Class-Action

Sysco Settles Wage and Hour Class Action Lawsuit For California Delivery Drivers for Work During Breaks for $1.95 Million

June 16, 2015 | Peter S. Lubin and Patrick Austermuehle

There are different methods companies can use to pay their employees. Although many people are familiar with the hourly wage and salary options, some employees get paid piecemeal – or per job – regardless of how long it takes them to complete that job. Although it is not illegal to pay workers a piecemeal rate, employers who choose to do so must make sure they are still abiding by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The Act states that all employees working in the United States are entitled to at least $7.25 per hour, with a lower minimum wage for tipped workers.

Regardless of how employees are paid, the FLSA requires employers to provide all workers with accurate itemized wage statements. By law, these statements must define a pay period and detail the hours worked or jobs performed by the employee in that pay period, how much she was paid, and how much was withheld for things like health insurance, taxes, etc. Providing these statements allows employees to make sure they are paid fair wages for the work they perform, and to keep a record of what they have been paid. Continue reading ›

Case Seeking Class Action Status Against Aaron’s For Alleged Use of Spyware Heads to a Second Round Before the Trial Court

June 15, 2015 | Peter S. Lubin and Patrick Austermuehle

After George Orwell’s novel, “1984”, was published, the term “Big Brother” became a household name. It is used to refer to any institution or practice that allows companies or organizations to see what people are doing no matter where they are. The term has been applied to everything from traffic light cameras to Google’s practice of tracking consumers’ search histories.

But most disturbing of all is a recent lawsuit against Aaron’s Inc., a rental company, alleging it leased computers that contained spyware. Aaron’s allegedly used the software to take pictures of people in their homes via the computers’ webcams, as well as screenshots taken while the leased computers were in use. According to the lawsuit, even when users thought their computers were turned off, the spyware could turn it on and take photos via the computer’s webcam. The information collected by the rental company in this manner allegedly included highly sensitive emails and pictures, including pictures of nude children and people having sex. Continue reading ›

Court Finds Bankruptcy Protects GM for Class Claims Regarding Faulty Ignitions

June 1, 2015 | Peter S. Lubin and Patrick Austermuehle

Declaring bankruptcy can have a number of advantages for some companies. It doesn’t necessarily mean the end of the company, but it can be the beginning of a transition into another company, even if it continues in the same business.

For example, General Motors (G.M.) declared bankruptcy in 2009. It’s still doing business, but the company that made cars prior to the bankruptcy agreement is known as “Old G.M.”, while the company currently making cars is known as “New G.M.” It may not seem like much of a difference, and to many people it’s not, but at least in terms of liability, it can make all the difference in the world. Continue reading ›

Appeals Court Affirms Holister Gift Card Class Action Brought By Our Chicago Class Action Attorneys — Our Chicago Class Action Attorneys Fight on Behalf of Consumers Across the Country

May 27, 2015 | Peter S. Lubin and Patrick Austermuehle

The promise of awarding gift cards is just one method retailers sometimes use to lure shoppers into their stores. For example Hollister Co., a clothing retailer, promised consumers who spent $75 or more a $25 gift card in December 2009. The cards themselves allegedly stated they had “no expiration date”, but the retailer allegedly voided all outstanding cards on January 30, 2010.

Our client, Vincent Daniels, one of the owners of an expired gift card, filed a lawsuit against Hollister for the lost value of the gift card. Because $25 is a negligible amount, Daniels sought to represent an entire class of plaintiffs consisting of everyone still in possession of a gift card, or who threw their gift card away because they were told it had expired. Taken together, the value of all the voided gift cards amounts to more than $3 million. Continue reading ›

Walmart Faces Alleged Class Action Lawsuit By Pharmacists for Allegedly Failing to Pay For Training Time

May 4, 2015 | Peter S. Lubin and Patrick Austermuehle

Workers generally expect that any time required by the employer is time for which they get paid. This should hold true regardless of whether the employees are performing work or receiving training necessary to perform the job. According to a recent class action wage and hour lawsuit against Wal-Mart, the retail giant allegedly failed to compensate its pharmacists for time spent in training. Walmart denies these claims and contends it complied with the law.

