Stephanie Zimmermann
Consumer investigations reporter
Stephanie Zimmermann is an award-winning investigative reporter who focuses on consumer issues, defined broadly to include credit and debt, insurance, food, housing, health, transportation, technology, unsafe products, scams/frauds and other issues that affect everyday people.
Jacob Hicks Googled “plumber” and found a company that listed an address near his home. It turned out to be a fake. And he was left with a costly mess.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul signed a friend-of-the-court brief supporting Army veteran James Rudisill, who says the VA shortchanged him out of GI Bill benefits he earned over multiple service periods.
“We think there’s a strong argument that this process is discriminatory,” one consumer advocate says.
Army vet James Rudisill has enlisted a Chicago lawyer to persuade the Supreme Court to force the VA to provide mandated educational benefits to himself and 2 million other veterans. Former U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says Rudisill is right.
A new recall announcement follows complaints that manufacturers didn’t do enough to get the word out. The death count is now over 100, 12 of those after the original 2019 recalls of “deadly product for babies.”
Christopher Weber’s parents initially thought their son’s deadly plunge off a highway bridge was a freak accident. Now, they say more should be done to prevent “snow-ramp” crashes.
The proposed class action accuses Apple of negligently marketing the tiny trackers. Plaintiffs’ stories of abuse echo what a Sun-Times investigation found in Chicago.
Consumers have filed hundreds of complaints saying accounts with the popular fintech app were closed without warning. The company says it can close them “for any reason or no reason.”
Magazines with a capacity of 30 rounds or more for handguns and rifles were relatively rare among civilians not long ago. Now, they’re commonplace — despite local bans.