Tyson Foods lost its bid to overturn an almost $3 million class action judgment against it in a case brought by workers at an Iowa pork-processing factory who contended they did not receive overtime pay for time spent “donning and doffing” protective equipment. The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment in a 6-2 decision. Because Justice Kennedy (who wrote the decision) and Justice Roberts joined the majority, the loss of Justice Scalia had no apparent impact on the ... Keep Reading »
Labor, Employment & ERISA Class Action Articles
The latest class action developments and trends in labor, employment and ERISA, including news, key cases, and strategies.
Supreme Court’s Amgen Order Confirms That Fifth Third Bancorp’s ERISA Stock-Drop Pleading Standard Has Teeth
In a recent per curiam order granting the plan fiduciaries' petition for certiorari and reversing the Ninth Circuit, the United States Supreme Court made clear that it expects lower courts to faithfully apply the pleading requirements for ERISA "stock-drop" cases as articulated in the Court's earlier opinion in Fifth Third Bancorp v. Dudenhoeffer, 134 S. Ct. 2459 (2014). This is welcome news for stock-drop defendants, who should still have a meaningful opportunity to ... Keep Reading »
Court Allows Class Member Self-Identification Where Employer Failed to Retain Records
The Northern District of California recently certified a class of employees in an action against an auto parts store for failure to reimburse expenses. Plaintiff alleged that the defendant required certain management-level employees—specifically, store managers, assistant store managers, and retail service specialists—to make daily bank deposits but did not reimburse them when they used personal vehicles to do so. Though the company had a standard policy regarding ... Keep Reading »
Supreme Court Confirms Enforceability of Class Action Waivers
For the second time in four years, the U.S. Supreme Court has overruled a California decision that refused to enforce an arbitration agreement with a class action waiver, holding that the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) trumps California’s attempts to restrict arbitration and class action waivers in consumer and employment lawsuits. In DirecTV, Inc. v. Imburgia, Case No. 14-462, the Supreme Court, in a 6-3 decision authored by Justice Stephen Breyer, upheld an ... Keep Reading »
Arbitration Awards Prove an Obstacle to Class Claims
Two recent decisions illustrate the impact arbitration provisions can have on the availability of classwide relief. In Kaspers v. Comcast Corp., plaintiff, a Comcast customer, refused to pay for certain billed services and had his debt referred to a collection agency. Plaintiff submitted the dispute to the American Arbitration Association (AAA) pursuant to a contractual arbitration provision. When the AAA refused to arbitrate due to an alleged defect in the ... Keep Reading »
Missouri District Court Joins the List: Unaccepted Rule 68 Offer Does Not Moot Claims
Yet another court has found that an unaccepted Rule 68 Offer of Judgment will not moot a putative class action, even where the offer purports to satisfy all of plaintiff’s demands. Plaintiffs sued in the Eastern District of Missouri and proposed to represent a class of at least 60 former joint venture general managers of Panera Bread Company whose buyout payments from Panera were allegedly capped at an amount lower than that to which they contractually agreed. Plaintiffs ... Keep Reading »
Northern District of Texas Won’t Certify Class of GM Employees Alleging Religious Accommodation Claims
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas refused certify a class of GM employees alleging Title VII religious accommodation claims because the class was not ascertainable and plaintiffs failed to satisfy the numerosity and commonality requirements of Rule 23(a). Plaintiffs are members of different religious groups that observe certain holy days on which members are prevented from working and accepting compensation. They alleged that GM failed to ... Keep Reading »
No Cash Compensation for Class of Amateur Student Athletes
In a class action brought under the Sherman Antitrust Act, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the NCAA eligibility regulations are subject to antitrust scrutiny. Applying the so-called Rule of Reason, the court held that the longstanding NCAA rule that prohibits colleges from providing the cost of attendance to athletes is “more restrictive than necessary to maintain [the] tradition of amateurism” and therefore violates the Antitrust Act. However, reversing the ... Keep Reading »
California Employment Law and Arbitration: The Battle Intensifies
Yesterday, by a two-to-one vote, the Ninth Circuit joined the California Supreme Court in holding that Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) claims are an exception to the Federal Arbitration Act. In Sakkab v. Luxottica Retail North America, Inc., Ninth Circuit Case No. 13-55184, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit held that PAGA claims could not be waived or sent to mandatory individual arbitration, which is consistent with the California Supreme Court’s decision in ... Keep Reading »
New York Court Conditionally Certifies Class of Entry-Level Female Sales Representatives in Collective Action Under Equal Pay Act
A New York district court magistrate judge conditionally certified a class of past and current entry-level female sales representatives of Forest Laboratories, Inc. and Forest Pharmaceuticals, Inc. under the Equal Pay Act. The court found that the named plaintiffs had made a sufficient showing that they and the potential opt-ins plaintiffs “together were victims of a common policy or plan that violated the law.” Eleven named plaintiffs initially filed their lawsuit in ... Keep Reading »
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