEx on Friday by Matthew Reiser of Miami states the company’s pledge “creates no legally enforceable obligation and is expressly contingent on future government and court guidance that may never materialize.”
Reiser claims he paid $36 in tariffs and customs brokerage and duty advancement fees on tennis shoes shipped via FedEx by Tennis Warehouse Europe, an online retailer based in Schutterwald, Germany.
FedEx did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a separate proposed class action filed this week, Nathan Ward of New York states that he purchased Ray-Ban sunglasses from ray-ban.com in August 2025 that were priced higher than in the past, reflecting a tariff surcharge.
“Despite seeking an order entitling it to a refund of the duties collected as a result of the subject tariffs, EssilorLuxottica continues to collect and has not refunded the tariff surcharges it collected from consumers,” the complaint states.
EssilorLuxottica also did not respond to a request for comment.
Barry Appleton, co-director of the Center for International Law at New York Law School, said he expected many more such consumer lawsuits to surface, especially against companies that issued invoices or receipts with itemized tariff charges. The legal viability of the cases is not clear-cut but they put pressure on businesses to share any tax refunds they manage to secure, he said.
“What we are watching is the predictable next chapter of the IEEPA story,” Appleton said. “The Supreme Court told the White House it overreached, the major importers lined up for refunds, and now ordinary consumers are asking the obvious question — if those duties were illegal, why shouldn’t we get our money back too?”
Kansas
2 trans men sue state over law invalidating their driver’s licenses
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Two transgender men are suing Kansas over a new law that invalidated their driver’s licenses and about 1,700 others for reflecting people’s gender identities and not their sex assigned at birth, arguing that the measure is “dehumanizing.”
The men filed their case Thursday, the same day the law took effect, and argue that it violates rights to privacy, personal autonomy and due legal process guaranteed by the Kansas Constitution. The men also are challenging the law’s tough, new enforcement provisions for the state’s 3-year-old policy of barring transgender people from using public restrooms or other single-sex facilities associated with their gender identities.
The men want to block the law, which also invalidated roughly 1,800 transgender people’s birth certificates. They filed their case in district court in Douglas County, where they live, which is home to the main University of Kansas campus and is a liberal bastion in a red-leaning state.
“The Kansas Constitution prohibits the Kansas Legislature’s targeting of transgender individuals for this discriminatory and dehumanizing treatment,” the lawsuit says.
The state Supreme Court declared in 2019 that the Kansas Bill of Rights confers and protects a right to bodily autonomy — a decision that protected abortion rights.
The new law was enacted last week when Republicans, who hold a supermajority in the Legislature, overrode a veto by Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly. The judge handling the lawsuit, James McCabria, was appointed to the bench in 2014 by Republican Gov.
Sam Brownback, and Douglas County residents have voted three times since to keep him on the bench.
A 2023 state law, also enacted over Kelly’s veto, defined male and female by a person’s “biological reproductive system” at birth. The Kansas Supreme Court hasn’t yet reviewed it.
This year’s law calls for stiff fines for cities, counties, public schools and state agencies that don’t restrict transgender people’s use of facilities, as well as fines and criminal prosecutions for transgender people who violate it. People also can sue trans individuals over alleged violations.
Republican legislators argued that the new law will protect girls and women and often described transgender women and girls as male.
“Kansans expect clarity, not confusion,” House Speaker Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican, said after the law was enacted. “They expect leadership, not surrender to radical activists.”
The law bars any “sex” listing on driver’s licenses and birth certificates other than the one assigned at birth and invalidates existing records that don’t comply. The state has started notifying transgender people by mail that their licenses are invalid and they must get new ones immediately.
At least eight other states don’t allow transgender people to change one or both documents, but only Kansas has invalidated documents that were previously changed.
The two men suing over the new law are from Lawrence, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) west of Kansas City, and represented by American Civil Liberties Union attorneys. They’re identified as Daniel Doe and Matthew Moe, saying they fear discrimination, harassment and violence if they don’t remain anonymous.
