Class Actions 101: the Xs and Os
Posted December 20th, 2018 by Andrew Melzer in Class Actions and Collective Actions.
You can learn a lot from a sports blog. Including, oddly enough, the purposes of class action lawsuits. Last month, while browsing the latest news on one of my favorite sports teams, I unexpectedly came across a dialogue on the NHL concussions lawsuit and settlement. See NHL Players Concussion Injury Litig., No. 14-md-2551 (D. Minn.), […]
42 U.S.C. § 1981: A Recipe for Race Relations and Reconciliation in the Wake of Charlottesville?
Posted February 14th, 2018 by Andrew Melzer in Race Discrimination.
Congress initially enacted the protections of 42 U.S.C. § 1981 as part of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War. The act was passed between the ratification of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. In relevant part, the current act provides: (a) Statement of equal […]
Private Insurance Whistleblower Law: The California Insurance Frauds Prevention Act
Posted October 2nd, 2017 by Andrew Melzer in Whistleblower Law.
Most, if not all, states have insurance fraud prevention statutes designed to punish those who defraud private insurers. California, however, has enacted a law that takes insurance fraud prevention a step further. The California Insurance Frauds Prevention Act (“IFPA”) contains qui tam provisions that allow individuals or entities, known as relators: i) to blow the […]
Are Law Partners Covered by Employment and Anti-Discrimination Laws?
Posted August 16th, 2017 by Andrew Melzer in Employment Discrimination.
The short answer is quite possibly. In many cases, law partners may be regarded as “employees” under Title VII, the Equal Pay Act (EPA), the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and other laws – and therefore eligible to sue their firms for employment discrimination, retaliation, and similar unlawful treatment. The issue of whether a […]