The lawsuit was filed in California by Afrouz N., who worked for Wal-Mart from 2003 to 2014. Afrouz alleges Wal-Mart required its pharmacists to take the American Pharmacists Association’s Immunization Training programs, but failed to compensate them for the time spent on those training programs. Continue reading ›

Bank of America Agrees to Settle Overtime Case on a Class Wide Basis

April 22, 2015 | Peter S. Lubin and Patrick Austermuehle

Hiring part-time employees can be a great way for businesses to fill in the gaps in their employee schedule while saving money. It can also be beneficial for employees looking for flexible hours. On the other hand, part-time employees are often left without the benefits of full-time employees, including health insurance and vacation time. Labor law generally requires an employee to work at least 20 hours per week before she is entitled to access to her employer’s health insurance or paid vacation time.

Even if an employee is taken on to work full time, the picture is not always rosy. Employees who are paid at least a salary of $23,600 per year and meet certain qualifications can legally be exempted from overtime compensation, even if they work more than forty hours a week.

Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), employees can be exempt from overtime if they fit into one of three categories: administrative, executive, and professional. For the administrative category, an employee must perform primarily office work and provide administrative assistance directly to an executive. The executive category includes managers and all employees who spend more than half their time supervising other employees. The professional category is made up of workers whose jobs require a specific set of skills or level of education, including doctors, lawyers, and performers. Continue reading ›

Class Action Brought Against DirecTV for Alleged Unpaid Overtime

April 12, 2015 | Peter S. Lubin and Patrick Austermuehle

Many workers have become accustomed to the standard 9-to-5 schedule, in which they work eight hours a day, five days a week. In some parts of the country, that has shifted to ten hours a day, four days out of the week. This gives employees a three-day weekend every week and some studies have shown this schedule actually boosts productivity.

The potential problem this new schedule poses has to do with overtime compensation. Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), employees are entitled to one and one-half times their normal hourly wages for all time spent working after eight hours a day or forty hours a week. The Act does take into account the potential for the four-day workweek, but it has specific requirements for when employees can work ten-hour days without getting paid the proper overtime rate. Continue reading ›

GE Capital Retail Cannot Avoid Class Certification in TCPA Unwanted Cell Phone Call Class Action — Our Chicago TCPA and Unwanted Cell Phone Call Lawyers File TCPA Class Actions

April 3, 2015 | Peter S. Lubin and Patrick Austermuehle

Defendants in class action lawsuits sometimes try to avoid class certification by claiming it would be too difficult to identify and find all the potential class members. But just because something is hard doesn’t mean it’s impossible or not worth doing.

GE Capital Retail Bank is the latest corporation to use this excuse in an attempt to avoid a class action lawsuit. The bank is accused of violating the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) by allegedly using an autodialer to send prerecorded debt collection messages to cellphone users who weren’t even customers of the bank. Continue reading ›

SoHo House Settles Unpaid Overtime Class Action Claims

March 9, 2015 | Peter S. Lubin and Patrick Austermuehle

Every state is different. In addition to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which protects employees working throughout the country, each state has their own labor laws that cover employees working within the state. Employers conducting business in the United States need to be sure to abide by both state and federal labor laws. It can be confusing, but employers who allegedly fail to do so can find themselves facing a lawsuit, such as the one SoHo House West Hollywood LLC recently settled.

According to the wage and hour class action lawsuit, the Los Angeles location of the chain of luxury clubs allegedly failed to properly compensate its employees for overtime and missed breaks. Under the FLSA, all hourly non-exempt employees are entitled to one and one-half times their normal hourly rate for all overtime worked. The FLSA defines overtime as any time spent working after eight hours a day or forty hours a week.

There Are Few Things More Precious Than Privacy — Facebook Cannot Get Privacy Class Action Tossed Out on Motion to Dismiss

February 25, 2015 | Peter S. Lubin and Patrick Austermuehle

In an attempt to reign in large companies taking advantage of new technology in this way, legislators recently passed the Electronic Communications Act was, which makes it illegal for companies to share users’ information in certain situations. Continue reading ›