Articles Posted in Class Actions

“We’re gratified that the Court of Appeal recognized the power of our evidence that Kaiser failed to provide its members sufficient resources for adequate mental health care, and optimistic that we will be certified on remand so we can help provide some real relief to their members. These times especially highlight the importance of mental…

Earlier this week, the Supreme Court killed one of the few remaining mechanisms for employees to get some measure of justice for the illegal acts of their employers – class arbitrations. The National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) was enacted in 1935 to protect the right of workers to band together and engage in collective action…

Can one even imagine that FedEx would so boldly claim that its drivers are independent contractors rather than employees because it lacks sufficient control over the drivers’ work? Really? Walk the streets anywhere and you’ll see the ubiquitous FedEx driver, in the exact same trucks, wearing identical uniforms and delivering packages in the exact same…

In the Iskanian v.CLS Transportation Los Angeles, LLC decision, the California Supreme Court addressed the enforceability of employer-employee arbitration agreements in various circumstances. Iskanian v.CLS Transportation Los Angeles, LLC, 59 Cal.4th 348 (2014). The case delivered some good news – but mostly bad news – for employees and attorneys who represent employees. First, as to…

Alright – enough already! The courts really give employers every unfair opportunity to require their employees to “agree” to arbitrate their disputes. But even the courts agree that employers can’t be allowed to hide what they are doing! Take Empire Today LLC (also known as Flooring Install). Their management should be ashamed of themselves. Empire…

On May 16, 2012, the California Supreme Court granted review of Duran v. U.S. National Bank (USB) (2012) 203 Cal. App 4th 212. In that case, a class of bank employees won an award of $15 million for unpaid overtime. The award was based on a variety of evidence which included a random sample of…

The California Supreme Court has laid clear, after much confusion, the proper standard by which employers must provide their employees with meal periods, imposing an affirmative burden to completely relieve their employees from duty so that the employees may take full, thirty-minute, uninterrupted meal periods. If the employer fails to meet its obligation to do…

I’m not so sure why so much attention has been paid to Sullivan v. Oracle, other than the case has been up and down and all around the court system. See, e.g., Sullivan v. Oracle, 51 Cal.4th 1191 (2011); Sullivan v. Oracle, 662 F.3d 1265 (9th Cir. 2011). The recent holdings (by the Ninth Circuit…

On January 3, 2012, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) ruled that an employer cannot prohibit its employees from vindicating their rights through a class action. D.R. Horton, 357 NLRB No. 184 (2012). Employer D.R. Horton required that its employees enter into an arbitration agreement as a condition of employment. The agreement not only mandated…

The US Supreme Court’s April 27, 2011 decision in AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion (2011) 563 U.S. _ is just the latest in a disturbing slide of the high court away from individual rights and liberties towards ever increasing corporate impunity. With its Concepcion decision, the Court further rolls back one of the lasting achievements…