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
Awuah v. Coverall North America, Inc.
1st Court of Appeals | Decision Date: October 27, 2009
The case in the district court is a class action by Coverall's "franchisees" alleging that Coverall made misrepresentations, failed to keep its contractual promises, and wrongly classified them as independent contractors. Read the decision.
In the News
Federal Court Certifies Nationwide Class Of Wells Fargo Technical Support Workers Seeking Overtime Pay
Current and former Wells Fargo technical support workers throughout the United States are a significant step closer to recovering pay for overtime hours they worked. Yesterday, Judge Claudia Wilken of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California granted plaintiffs` motion for certification of the case as a collective action. The complaint charges that the workers should have been paid overtime for hours worked over 40 per week. Read the full story.
Nebraska Wal-Mart Employees Eligible for Cash Settlement
Wal-Mart has agreed to place $85,000,000 in a settlement fund to pay attorney’s fees and other court costs and provide cash to hourly employees who are part of the class action lawsuit. The lawsuit stems from claims by employees that they were not allowed to take full break or meal periods or were not paid for the entire time they worked. Nebraska employees of any Wal-Mart store or supercenter, Neighborhood Market, Sam’s Club or distribution center may be eligible for a portion of the settlement. In Nebraska, individuals had to work for the company between Dec. 8, 2000, and Feb. 27, 2009 to file a claim. Read the full story.
Bare-bone$ Hooters---Waitresses Sue over Outfits
Hooters waitresses are not only forced to wear trashy boob-clinging uniforms -- they also have to pay for them. Waitresses Gina Rosati and Amy Frederick filed a class-action lawsuit in Brooklyn federal court yesterday accusing the Hooters of Long Island chain of labor-law violations. Read the full story.
Texas Company Unfair to Black Workers
A 107-year-old company for years discriminated against its black employees, assigning them to the worst jobs and repeatedly denying them promotions. More than a thousand of the company's current and former black employees stand to divvy up $5.5 million in back pay and interest as compensation for what a federal judge in June called the company's unlawful discrimination in awarding promotions. Read the full story.
Waiters' $3M Beef
Stick a fork in it -- Sparks Steak House has settled a class-action lawsuit accusing the famed Midtown eatery of shorting waiters on tips for over $3 million. Read the full story.
Featured Firms
Martin & Bonnett PLLC
High-quality and dynamic representation in protecting employee rights is the hallmark of Martin & Bonnett PLLC. As the preeminent plaintiff employment and pension law firm in Phoenix, we have gained a reputation for success in prevailing in cases against corporate employers and benefit providers from Fortune 500 to the smallest companies. Visit our website at www.martinbonnett.com/.
Pyle, Rome, Lichten, Ehrenberg & Liss-Riordan, P.C.
PRLE is a plaintiffs’-side employment and union-side labor law firm. Founded by six attorneys in 1997, the firm has steadily expanded since its beginning and now includes fifteen attorneys and a dedicated office support staff. Collectively, the partners of Pyle Rome have more than 150 years of expertise in the areas of labor and employment law. Pyle Rome is a law firm exclusively devoted to the representation of employees and labor unions. The firm has a large and growing class action practice that seeks to enforce workers’ rights to fair wages and overtime. We are both personally and professionally committed to helping those who have experienced discrimination at work including disability, race, age, sex, and sexual orientation discrimination, family and medical leave problems, wrongful termination, whistleblower retaliation and many other employment-related issues. We do not represent corporations, large or small; our mission is to advocate for the rights and interests of working people. Visit our website at www.prle.com/index.htm.
Case Websites
Walmart Iowa Class Action
http://www.walmartiaclassaction.com/
John Deere Flex Retirees Association
http://www.flexretirees.org/index.htm
Fifth Annual Workplace Class Action Litigation Report
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS187739+13-Jan-2009+BW20090113
The fifth Annual Workplace Class Action Litigation Report by Seyfarth Shaw LLP, one of America`s leading full-service law firms, analyzes the foremost class action and collective action decisions of 2008 involving claims against employers in federal and state courts. The key class action and collective action settlements over the past year are also analyzed, both in terms of gross settlement dollars in private plaintiff and government-initiated lawsuits, as well as injunctive relief provisions in consent decrees. Seyfarth Shaw`s fifth Annual Workplace Class Action Litigation Report analyzes 650 decisions in its comprehensive examination of class action litigation.
Cy Pres Awards
Ohio Lawyers Give Back
Ohio Lawyers Give Back was founded by Dworken & Bernstein Co., L.P.A. to promote the use of cy pres in class action settlements. When a class action is settled, plaintiff and defendant agree to a fund amount to pay all class members. Since many class members have moved, passed-away, or can't be found, millions of settlement dollars go unclaimed. That settlement money is intended to benefit the class—rather than revert to the wrongdoing defendant—so the ancient doctrine is now being used to distribute the unclaimed money to charities and non profits.
California Meal and Rest Break Class Action (Cohelan, Khoury & Singer)
In January 2009, Workplace Fairness received nearly $16,000 in funds directed by Diana Khoury and Michael Singer of Cohelan, Khoury & Singer, in San Diego, California. The law firm represented workers in a class action against a retailer, alleging that the employer failed to provide rest and meal breaks or to compensate workers in lieu of their breaks. After distribution of the confidential settlement to eligible workers, $15,932.68 in unclaimed funds was given to Workplace Fairness. This marks the third distribution of cy pres funds by Cohelan, Khoury & Singer to Workplace Fairness.
Leonard v. Southtec (Sanford, Wittels & Heisler LLP and Jerry Gonzalez, PLC)
David Sanford of Sanford, Wittels & Heisler LLP and Jerry Gonzalez, PLC successfully prosecuted a class action case against L&W Engineering and Southtec, Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, Case No. 3:04-0072. The allegations were that Southtec, a subsidiary of L&W Engineering, systematically excluded African Americans and Hispanics from consideration for employment and promotion. After much litigation, the parties were able to mediate the case and the defendants entered into a consent decree and agreed to pay a confidential amount in settlement of all claims. 143 claims for wrongful discrimination based upon race or ethnic origin were paid out, and a remainder reserved for a cy pres award to nonprofit organizations which advocate for the rights of employees. Workplace Fairness received an award in the amount of $32,568.41.
