Relatively few FLSA cases are certified and then reach a court of appeals on the merits, but that recently happened before the Eight Circuit. In Petroski v. H&R Block Enterprises, LLC, Case No. 13-2076 (8th Cir. May 2, 2014),...more
It’s not uncommon to see putative classes pleaded in terms of the violation of a specific statute, such as “all managers misclassified as exempt by defendant” or “all persons harmed by defendant’s discriminatory policies.” In...more
5/16/2014
Plaintiffs in most class and collective actions try to plead their claims in such a way as to exert the maximum pressure against the employer. In some instances, that raises the issue of whether the plaintiff should assert...more
The most famous, if fictional, San Francisco police Inspector was, of course, Inspector Harry Callahan of the Dirty Harry succession of Clint Eastwood films. The first Dirty Harry movie came out in 1971when its star, known...more
Large incentive awards continue to jeopardize class action settlements. We wrote on February 14 about recent cases in which Circuit Courts rejected settlements due to disproportionate incentive awards. A recent case from the...more
The purpose of arbitration is to resolve disputes more quickly and inexpensively than litigation. It’s getting less difficult to enforce such agreements, but apparently some courts and parties have yet to get the message as a...more
The British have a phrase “too clever by half” to describe complex schemes that ultimately won’t work.
We all know from cases such as Concepcion, Stolt-Nielsen, Italian Colors, and their progeny that arbitration...more
Many employers who have dealt with the EEOC in large cases suffer frustration over inexplicable delays combined with at times unreasonable requests for information and/or relief. In a recent case from the Fourth Circuit, that...more
With the Supreme Court having issued a series of decisions overruling many of the roadblocks to the enforcement of arbitration agreements in the class context, we are now seeing more courts fill in the gaps as to whether and...more
We’ve written at least twice now on class actions arising out of time spent by employees going through security lines, primarily at the end of their shifts. The question is whether and when such time might be compensable...more
The United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts recently issued a case involving the straight-forward application of the Supreme Court’s decision in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, 131 S. Ct. 2541 (2011),...more
Is there a statute with a better acronym than RICO?
The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, apart from its great acronym, has been both a great success and a tool for misuse. We don’t often see RICO...more
In yet another setback for employers seeking to remove California wage and hour cases to federal court, the Ninth Circuit held that the federal Class Action Fairness Act (“CAFA”) provides federal courts with no basis to...more
As we’ve commented before, disability claims are particularly poor fodder for class actions. Unlike other protected traits, there are often threshold questions as to whether an individual is even in a protected class. Even in...more
Sometimes in the rush to meet Rule 23(a) and (b)’s requirements, what gets overlooked is whether there is any underlying claim in the first place. In a refreshing opinion, the Southern District of New York disposed of a...more
A common feature of class action settlements, whether in employment actions or otherwise, is the payment of an incentive award to the named plaintiff. Such payments are frequently approved by courts, but have been criticized...more
Last week, the Supreme Court decided the case of Sandifer v. United States Steel Corp., Case No. 12-417 (Jan. 27, 2014), addressing donning and doffing claims in the context of a unionized steel mill. That case not only...more
Is more of a good thing a better thing? In some contexts, not, as reflected by a recent case from the Northern District of California. In Lou v. Ma Laboratories, Inc., Case No. C 12-05409 WHA (N.D. Cal. Jan. 8, 2014), the...more
Back in October, we reviewed a number of California cases that, for the most part, denied certification in cases in which certification would have largely been a foregone conclusion only a few years ago. The first few days of...more
Without settlements, class action litigation would likely grind the work of our nation’s courts to a halt. One impediment, however, to settlement in many cases is the amount of attorney fees. Particularly in smaller cases, or...more
In a number of cases, the plaintiffs’ strategy in collective active litigation under the Fair Labor Standards Act may fall into a familiar pattern: file the case, do minimal discovery, move for conditional certification under...more
In 1991, Sega introduced the video character Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic became insanely popular, spawning several generations of videogames that are still being designed and sold today, comic books, and even a short-lived...more
Despite blockbuster cases like Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, 131 S. Ct. 2541 (2011), and Brinker Rest. Corp. v. Superior Court, 273 P.3d 513, 527 (Cal. 2012), California remains a hotbed of employment class litigation as a...more
While commentators can, and often do, debate fine points regarding the technical elements of a class action claim, the result in a given case is often dictated by a more fundamental concern. That issue is whether the judge...more
Over the last 5 years, the EEOC has become increasingly aggressive in the bringing and pursuit of broad initiatives and, in particular, class litigation. Cynics can debate whether this springs from a desire to make a...more