In a major setback for banks, credit unions, credit card companies and many other financial firms, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Thursday issued a proposal that would ban the use of arbitration clauses that prevent consumers from bringing class-action lawsuits. The 377-page proposal, released to the media a day early, would still allow companies to offer arbitration as a way to …
45,000 Workers Win Class Action Rights Workers Independent News is heard Monday through Friday at 8:45 and 11:45 a.m. and 5:45 p.m. At least 45,000 workers have won class-action lawsuit rights in a National Labor Relations Board case against Menard’s. The midwest-based home improvement supply store chain owned by Wisconsin anti-union billionaire John Menard is settling the case with the NLRB …
The most significant exposure an employer faces in employment litigation is a class action lawsuit. Whether it is a class asserting claims for discrimination, harassment, or overtime, the potential damages can quickly escalate when there are multiple employees all asserting the same claim. Matters only get worse when those claims are decided by juries, which will generally be predisposed to …
When clients enter their financial advisors’ offices and express frustrations about a retail bank’s mistakes or overcharges, the damages are usually too small to merit any individual legal action. “It’s $24 here and $45 there, and often there is very little you can do,” says Debra Brennan Tagg, managing director of Brennan Financial Services in Addison, Texas. But, it is expected that when the …
The U.S. government wants to make it easier for student loan borrowers to sue their colleges when they believe they’ve been wronged. The Department of Education released a proposal Friday evening that would make it more difficult for colleges to require students to settle disputes in arbitration, a private, closed-door process that critics say prevents students from getting a fair shake when …
by Ian Millhiser Feb 1, 2016 8:00 am Lochner v. New York is one of the Supreme Court’s great anti-precedents. Typically taught in law schools as an example of how judges should not behave, Lochner rested on a fabricated “right to contract” that, in effect, gave employers broad license to exploit their workers. The so-called right invented in Lochner and similar cases later formed the basis for …