Articles Discussing General Issues In Employment Law Class Actions

In April, a federal judge granted class action status to a lawsuit filed by former GEICO claim adjuster Marc Pugliese accusing the company of violating state and federal overtime laws. Pugliese originally filed the lawsuit the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts in October 2021, claiming that GEICO pressured employees not

Explaining for the first time “who bears what burdens when a class member objects to a proposed settlement,” the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed in an insurance case a district court’s order approving a proposed class settlement and overruling objections to the settlement.

Absent class members in state-court class actions cannot pursue individual claims in federal court when the class has entered into a settlement releasing all such claims and a state court has entered final judgment approving the settlement, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has held. Moreno v. UtiliQuest, LLC, No. 21-55313 (Mar. 18, 2022).

On January 26th a new class action against Party City was filed. The plaintiffs allege that Party City’s breaking the New York State Labor Law. In New York State, manual workers are required to be paid on a weekly basis. Currently, Party City employees who believe they are manual workers

For employers, 2021 was a challenging year. The post-election landscape, evolving federal and state law, and the effects of a seemingly endless global pandemic created a difficult business climate. Efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 were met with stiff resistance — legal and otherwise; still, employers persist in earnest

In this issue of the Class Action Trends Report, Jackson Lewis attorneys look back at class action developments in 2021, including COVID-19 vaccine mandate litigation, significant procedural decisions, wage and hour suits, and the continuing rise of cases brought under the California Private Attorneys General Act and Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act, among other litigation trends.

The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions has released its version of the Build Back Better bill and it does not contain the provision regarding class or collective action waivers in the version passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on November 19, 2021.

The U.S. House of Representatives on November 19, 2021, passed the Build Back Better Act (H.R. 5376), ambitious climate protection/social spending legislation that now awaits deliberation in the Senate. Tucked inside the massive bill are numerous provisions of interest to employers. One such provision would amend the National Labor Relations

In the latest issue of the Class Action Trends Report, Jackson Lewis attorneys discuss the emerging class action risks that arise at this stage of the COVID-19 pandemic, as employers navigate return-to-work challenges including employee screening, mask and vaccine mandates, and the need for ongoing safety measures as the crisis persists. We also take a look at the state of class action COVID-19 litigation.

The Fall 2021 edition of the Jackson Lewis Class Action Trends Report looks at the class action risks that arise as employers navigate return-to-work during this precarious stage of the COVID-19 pandemic. Employee symptom screening, mask and vaccine mandates, returning reluctant remote workers to the office–all pose operational challenges as

In TransUnion LLC v. Ramirez, 594 U.S. (2021) the United States Supreme Court held that class members who suffered no actual injury could not recover damages because they lacked Article III standing. Although TransUnion involved a class of individuals who sued TransUnion in federal court under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the case raises issues for employers to consider when defending employment law class actions in federal court.

In our latest issue of the Class Action Trends Report, Jackson Lewis attorneys discuss how employers can undertake Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives without risking class action discrimination suits; wage and hour compliance issues arising from the COVID-19-induced work-from-home surge; and a landmark Fifth Circuit decision rejecting the common two-stage framework for conditional certification of Fair Labor Standards Act collective actions.

Communications with a party represented by another lawyer absent consent (sometimes called “blitzes”) are permitted in putative class actions, a federal court has ruled in a case brought under the Class Action Fairness Act and Pennsylvania law.

Last year presented many challenges, and 2021 offers a fresh start. In this issue of the Class Actions Trends Report we review the most significant developments of 2020 and look ahead to what a new year and a new presidential administration may mean for employers.

In recent years, there has been an uptick of W-2 phishing scams, and their consequences for an employer extend well beyond leaked data, including potential employee class action litigation.   Just last week, a federal court in Illinois rejected a motion for class certification in a data breach case alleging disclosure