Class action lawsuits are a unique avenue within the legal system for advancing and protecting the...
Class Action Lawsuits: Powerful Tools for Advancing the Public Interest
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Class Action
Recent Company Schemes and Scams – And What to Do About Them
In recent years, corporations have been trying to get away with making more money while appearing to charge the same price. But you might not have noticed due to the subtlety of their tactics. Often, this can be as simple as reducing package sizes—for example, orange juice cartons have incrementally gone down from a full half-gallon (64 ounces) to 52 ounces, nearly a 20% reduction—or the now-common practice of charging extra for baggage. Another tactic involves holding out a low price while adding on extra costs during the purchasing process or even after the order is completed. For instance, “resort fees” or generic “service fees” are often tacked onto a hotel bill that doesn’t explain what those fees are even paying for. Companies pad the price in the guise of a fee simply because they can. Although such bait-and-switch pricing tactics are hardly a new phenomenon, many American consumers have recently noticed—and even fallen victim to—a proliferation of hidden fees and unexpected and unjustified charges. A few pertinent examples spring to mind: So-called premium airline seats: It has become commonplace for airlines to charge extra for premium seats, including those in first or business class sections or rows with additional […]
In Defense of Class Actions: A Response to Gibson Dunn’s Commentary on the Ten-Year Anniversary of Dukes
In recent companion pieces marking the 10-year anniversary of Wal-Mart Stores v. Dukes,[1] counsel for Wal-Mart celebrated the judicial assault on class actions and urged that it continue,[2] while counsel for the plaintiffs rightly observed that discrimination class actions are not dead yet.[3] As class action practitioners who have represented employees, consumers, tenants, and others, we take this opportunity to respond to the defense-side piece and address key points. Most saliently, the defense perspective reflects a fundamental philosophical difference regarding class actions. Contrary to defendants’ suggestions, the class action device is not generally antithetical to due process; nor is the steady erosion of class actions beneficial to “the parties, absent class members, and the civil justice system as a whole.” Rather, class actions foster the judicial economy and are often the only feasible means to tackle mass-scale, systemic wrongdoing. Without a class action, countess victims may be left without a meaningful remedy and a corporate or institutional defendant may get a free pass for unlawful conduct—including violations of seminal civil rights, employment, housing, and consumer protection laws. Accordingly, we would venture, defendants’ espoused concern for the rights of absent class members is wholly disingenuous. A self-appointed role in safeguarding class members’ interests is […]
Requirements for Filing a Class Action
A class-action lawsuit gives individuals who experienced an injury because of the illegal actions of a corporation to join together and change the policies as well as receive compensation for their injuries. However, there are certain requirements a class needs to have before its lawsuit can proceed. Here are a few things to keep in mind before proceeding with a class action. Before Filing a Class Action Lawsuit It is imperative that you hire an experienced law firm, like to handle your class action. These lawsuits can be extremely complex and an inexperienced lawyer will be quickly overwhelmed. Class Certification Once the complaint has been filed and served on the appropriate parties, the court will need to certify the class. Depending on the state, the court will initiate a certification process or the plaintiff will need to file a motion to have the class certified. Class certification requirements can differ in each state. But generally, in order for a class to be certified, the plaintiff must prove: The representative plaintiff suffered the same alleged injuries as the proposed class The class can be defined clearly enough to determine who is and isn’t a member The number of class members makes joining […]
What is a Class Action?
When an employee or a group of employees share a common complaint against their employer, they may file a class-action lawsuit against that organization. A class action allows the courts to manage a number of similar claims more efficiently as well as give plaintiffs who may not have pursued a claim before a chance to have their voice heard. There are various types of lawsuits that can become class actions. Some of the more common lawsuits include: Violations of consumer protection statutes, such as false advertising claims or debt collection practices Broker or securities fraud Workplace discrimination such as lower wages based on gender or race Wage and hour violations, such as a group of employees misclassified so the employer doesn’t owe overtime pay Class membership needs to be approved before a lawsuit can proceed. Click here to read more about the requirements needed. https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/class_action Most class actions rules provide that members can opt-out of a class, allowing the member to pursue a claim of their own. The member needs to notify the class counsel within a certain time; otherwise, he or she will be bound by the lawsuit’s outcome. Class Action Settlements When a settlement is reached between the class […]
Class Action Seeks to Secure Fair Bond Hearings for Immigrants Amid COVID-19 Pandemic
Earlier this month, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) reported that Carlos Escobar-Mejia, a 57-year-old Salvadoran man, died in custody at the Otay Mesa Detention Center in California. Mr. Escobar-Mejia was the first reported individual in ICE detention to die from COVID-19. Though Mr. Escobar-Mejia had lived in the U.S. for over 40 years, an immigration judge during a recent bond hearing had deemed him a “flight risk.” Pursuant to a federal court order issued on April 30, 2020 in response to a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (“ACLU”), ICE compiled a list of individuals in detention—including Mr. Escobar-Mejia—who were evaluated as medically vulnerable and thus eligible for immediate release. This order arrived just weeks after ICE reportedly released nearly 700 individuals from ICE detention due to concerns about the spread of COVID-19. In making its determination, ICE considered factors such as each individual’s immigration history, criminal record, flight risk, and national security concerns. On May 25, ICE confirmed yet another grim milestone: 34-year-old Santiago Baten-Oxlag became the second person to died of COVID-19 while in ICE custody. Federal immigration laws permit ICE and immigration judges to release individuals on bond or with alternative conditions while their removal proceedings are pending. The fact that ICE was able […]
Laid Off? Did your Employer Fail to WARN you?
