Chang’s China Bistro, Inc., Massachusetts’s highest court, the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC), has weighed in on several recurring class action litigation issues, providing much needed guidance in an area where there is limited precedential case law in this jurisdiction. The decision also highlighted some important and somewhat subtle distinctions between class action practice in Massachusetts …
Retail giant Nike has been hit with a wage and hour lawsuit based out of California that alleges numerous violations to California wage and hour law, as well as other employment tenets. The most compelling aspect of the lawsuit is the alleged requirement by defendant Nike Retail Services Inc. that store employees, alleged to be …
The number of wage and hour class lawsuits filed in federal court dipped slightly during 2016, but employers should expect a rebound in 2017, according to a management lawyer who tracks workplace class actions.
The 8,304 Fair Labor Standards Act collective actions filed was down, compared with 8,954 such lawsuits filed in 2015, said Gerald Maatman, a Seyfarth Shaw LLP partner who is co-chair of the firm’s class action litigation practice group. But the 2015 figure was the highest since the firm formally began tracking employment law class actions in 2004, and the 2016 total is the second-highest, Maatman told Bloomberg BNA. The top 10 wage and hour settlements reached in 2016 totaled $695.5 million, up from $463.6 million in 2015, Maatman said. The long-term growth in class lawsuits against employers alleging violations of minimum wage, overtime and other wage and hour requirements isn’t stopping anytime soon, he said. The Trump administration could …
The incoming speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives said Monday he is considering whether to file a lawsuit to block an increase to the minimum wage approved by voters last month. Rep. J.D. Mesnard said the increase might run afoul of the state Constitution’s requirement that initiatives contain a funding source if they require state outlays.
Under Puzder, CKE Restaurants has been a magnet for controversy over its treatment of employees—hardly the background for an executive who’s supposed to ensure worker safety, prevent discrimination in the workplace, and address federal disputes between employees and management. Since Puzder became CEO in 2000, CKE has been accused of not providing required breaks for employees and a party to …
If the plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit filed against Primanti Bros. can prove alleged wage law violations, the company will likely face significant liability, according to a senior adviser for the organization Workplace Fairness. Lead plaintiff Chelsea Koenig, a Primanti employee, alleged in her lawsuit filed Sept. 9 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of …
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 …
A group of app-dispatched food delivery drivers have served Chicago-based GrubHub with a class action, saying the company has wrongly classified them as contractors, when they should qualify as employees under the law. Six people who have worked for GrubHub took aim June 28 in Chicago federal court against the web-based food delivery coordinator, arguing their classification as independent …
A group of black Alabama legislators has joined a federal lawsuit alleging that racial bias fueled a state law blocking Birmingham from implementing a local minimum wage. An amended complaint filed in U.S. District Court Thursday says the Alabama Legislative Black Caucus and several black state lawmakers have joined in the lawsuit against the state of Alabama, the city …
Domino’s is in deep dish. On Tuesday, New York Attorney General and fair labor crusader Eric Schneiderman announced a lawsuit alleging that the corporate pizza giant Domino’s and three franchisees were engaged in “widespread and systemic” violations of the state’s labor law. Domino’s, the suit says, knowingly peddled an employee-hours tracking system called PULSE, that under-calculated hours, …