Civil Procedure › Labor & Employment Law › Civil Remedies

U.S. Supreme Court to Decide Whether SOX’s Whistleblower Provision Protects Employees of Publicly Traded Company’s Contractors

On May 20, 2013, the United States Supreme Court granted a petition for a writ of certiorari to review the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit’s decision holding that SOX’s whistleblower protection does not...more

Record $240M Award for Abuse of Disabled Workers Slashed to $1.6M

A jury verdict earlier this month to mentally disabled workers who were abused and forced to live in a “house of horrors” has been drastically slashed after trial....more

The ERISA Litigation Newsletter - May 2013

This month our articles focus on the availability of damages in complex ERISA class actions and withdrawal liability actions. Jackie Len first provides Proskauer's perspective on the implications for ERISA litigation arising...more

"My Prior Complaint Was One Of The Reasons For The Adverse Employment Action": Mixed Motive Theories For Retaliation Claims Under...

Recently, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center v. Nassar, which addresses the causation standard for retaliation claims under Title VII. The Supreme Court has already held...more

Kinetic Moves To Disqualify Counsel In False Claims Act Qui Tam Action For Improper Use Of Contractor’s Privileged Documents

Arguing that relators’ counsel has retained and used, without authority, more than 800 of its attorney-client privileged and work product documents, Kinetic Concepts, Inc. (“KCI”) has asked the District Court for the Central...more

An Officer And An Affirmation: Eighth Circuit Finds Officers Failed To Prove Damages In FLSA Claims

The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit recently held that a claim brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA") may not proceed when the employee fails to provide evidence of actual damages. In...more

Monty Green v. The City of New York, et al.

Complaint

More importantly, at no time, did any internal investigator observe him solicit anyone for sexual favors in exchange for monies; observe him hire anyone as a sex worker to perform sexual favors for others in exchange for...more

Courts Hold Employers In Contempt For Violating EEOC Settlement Agreements

Employers that ignore consent decrees (court-approved settlement agreements) may be held in contempt of court and subject to additional fines, sometimes totaling $1,000 for each day of noncompliance. Recent contempt orders by...more

United States Supreme Court Confirms that a Timely and Properly Worded Offer of Judgment May Moot a Collective Action

Last week, the United States Supreme Court confirmed what we informed readers of in our Employment Class Action Blog on February 21, 2011, "A timely and properly worded offer of judgment may moot a collective action and...more

Florida Court Reverses Preliminary Injunction On Restrictive Covenant

If you have followed this blog, then you likely already know that restrictive covenants are legal and enforceable in Florida. You should also know that – although enforceable – restrictive covenants are strictly construed...more

ERISA Legal News - 1st Quarter, 2013 • Volume 4, Number 1

In This Issue: - Supreme Court Update: Where Plan Reimbursement Or Recovery Terms Are Ambiguous Or Silent,Equitable Doctrines May Fill The Gaps: US Airways, Inc. v. McCutchen, 569 U.S. ___ (2013). In an...more

Supreme Court Rules on Equitable Defenses to Reimbursement Claim by Employee Health Plan

Executive Summary: Reimbursement claim brought under ERISA sec. 502(a)(3) was akin to “equitable lien by agreement,” and therefore could not be defeated by equitable defenses that contradicted plan terms. ...more

Legal Alert: Court Rejects Retroactivity of Dodd–Frank's Whistleblower Remedies

Since the 2010 enactment of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, a recurring question in judicial opinions interpreting the Act’s whistleblower provisions has been whether these provisions should be...more

Fifth Circuit: No Fee Shifting For Title VII Mixed-Motive Retaliation Claims

On April 3, 2013, the Fifth Circuit affirmed a ruling from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas that a plaintiff was not entitled to attorney’s fees and costs under Title VII (42 U.S.C. § 2000 e-5(g))...more

Supreme Court Forbids Rewrite Of ERISA Plan

The supremacy of a written ERISA -governed plan still reigns as the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the ruling of an appellate court which had held that a court in equity can ignore unambiguous subrogation reimbursement language,...more

View From Proskauer: U.S. Supreme Court Provides Defendants With More Ammunition for Defeating Class Certification by Requiring...

The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled in Comcast Corp. v. Behrend, 2013 WL 1222646 (U.S. Mar. 27, 2013) that, in order to obtain class certification, plaintiffs carry the burden of establishing not only that they have proof...more

Federal Appeals Court Holds That Supplemental Unemployment Compensation Benefits Are Not ‘Wages’ Subject To FICA Taxation,...

In an important recent decision, United States v. Quality Stores, Inc., et al., Case No. 01-1563, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 18820 (6th Cir. Sept. 7, 2012), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held that supplemental...more

California District Court Rejects Proposed Class Action Settlement

It is axiomatic that the class action vehicle exists for the benefit of the claimants. An inherent conflict of interest may arise between the class and plaintiffs’ counsel over the issue of attorney fees, and resolution of...more

School Board Liability for Sexual Abuse of Students by Staff - An Area to be Watched

In the last year, there have been two Ontario trial decisions dealing with sexual abuse of students by teachers. While we are still awaiting the full decision in the second case, it appears these cases may have yielded...more

The ERISA Litigation Newsletter - April 2013

Editor's Overview - The importance of clear and unambiguous plan language cannot be overstated. The Second Circuit recently applied this well-established principle to conclude that a plan's administrative claims process must...more

Employers Sanctioned By Federal Courts For Destroying Records

Employers in two recent EEOC cases were sanctioned by federal courts for destroying employee records. These rulings illustrate the need for employers to develop and implement document retention procedures to avoid costly...more

Monetary Damages Potentially Available For Inadequate Disclosure

In Weaver Bros. Ins. Assoc., Inc. v. Braunstein, No. 11-5407, 2013 WL 1195529 (E.D. Pa. Mar. 25, 2013), a district court denied the plan administrator’s motion for judgment on the pleadings, ruling that monetary relief may be...more

U.S. Supreme Court Emphasizes Importance of Common Issues in Class Actions

Over the past two weeks, the United States Supreme Court has repeatedly underscored the importance of having common questions that are susceptible to common answers in cases where plaintiffs are seeking class certification....more

FLSA Class Actions: Recent Seventh Circuit Decision Points To Merger Of Certification Standards

A significant recent Seventh Circuit decision, written by noted Judge Richard Posner, affirmed decertification of an FLSA collective action, essentially on the ground that the collective action could not satisfy the...more

Did You Know…A Sea Change In Class Action Certification

In Comcast v. Behrend, a class action case involving how much Comcast charged cable TV subscribers, the United States Supreme Court held that as a prerequisite for certification of a class action, a plaintiff must introduce...more