Mass layoffs have unfortunately become an economic reality during the COVID-19 pandemic. Employees should know, however, that federal and New York employment laws can provide important rights for employees who lose their jobs in a mass layoff. The federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act protects employees of a business with 100 or more full-time workers. An employer who conducts a mass layoff (generally defined as laying off 500 workers or 1/3 of a worksite) must give employees 60 days’ notice. In other words, the paychecks cannot stop tomorrow; they must continue for 60 days. And, if they do, the employee has the right to bring a lawsuit in federal court. The New York WARN Act goes further and providers additional protections: It applies to businesses with 50 or more New York workers and kicks in when closing or layoff affects 25 workers or 1/3 of all workers at a worksite. In addition, the New York WARN Act requires that an employer provide 90 days’ notice of a layoff. Employers who fail to provide notice are liable to employees for back pay (wages for the notice period) and other benefits. They can also be forced to pay the employee’s […]
Employee Class Actions: Will the Supreme Court Cut Out the “[H]eart of the New Deal”?
Any day now, the Supreme Court will issue its decision in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis,[1] a case that will determine whether employers can force employees to resolve legal claims through individual arbitration, without recourse to class or collective proceedings. Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act would seem to prohibit such arbitration clauses. Specifically, Section 7 grants employees the right “to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection.”[2] As U.S. Courts of Appeals have held, “a collective or class action suit constitutes ‘concerted activit[y]’ under Section 7.”[3] But in recent years, the Supreme Court has let corporations use arbitration agreements as a shield against class-action lawsuits. In 2011, in AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion,[4] the Court held that states cannot extend the right to pursue class-actions to consumers who have signed class-action waivers, even when these waivers are buried in Dickensian-length fine print. Two years later, in American Express Co. v. Italian Colors Restaurant,[5] the Supreme Court upheld a class-action waiver routinely used by American Express, even though the plaintiffs demonstrated that a class-action lawsuit was their only cost-effective means for pursuing valid legal claims. Concepcion and Italian Colors have […]
An Epic Decision: Seventh Circuit Shoots Down Employee Arbitration Contract
In a precedent-setting decision late last month, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit deemed an employee arbitration agreement unenforceable on the ground that it violated the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The decision is a major win for employees because it recognizes their right to challenge unlawful employment policies and conditions by engaging in collective legal proceedings. But that victory could have a short life span: the court’s decision creates a circuit split, so the Supreme Court likely will have to step in to clarify the relationship between employment arbitration contracts and the NLRA. According to the Seventh Circuit, the arbitration agreement at issue in Lewis v. Epic Systems Corp. contained two rules: “first, any wage-and-hour dispute must be submitted to arbitration rather than pursued in court; and second, no matter where the claim is brought, the plaintiff may not take advantage of any collective procedures available in the tribunal.” Although Jacob Lewis accepted the agreement when Epic emailed it to him in April of 2014, he later sued the company in federal court, contending that it had unlawfully deprived him and his fellow technical writers of overtime pay. After Epic moved to compel individual arbitration, Lewis argued […]
Judge Merrick Garland and Class Actions: What Will Happen?
The recent big news in lawyer land is the nomination of Chief Judge Merrick Garland of the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit to replace Justice Scalia. He is, by all appearances, eminently qualified, a model public servant, and at least a tad (I say in jest) to the left of the late Justice Scalia. That should be good news for advocates of workplace equality. So, I set out to do a little research on this point. SCOTUSblog has a great summary of Judge Garland’s jurisprudence. When it comes to civil rights, it notes that “Judge Garland has not been called upon to decide many civil-rights-related claims of great significance. It is difficult to label him as inclined either towards or against such claims, given that the panels on which he sat in such cases were generally unanimous.” SCOTUSblog has an excellent wrap up of Judge Garland’s civil rights cases. But it doesn’t touch on one issue near and dear to my heart and to the firm at which I work: class actions. Many commentators have noted that in recent years, class actions have had few enemies worse than Justice Scalia. He authored decisions permitting big companies to require […]