A special section of our site dedicated to class actions, collective actions, and impact litigation. Featuring selected court cases, news stories, firms, case websites, and cy pres awards.
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In the Courts
Bridgeford v. Pacific Health Corp.
California Court of Appeal | Decision Date: January 8, 2012
In a class action alleging wage and hour violations in which the plaintiffs also sought statutory penalties as a representative enforcement action under the Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (PAGA), the trial court's order sustaining a demurrer to the complaint is reversed, where: 1) the sustaining of the demurrer to the class action allegations based on collateral estoppel was error, as the plaintiffs, who were unnamed putative class members in a similar previous action against the defendants, were not bound by collateral estoppel with respect to any issue decided in connection with the denial of class certification in that action; and 2) the dismissal of the plaintiffs' individual claims and representative claims under PAGA was error, as the trial court did not address those claims and the defendants conceded there was no basis to dismiss them. Read the decision.
Reyes v. Macy's, Inc.
California Court of Appeal | Decision Date: January 19, 2012
On appeal from an order granting an employer's motion to compel arbitration of the plaintiff's individual claims but denying the employer's request to dismiss class allegations and plaintiff's claim under the Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act of 2004, plaintiff's motion to dismiss the appeal is granted, where: 1) the portion of the trial court's order granting the employer's own motion to compel arbitration of the individual claims was not appealable; and 2) the remainder of the order denying the motion to dismiss representative claims was not a final judgment and, therefore, not yet appealable. Read the decision.
In the News
Forever 21 Class Action Lawsuit Filed by Employees
Fashion franchise Forever 21 is facing a class action suit filed by former employees for back pay and harsh business practices towards employees. The petitioners contend that they were often held in the store to work past the times they clocked out, during their lunch breaks, were repeatedly searched for stolen merchandise. This is not the first time the franchise has faced legal trouble; another suit contended the employer failed on numerous occasions to pay employees. Read the full story.
Austin Club Owner at the Center of Class Action Lawsuit
Dancing in the dark? Seems like some bartenders and servers at several nightclubs in Austin, Texas have been. One employee, believing he was working under a pay scheme for hourly plus tips and gratuities was dumbfounded when he learned he had no paycheck to collect upon quitting his job. Now, he and several fellow employees are joining in on a class action suit to shine the light on some poor managements practices. Read the full story.
Workers Right to Sue Employers Over Pay, Other Conditions in the Flux
What happens when your employers tells you that you could get paid each day you work? What if there is a condition you use a company controlled ATM machine to withdraw your due wages? The result could be- as it was for some employees of Labor Ready-a loss of those wages, especially when you are charged a convenience fee to withdraw that money. Read the full story.
Rolf's Bakery Workers Continue Lawsuit, Though Lawyer Says Business Offered To Pay Lost Wages
Even with a bad economy and the frequency of job cuts and business closures, many employed individuals are not going to allow themselves to be surprised and let go without a fight. Workers of a Chicago-area bakery are refusing to settle on termination checks and vacation pay after the bakery went out of business and they lost their jobs. Instead, they are suing the bakery for violating the federal WARN Act. Read the full story.
Featured Firms
Despres, Schwartz and Geoghegan Ltd.
For four decades, the law firm of Despres, Schwartz and Geoghegan Ltd. has been providing superior legal counsel to unions, employees, and other plaintiffs who have had their rights as workers violated. Known for their skill in complex litigation, the lawyers of Despres, Schwartz and Geoghegan, Ltd. are experienced advocates for a wide range of plaintiffs, and have handled numerous civil rights lawsuits as well as cases ranging from product liability litigation to actions under the False Claims Act. Located in the heart of the Chicago Loop, the firm is led by Thomas Geoghegan, an experienced labor litigator who has worked for the United Mine Workers and fought for union democracy within the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the United Steelworkers. Visit our website at www.dsgchicago.com/.
Kitchin Legal
Since 1999 Kitchin Legal has helped thousands of courageous people challenge their employers’ illegal labor practices. We have won millions of dollars in compensation for employees and have helped good people reclaim their dignity. We change the way small and large companies treat workers in California. Kitchin Legal represents ordinary people facing complicated employment challenges. We provide sound employment advice to workers in crisis and, when necessary, prosecute individual and class action lawsuits in the California and federal courts. Visit our website at kitchinlegal.com/.
