Tag Archives: Class Action

Lessons from 2021 on Avoiding Class Action Claims for Meal and Rest Break Violations in California

In 2021, the California Supreme Court handed down two important decisions, Donohue v. AMN Services, LLC and Ferra v. Loews Hollywood, LLC, that reinforce and refine tried-and-true lessons about meal and rest breaks. As California employers look ahead to their 2022 goals and try to lessen their risk of class action employment claims based on … Continue Reading

While the Ninth Circuit Added Clarity in Its Recent Uber Opinion, Legislative Challenges to Mandatory Arbitration May Be Ahead

By John Lewis on August 11, 2021 Posted in Class Action

A U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit panel ruled that Uber Technologies drivers don’t fall within the Section 1 exemption of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) to mandatory arbitration because they are not a class of workers “engaged in foreign or interstate commerce.” Accordingly, the drivers were properly compelled by the district court … Continue Reading

Arbitrator’s Joke Not Sufficient to Vacate Award in Putative Antitrust Class Action

By John Lewis on August 5, 2020 Posted in Arbitration

A poor joke and unsubstantiated hero worship were insufficient to overturn an arbitrator’s award in favor of Travis Kalanick and Uber Technologies Inc., according to U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff. In an Aug. 3 memorandum and order, Rakoff denied the plaintiff’s motion to vacate an arbitration award in the defendants’ favor arising from a … Continue Reading

Texas District Court Refuses to Certify Class of Nurses in Wage Antitrust Case

By Greg Mersol on January 24, 2019 Posted in Class Action Litigation, Wage and Hour

Expert’s Report Didn’t Adequately Explain Causation While antitrust cases are often good candidates for class action treatment, it is still important for the plaintiffs to demonstrate a connection between the alleged anti-competitive conduct and the alleged harm, as a recent case from the Western District of Texas found. In Maderazo v. VHS San Antonio Partners, … Continue Reading

District Court Decertifies Hostile Environment Sexual Harassment Suit Against Trucking Company

By Greg Mersol on January 22, 2019 Posted in FLSA, Rule 23

Most employment class actions today are wage and hour matters, but class actions for alleged discrimination are still brought and can present their own unique challenges for both plaintiffs and the defense. Apart from the procedural differences between Fair Labor Standards Act collective actions and Rule 23 class actions, one key difference between wage and … Continue Reading

Yet Another Opinion Addresses the Availability of Class or Collective Arbitration and Whether It Is a ‘Gateway Issue’ for the Court – Herrington v. Waterstone Mortgage Corp.

By John Lewis on October 25, 2018 Posted in Collective Action

We didn’t expect to be discussing class or collective arbitration issues so soon, but we have repeatedly underestimated the resilience of these aggregate arbitration questions. (See our Nov. 11, 2013, March 12, 2015, Sept. 9, 2015, March 23, 2016, May 3, 2017, and May 2, 2018, blog articles dealing with “gateway issues” and the availability … Continue Reading

Court Reduces Proposed Attorney Fee Award by More Than 90 Percent

By Greg Mersol on October 19, 2018 Posted in Class Action Litigation, Wage and Hour

It’s OK. The Attorneys Still Get More Than $1,000 Per Hour One of the drivers of the increased number of wage and hour cases is the prospect of handsome attorney fee awards. But while percentage fee awards may indeed result in large payoffs, courts are increasingly looking at whether such large amounts are reasonable under … Continue Reading

Courts Deny Certification for Adequacy of Representation in Second Class Action

By Greg Mersol on February 16, 2018 Posted in Class Action Litigation, Collective Action, Wage and Hour

One of the tactics in the current plaintiffs’ wage and hour playbook is to bring a second claim after settlement of an initial class or collective action lawsuit. In these cases, the second set of claims is purportedly brought on behalf of those who did not opt in or participate, or it is for alleged … Continue Reading

Court Grants Summary Judgment for Employer in California Class Action Vacation Pay Case

By Greg Mersol on June 15, 2016 Posted in Wage and Hour

Underlying claim premised on PowerPoint slide invalid Most California employers know that California treats vacation pay largely as a vested benefit that cannot ordinarily be “forfeited.” In common parlance, the state prohibits “use it or lose it” policies. To prevent employees from accruing, or claiming to have accrued, large amounts of vacation time, most California employers … Continue Reading

Balancing Transparency and Secrecy in Class Action Settlements

By David Posner on May 4, 2016 Posted in Class Action Fairness Act

Companies have the right to protect their trade secrets against public disclosure, while class action members (and the judges who must determine the fairness and adequacy of proposed class action settlements) have the right to know the potential value of their claims. At times, as seems to be the case with respect to the proposed … Continue Reading

New York District Court Conditionally Certifies Class of Interns

By Greg Mersol on August 20, 2014 Posted in Collective Action, Conditional Certification, FLSA

A Blog About Bloggers Have you read any of the following lately? “Chinese Government Fans the Flames of the Ebola Zombie Rumors” “Arrested for Marijuana, Jackie Chan’s Son Could Face Execution” “Who is Dumpling All These Tuxedo Cats at a California Animal Shelter?” These are all recent headlines from various blogs run by Gawker Media … Continue Reading

Second Circuit Finds Auditors Exempt and Endorses Limits on Class Discovery

By Greg Mersol on July 28, 2014 Posted in Collective Action

While the number of class or collective action lawsuits has exploded, decisions from Circuit Courts of Appeal, particularly on procedural issues, are still infrequent enough to warrant comment. In Pippins v. KPMG, Case No. 13-889-cv (July 22, 2014), the Second Circuit issued a decision that is notable not only for its decision on the merits, … Continue Reading

California District Court Rejects Class Action Settlement Due To Fee, Enhancement, and Other Issues

By Greg Mersol on May 27, 2014 Posted in Meal and Rest Periods

Do your homework before you seek approval of a class action settlement! Meals on airlines have all but disappeared for anyone other than those in first class, but the company Sky Chefs contends on its website that it still serves over a million airplane meals a day. No, really! And, apparently, many of those meals are … Continue Reading

California Courts Issue Multiple Decisions for Employers in Class Cases

By Greg Mersol on May 17, 2013 Posted in Retail, Rule 23

Just two years ago, a California case declining certification of an action would have been cause for comment. But since then, in 2011 the United States Supreme Court decided Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, 131 S. Ct. 2541 (2011); in 2012 the California Supreme Court decided Brinker Rest. Corp. v. Superior Court, 53 Cal. 4th … Continue Reading

Ninth Circuit Finds Rule 23 Class Actions and FLSA Collective Actions Compatible

By Greg Mersol on April 18, 2013 Posted in FLSA, Retail

As we’ve noted before, circuit court authority on collective action issues is relatively sparse. Although we like to comment on such cases, the most recent such opinion is in many respects a nonevent. Several lower courts have refused to combine state law Rule 23 class actions and federal FLSA collective actions in the same case, … Continue Reading

California Appellate Court Orders Arbitration and Rules that Claims May Not Proceed On Behalf of a Class: Plaintiff in Macy’s OT Action Gets What She Bargained For

By Greg Mersol on January 31, 2013 Posted in Arbitration, Retail

Authored by: Dawn Kennedy A recent decision from a California court of appeals reflects a growing, if at times reluctant, acceptance by California courts of employment arbitration. In Outland v. Macy’s Department Stores, Inc., Case No. A133589 (Ct. Cal. App. Jan. 16, 2013) a former group sales manager for defendant Macy’s Department Stores filed a … Continue Reading