California
Former MLB pitcher sentenced to life in prison without parole for shooting in-laws
Auburn, Calif. (AP) — Former MLB pitcher Daniel Serafini was sentenced Friday to life in prison without the possibility of parole in the 2021 shooting of his wife’s parents during a burglary at their home by Lake Tahoe, authorities said.
Serafini, 51, was convicted in July 2025 of first-degree murder of his father-in-law, Gary Spohr, attempted murder of his mother-in-law, Wendy Wood, and first-degree burglary. Spohr was killed and Wood survived, though she died a year after the shooting.
Placer County District Attorney Morgan Gire said in a Friday statement that Spohr and Wood were loving grandparents and that Serafini’s crimes greatly impacted family members and friends.
“The impact of this attack has extended far beyond the immediate victims, deeply affecting family members and the broader community, and highlighting the lasting harm caused by deliberate violence,” Gire said.
Serafini’s attorney did not return requests for comment.
During his sentencing hearing, Serafini addressed the court and maintained his innocence, according to MyNews4. He said he was out partying with his wife the night of the shooting and described himself as a “broken, imperfect man that makes mistakes.”
Serafini was drafted in 1992 by the Minnesota Twins. In a career spanning 11 years, the left-hander played for the Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds and Colorado Rockies.
Prosecutors said Serafini hated his wife’s wealthy parents and was heard saying he was willing to pay $20,000 to have them killed, according to the Sacramento Bee. Prosecutors showed jurors transcripts of angry emails and text messages between Serafini and his in-laws.
During the six-week trial, Serafini’s attorney David Dratman argued there was no physical evidence linking his client to the crime scene. He told the jury that although Serafini had a rocky relationship with his in-laws, he did not have motive to kill them.
Following his conviction, Serafini filed multiple motions for a new trial, but those were denied.
Serafini will serve his sentence at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, according to the Placer County District Attorney’s Office.
New York
Woman who duped investors and funneled money to Trump fundraiser gets 9 years in prison
CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) — A New York businesswoman was sentenced Friday to nine years in federal prison over a financial scheme that ripped off more than $30 million from foreign investors and funneled some of the stolen money into U.S. political campaigns, including a fundraiser for President Donald Trump.
Sherry Xue Li was also ordered to forfeit $31.5 million, as well as property at three locations, and to make restitution to her victims.
The 54-year-old Oyster Bay resident, who has been detained since her arrest in 2022, pleaded guilty last year to money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to defraud the U.S. by obstructing the Federal Election Commission’s administration of campaign finance laws.
Her co-defendant, Lianbo Wang, also pleaded guilty to similar charges and was sentenced to five years in prison.
Li’s lawyer didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment Friday, but U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella said she “faces justice for her cynical schemes.”
“She peddled false promises and outright lies to her many investors and stuffed her pockets while they suffered devastating losses,” he said in a statement.
Prosecutors say Li and Wang for years convinced investors, many of them from China, into contributing $500,000 each to a fictitious development project, with a false promise that it would guarantee them lawful permanent resident status in the U.S.
Instead, the two, who are naturalized U.S. citizens, used millions of dollars from those investments for personal expenses, including clothing, jewelry, housing, vacation travel and upscale dining, according to prosecutors.
They say Li and Wang also sold investors access to U.S. politicians and used the proceeds to make illegal contributions to U.S. political campaigns and committees.
In one instance, the two charged investors $93,000 each for admission to a 2017 Trump fundraiser, then used the money to make illegal donations totaling $600,000 to the committee hosting the event.
Li even took a photograph with Trump and his wife, Melania, at the event, and used the image to solicit donations to the fake development project, prosecutors said.
The campaigns and committees were unaware of the scheme, and no allegations of criminal wrongdoing were lodged against them, prosecutors said.
