Below is a link to the latest issue of the Jackson Lewis Class Action Trends Report. This report is published on a quarterly basis by our firm’s class action practice group in conjunction with Wolters Kluwer. We hope you will find this issue to be informative and insightful. Using our considerable experience in defending
Case Law Update
Gig-Economy Delivery Couriers are Not Employees, New York Court Rules, Reverses Unemployment Board
Posted in Case Law Update
A delivery courier fired by app-based Postmates is an independent contractor, not an employee entitled to unemployment insurance benefits, the Third Judicial Department of the New York Supreme Court has ruled. Matter of the Claim of Luis A. Vega, No. 525233 (June 21, 2018). The case is one of many disputes across the country over…
Class Action Stacking Is Not Permitted, U.S. Supreme Court Rules
Posted in Case Law Update, Class Actions
Once class action certification has been denied, a putative class member may not start a new class action beyond the applicable statute of limitations, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled, 9-0, in an opinion by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. China Agritech, Inc. v. Resh, No. 17-432 (June 11, 2018). Justice Sonia Sotomayor filed an…
Supreme Court: Class Action Waivers in Employment Arbitration Agreements Do Not Violate Federal Labor Law
Class action waivers in employment arbitration agreements are enforceable under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), the U.S. Supreme Court has held in a much-anticipated decision in three critical cases. Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, No. 16-285; Ernst & Young LLP et al. v. Morris et al., No. 16-300; National Labor Relations Board v. Murphy…
Arbitrating Class Actions – Does Arbitration Bind Employees Who Do Not Opt-in?
By Rebecca M. McCloskey on
Posted in Arbitration, Case Law Update
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments last week to determine whether an arbitrator’s award in a Title VII class action applies only to the 254 employees who are named plaintiffs or otherwise opted in to the class, or whether it extends to all 70,000 similarly situated employees. (Jock et al. v. Sterling …
Ninth Circuit Concludes that Admissibility is Not a Factor in Deciding Class Certification
By Jaclyn P. Floryan on
Posted in Case Law Update, Class Actions
On May 3, 2018, in Sali v. Corona Medical Center, et al., Case Number 15-56460, a putative wage-hour class action, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that evidence does not have to be admissible for it to be considered in support of class certification. The Ninth Circuit concluded that the…
Class Certification Granted in Goldman Sachs Gender Discrimination Litigation
By René E. Thorne & Juan C. Obregon on
In a 49-page opinion issued last week, Judge Analisa Torres of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York granted class certification to a group of women alleging that Goldman Sachs systemically and pervasively discriminated against female professional employees in violation of Title VII and the New York City Human Rights…
Multi-Million Dollar Nationwide Class Settlement Vacated by Ninth Circuit
By Kyle C. Worrell on
Posted in Case Law Update, Class Actions
In a “major blow to multistate class actions,” according to the dissenting opinion in Espinosa v. Ahearn (In re Hyundai & Kia Fuel Econ. Litig.) 2018 U.S.App.LEXIS 1626 (January 23, 2018), the Ninth Circuit vacated a class action settlement after more than six years of litigation. In reaching its decision, the majority found that the …
Court Finds Individualized Issues Predominate and Grants Company’s Motion to Decertify Branch Administrators’ Class
By Jackson Lewis P.C. on
The United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana recently decided a case highlighting the importance of clear employer policies when it comes to wage payment issues. In Smith v. Professional Transportation Inc. et al., 13-cv-00221 (N.D. Ind. January 26, 2018), the named plaintiff alleged that the defendant failed to pay Branch…
“Ticket-gate”- Revisiting the Intersection of Professional Football and Class Actions
By Scott P. Jang on
First, Deflategate. Now, “Ticket-gate?” Stirring in the United States District Court, Northern District of Ohio, a putative class action takes aim at an unsafe football field, a cancelled preseason game, and over a million dollars in alleged consumer class damages. The case is Herrick v. National Football League, et al. (N.D. Ohio, Case No. 5:17-cv-00472-CAB).…