A federal court has ruled that a lawsuit filed on behalf of non-exempt hourly employees working in California for Alpha Respiratory Inc. and Lincare Inc. should be able to proceed as a class action. The lawsuit seeks payment of back overtime wages and premiums for alleged missed meal breaks. Lincare, through head of public affairs Jeanne Forbis, pointed out that no actual ruling has …
Fast-casual chain Chipotle (NYSE:CMG) built its business over the course of more than two decades on a simple premise: being better than the fast-food chains it aimed to upend. Its food is locally sourced when possible, grown and raised according to strict standards.
The University of Pennsylvania is one of several universities being sued by employees amid allegations that the schools’ retirement plans come with excessive fees. In addition to the University of Pennsylvania, complaints were filed on behalf of employees of Duke University, Johns Hopkins University and Vanderbilt University. Before the latest round of complaints, lawsuits were …
Can employers still require employees to sign arbitration agreements with class action waivers as a condition of employment? Last week, the Ninth Circuit became the second appellate court to adopt the National Labor Relations Board’s (“NLRB”) position that class action waivers violate the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) in Morris v. Ernst & Young LLP. In February 2012, the plaintiffs …
Hewlett Packard Enterprise and HP are facing a potential class action lawsuit brought earlier this month by four former employees. The companies engaged in widespread age discrimination during a restructuring of the legacy computer and printer manufacturer, according to their complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in San Jose, California. HP from 2012 to 2015 made a series of discriminatory …
What started as “workplace morale” problems for Chipotle has snowballed into a huge class-action lawsuit over unpaid wages. A daunting number of employees — 9,961, or roughly 1 in 5 — have joined the complaint, which claims the chain “routinely requires hourly-paid restaurant employees to punch out, and then continue working until they are given permission to leave.” Managers allege they also …
Dorchester County Council and as many as 100 employees are being sued over a unique wrinkle in the county’s benefits program. The lawsuit alleges that three council members — Chairman David Chinnis, George Bailey and Willie Davis — and up to 100 other public officials, appointees or employees received illegal payments after they opted out of the county’s health and dental benefits …
To date, a common practice when hiring in California, and throughout the nation, has been to have new hires sign an employment contract. And, often times, there’s a little– but mighty– clause in there requiring the use of arbitration to solve any future disputes between employee and employer. What’s more, these agreements sometimes have something called a class-action waiver attached to them, …
A lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claims Wayne Farms illegally discriminated against two employees for their disabilities. EEOC said Monday that Wayne Farms’ inflexible attendance policy violated the rights of certain workers at its poultry processing facilities on on Plugs Drive in Decatur.
Employers face countless labor and employment challenges every day. Wage-and-hour compliance issues are near the top of that list because employers have experienced an increase in the number of class- and collective-action lawsuits filed against them, and that trend is likely to continue. Understanding the dynamics of class and collective actions and what …