Class Action & Mass Torts

By Catherine Montgomery on June 24, 2019

Our quarterly report discusses new developments in class action litigation and offers strategic guidance and tactical tips on how to defend such claims. This issue covers the following topics: Who gets notice of a collective action – and why it matters Arbitration agreements Considerations regarding whether to adopt or continue an arbitration program Recent court decisions and other class action developments Jackson Lewis’ biometric privacy team Click here to download the most recent issue.…

Workplace Class Action Blog

Google: Demonstrating The Hazards Of Employment Discrimination From Every Angle

By Seyfarth Shaw LLP on June 24, 2019

By David J. Rowland, Jennifer A. Riley, Uma Chandrasekaran, and Michael D. Jacobsen Seyfarth Synopsis: Google’s recent travails with simultaneous traditional and “reverse” discrimination claims signal a new era of dynamic employment discrimination risk. Employers will be wise to consider the push and pull legal effect of diversity and inclusion programs, pay equity reviews, and other well-intended efforts. Although employment discrimination claims are a familiar risk to most employers, a growing wave…

Consumer Class Defense Blog

In Moran, Dissent Sets Up Arguments for Other Circuits to Find Dismissals Are Adverse Events

By Esther Slater McDonald & Seth Fortin on June 24, 2019

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) bars consumer reporting agencies from reporting civil suits, civil judgments, records of arrest, and other “adverse items” more than seven years after they occur. In a recent decision in Moran v. The Screening Pros, the Ninth Circuit held that the later dismissal of criminal indictments or charges was not a new adverse event and did not restart the seven-year clock for reporting. Judge Kleinfeld, dissenting, argued that dismissals…

Workplace Class Action Blog

What Employers Can Expect With The EEOC

By Seyfarth Shaw LLP on June 21, 2019

Seyfarth Synopsis: As we approach the latter portion of the fiscal year, employers are beginning to see a significant spike in EEOC case filings over the last month or so, bringing the EEOC more in line with its relative aggressiveness during the previous couple of fiscal years. This increase in case filings comes on the heels of the May 8th Senate confirmation of the new EEOC Chair, Janet Dhillon. In today’s video, Partner Jerry Maatman…

Consumer Protection Connection

FTC Continues Enforcement of False Privacy Shield Claims

By Sheila Millar & Tracy Marshall on June 20, 2019

Nearly three years after the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield framework replaced the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor as a mechanism to transfer personal data from the European Union to the United States, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) continues to monitor companies’ claims regarding participation. As we previously reported, the FTC has taken actions against several companies over the years for stating they were self-certified to the Privacy Shield framework when they either had never joined or when…

Class Action Defense Strategy Blog

Ninth Circuit Fuels More Efficient Nationwide Class Settlement

By Anna McLean & Kathryn Kafka* on June 19, 2019

Reversing itself in a 7-4 en banc decision, the Ninth Circuit reinstated a $210 million settlement in multidistrict class action litigation over the advertised fuel efficiency of Hyundai and Kia vehicles, making approval of nationwide class action settlements easier. In re Hyundai and Kia Fuel Economy Litigation, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 17047 at *5 (9th Cir. 2019). In its decision, the Ninth Circuit applied a lower standard to Rule 23(b)(3) predominance analysis in the settlement…

Product Liability & Mass Torts Blog

Acting Chairman Buerkle Withdraws: CPSC’s Future Gets Hazier

By Mike Gentine on June 19, 2019

In a surprise statement on Tuesday, Acting Chairman Ann Marie Buerkle of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced that she had withdrawn her nominations for the permanent chair and for another term. Unless another nominee is confirmed in the interim, her term will end on October 26, 2019.[1] What happens in the interim will shape the agency’s course well into the next decade.…

Consumer Class Defense Blog

Ninth Circuit Upholds Decertification of Class in Unauthorized Customer Call Recording Suit Where the Class Representative Did Not Have Standing

By Robert B. Milligan & Meghan McBerry on June 18, 2019

Seyfarth Synopsis: On June 5, 2019, the Ninth Circuit issued an opinion in NEI Contr. & Eng’g, Inc. v. Hanson Aggregates Pac. Sw., Inc., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 16885 (9th Cir. June 5, 2019), upholding the district court’s decertification of a class whose class representative lacked standing on its individual claims. NEI Contracting and Engineering, Inc. (“NEI”) sought to bring a class action based on allegations that Hanson Aggregates, Inc. (“Hanson”) violated California Civil Code…

Consumer Protection Connection

FTC Settles Lax Data Security Charges with Software Seller DealerBuilt

By Sheila Millar & Tracy Marshall on June 17, 2019

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) entered into a proposed settlement with LightYear Dealer Technologies, LLC (aka DealerBuilt) on June 12, 2019, over allegations of lax consumer privacy protections. While no fines were levied, the order is remarkable for its detailed and extensive requirements governing the company’s future data privacy practices and the FTC’s role in overseeing implementation. The terms include specific instructions for mandatory third-party assessments of the company’s data privacy program using an assessor…

Workplace Class Action Blog

Conditional Certification Granted In ADEA Collective Action On Behalf Of All Chattanooga Volkswagen Employees Aged 50 And Over

By Seyfarth Shaw LLP on June 15, 2019

By Gerald L. Maatman, Jr. and Matthew Gagnon Seyfarth Synopsis: On June 11, 2019, in an age discrimination lawsuit, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee once again demonstrated how the lenient standard that is so often applied at the conditional certification stage of a collective action brought under the procedural rules of the Fair Labor Standards Act. In Manlove v. Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, No. 18-CV-145 (E.D. Tenn. June 11, 2019), the…

Class Action & Mass Torts

Class Action Trends Report Spring 2019

Google: Demonstrating The Hazards Of Employment Discrimination From Every Angle

In Moran, Dissent Sets Up Arguments for Other Circuits to Find Dismissals Are Adverse Events

What Employers Can Expect With The EEOC

FTC Continues Enforcement of False Privacy Shield Claims

Ninth Circuit Fuels More Efficient Nationwide Class Settlement

Acting Chairman Buerkle Withdraws: CPSC’s Future Gets Hazier

Ninth Circuit Upholds Decertification of Class in Unauthorized Customer Call Recording Suit Where the Class Representative Did Not Have Standing

FTC Settles Lax Data Security Charges with Software Seller DealerBuilt

Conditional Certification Granted In ADEA Collective Action On Behalf Of All Chattanooga Volkswagen Employees Aged 50 And Over

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