Featured Articles

$10 Million Settlement for Exotic Dancers a Not-So-Exotic Outcome in Wage Class Actions

Gianpaolo Panusa (Click to Email)
April 08, 2011 15:15

If you think wage and hour class actions aren’t very sexy, you’re wrong. A class of exotic dancers in California and other states have received preliminary court approval of a $10 million settlement of their class action suit in which they claimed that their adult nightclub employers...

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Massive EEOC Class Action Slashed to Two Claims on Appeal

Gianpaolo Panusa (Click to Email)
March 21, 2012 10:00

Posted by Greg MersolOn February 22, 2012, the Eighth Circuit handed the EEOC a major defeat in a putative class-wide sexual harassment case it had brought against a trucking company.  EEOC v. CRST Van Expedited, Inc.pdf, Case Nos. 09-3764/09-3765/10-1682 (8th Cir. Feb. 22, 2012). While the...

Plaintiffs Swallow Bitter Pill With Dismissal of Class Breach of ERISA Fiduciary Duty Claim for Alleged Wage and Hour Violations

Gianpaolo Panusa (Click to Email)
March 19, 2012 10:00

Posted by Jeffrey VlasekThe case of DeSilva v. North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System, Inc., Case No. 10-CV-1341-JFB-ETB (E.D.N.Y. March 7, 2012), began small, like a lone cough one winter’s morning, before escalating into a full-blown cold, complete with hacking and wheezing.  At...

Court Decertifies FLSA Collective Action Against IBM

Gianpaolo Panusa (Click to Email)
March 13, 2012 20:03

Posted by Greg MersolWe've commented before that employers defending collective actions under the FLSA generally fare far better on a motion to decertify than one for conditional certification, and a recent case reflects that fact.  In Seward v. International Business Machine Corp.pdf., Case...

Adrift With Uncertainty, Seventh Circuit Certifies Race Discrimination Class

Gianpaolo Panusa (Click to Email)
March 06, 2012 17:23

Posted by Jeffrey VlasekThe Supreme Court hurled a large stone into the pond of employment class action lawsuits when it handed down its decision in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, 131 S. Ct. 2541 (2011).  Despite being on the books now for almost an entire year, many of the Dukes ripples have...

Inadvertent ESI Disclosure Of Attorney-Client Communication Waives Privilege In FLSA Collective Action

Gianpaolo Panusa (Click to Email)
March 01, 2012 21:52

Posted by Todd Dawson"Hey, Where'd You Get That Document?" ESI has become one of the most despised three-letter combinations in corporate America (and the lawyers who dutifully serve it). The costs and risks associated with a company's duty to preserve ESI are a headache of their own, but the...

Trucking Industry Gets Another "Break" From California Meal Period Rules: Federal Court Finds Route Drivers' Break Claims Preempted By FAAAA

Gianpaolo Panusa (Click to Email)
February 24, 2012 21:07

Posted by Sabrina ShadiFollowing down the road paved late last year by the Ninth Circuit in Am. Trucking Ass’ns, Inc. v. City of Los Angeles, (ATA II), 660 F.3rd 384 (2011), and the Southern District of California in Dilts v. Penske Logistics LLC  (discussed here), Judge Jacqueline...

California Appeals Court Rejects Attempt to Try California Misclassification Case by Statistics

Gianpaolo Panusa (Click to Email)
February 13, 2012 16:43

Posted by Gilbert BroskyThe California Court of Appeal issued a rare decision in favor of employers last week, when it reversed a class action judgment of $15 million and decertified a class of 260 current and former bank employees who claimed they had been misclassified as exempt and were...

In Re American Express Merchants' Litigation

Gianpaolo Panusa (Click to Email)
February 06, 2012 20:09

Posted by John LewisThe Third Time is Not a Charm as the Second Circuit Again Holds Class Action Waivers Unenforceable The Second Circuit considered the validity of class action waivers for the third time in an antitrust action brought against American Express ("AMEX") based upon the...

Court Finds Twombly/Iqbal Pleading Standard Does Not Apply to Class Action Defenses

Gianpaolo Panusa (Click to Email)
February 06, 2012 10:25

Posted by Greg MersolAlright, it’s a lawyer’s case, but it’s an important one for employers defending class actions. As we have written before in this blog, the Supreme Court made clear in Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544 (2007), and Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662...