Qualls & Workman
In the last decade alone, Qualls & Workman represented over 100,000 employees in class actions to recover wages and expenses due from their employers. In the process of recovering millions of dollars for these employees, we were instrumental in causing nationwide corporations to change their practices to confirm with California and Federal law and to pay employees wages and reimbursements due. Visit our website at www.qualls-workman.com/.
Case Websites
ARISE Chicago Rolf's Press Release
http://arisechicago.org/press_releases/100/original/Chicago_Reporter_Update_.pdf
Eighth Annual Workplace Class Action Litigation Report
http://www.seyfarth.com/publications/Eighth-Annual-Workplace-Class-Action
Now in its eighth annual edition, Seyfarth’s Workplace Class Action Litigation Report examines the theoretical and strategic uncertainties stemming from the Supreme Court’s employment law and class action rulings in 2011, and the challenges they pose for companies and their defense counsel. The Report also makes clear that workplace lawsuit filings rose on nearly every front last year, from Fair Labor Standards Act and ERISA to government enforcement actions, with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission setting a new record for discrimination charges brought against private-sector employers in a single year. Seyfarth notes that the Supreme Court’s decision in Wal-Mart Stores v. Dukes, handed down last June, has already been cited more than 260 times in federal and state court opinions, and AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion has been cited 215 times - remarkable figures for rulings less than a year old. Dukes, which established a new standard for certifying class actions, and Concepcion, which held that federal arbitration law supersedes limitations imposed by individual states, opened the floodgates to a wave a new case law developments in class actions and class arbitrations, which will continue to evolve in the coming year and impact litigants for years to come.
Cy Pres Awards
Velez v. Novartis (Sanford Wittels & Heisler)
Workplace Fairness was a recipient of a cy pres award in Velez v. Novartis. Velez is the largest gender discrimination case to ever go to trial, and ended in the jury finding on behalf of a class of 5,600 female sales representatives in their gender pay and promotion and pregnancy discrimination claims. The jury also awarded 12 testifying current and former Novartis sales reps $3.36 million in compensatory damages and the class of 5,600 women an additional $250 million in punitive damages. In addition, the May 2010 verdict from the jury meant that the remaining 5,600 women in the class were also entitled to additional awards of backpay and to seek compensatory damage awards up to $300,000 each. In July 2010, Class Counsel Sanford Wittels & Heisler announced a settlement on behalf of all female sales reps to present, increasing the class size to approximately 6,200 women in total. On November 30, 2010 Judge Colleen McMahon of the United States District Court of the Eastern District of New York, approved the final settlement agreement valued at $175 million. $22.5M earmarked for broad-reaching systemic reforms is believed to be among the largest non-monetary settlements ever reached. These systemic reforms will address: (1) the way Novartis promotes women into management; (2) the way Novartis evaluates its employees; (3) the way Novartis compensates its employees; (4) the way Novartis investigates and responds to complaints of discrimination and unfair treatment. $60M is set aside for back pay awards -- 100% of the value of back pay damages to the class. Approximately $40M is set aside for compensatory damages, with each class member having the right to seek payments up to the full $300,000 allowed under law. The remainder of the monetary fund provides service payments to class representatives and class members who helped prosecute the case, attorneys’ fees and case expenses, the administrative costs of implementing the settlement terms, and cy pres awards such as the one received by Workplace Fairness. The presiding judge noted that SWH achieved “extraordinary” and “one of a kind” results for the class in both the trial and the later settlement.
Caffarelli & Siegel, Lichten & Liss-Riordan
Marc Siegel and Brad Manewith of Caffarelli & Siegel and Shannon Liss-Riordan and Hillary Schwab of Lichten & Liss-Riordan worked on behalf of a class of plaintiffs in a wage case and provided a cy pres award to Workplace Fairness. Due to confidentiality restrictions, we are unable to disclose more about the case, but are very grateful for their generosity.
