Class Action & Mass Torts

The Supreme Court of Ohio Rules That Defendants Need Not Plead An Arbitration Defense To Defeat Class Certification

By Seyfarth Shaw LLP on August 17, 2019

By Gerald L. Maatman, Jr., Michael L. DeMarino, and Andrew Cockroft Seyfarth Synopsis: Complex class actions often present a scenario in which some or most of the putative class members are subject to arbitration agreements, but the named plaintiff is not. In Gembarski v. PartsSource, Inc., No. 2018-0125, 2019 Ohio LEXIS 1639 (Ohio Aug. 14, 2019), the Supreme Court of Ohio concluded that because the defendant could not have raised an arbitration defense against…

Consumer Class Defense Blog

Webinar Recap! Hot Topics and Trends in California Consumer Class Actions

By Robert B. Milligan & Joseph Escarez on August 16, 2019

We are pleased to announce the webinar “Hot Topics and Trends in California Consumer Class Actions” is now available as a webinar recording. On Wednesday, August 7, 2019, Seyfarth partners Robert Milligan and Joseph Escarez reviewed the latest consumer class action law developments affecting companies that do business in California. It is no secret that resourceful plaintiff’s attorneys target companies conducting business in California with expensive and time-consuming putative class actions alleging violations of…

Employment Class Action Blog

District Court Decertifies FLSA Collective Action With Independent Contractor Issues

By Greg Mersol on August 9, 2019

We’ve commented many times before that relatively few collective actions survive the “second stage” motion to decertify or, relatedly, an unofficial “third stage” when the trial court actually considers how the matter will be managed at trial. Here is another variation on that theme – an unusual case involving a lender’s claimed involvement in the failure to pay wages. The case of Garcia v. Peterson, Civil Action H-17-1601 (S.D. Tex., August 5, 2019), arose…

Product Warning Blog

E-Cigs Linked to Obstructive Lung Disease and Seizures

By Jason Edward Ochs on August 8, 2019

This week eight teenagers in Wisconsin were admitted to the hospital for suffering severe lung disease believed to be linked to e-cigarettes. Shortly after the news story broke, Illinois also announced that they had minors admitted to the emergency room as well and diagnosed with the same lung disease. CNN.com reported that physicians interviewed reported that some teens had arrived with such severe lung disease that several had to be placed in the Intensive Care…

Employment Class Action Blog

Ninth Circuit Undermines Use of Time Studies in Disposing of Wage and Hour Claims in California

By Greg Mersol on August 8, 2019

Two years ago, we blogged a pair of cases with similar fact patterns and outcomes involving the successful use of time studies (See our October 13, 2017 and October 16, 2017 blog posts). In both cases, shoe retailers required employees to undergo brief security checks before leaving the store. The employees in both cases brought Rule 23 class claims under California law to recover wages and the usual list of California damages arising from the…

Declassified

Silence Isn’t Always Golden—Sometimes It Lands You in Class Arbitration

By Stephen Parsley & Michael R. Pennington on August 8, 2019

As this blog has previously discussed, the availability of class arbitration has been significantly restricted after a series of U.S. Supreme Court decisions. However, we have also noted that express preclusion of class arbitration remains advisable for companies because they eliminate the ability of state courts and arbitrators to read permission for class arbitration into an arbitration clause that was never intended to allow class arbitration. A recent decision in the Supreme Court of…

Workplace Class Action Blog

Federal Court Rules That Employer Is Not Entitled To EEOC’s Pre-Suit Materials

By Seyfarth Shaw LLP on August 7, 2019

By Gerald L. Maatman, Jr. and Alex W. Karasik Seyfarth Synopsis: After a federal magistrate judge in California ordered the EEOC to provide written discovery responses relative to the substance its pre-suit investigation of a sex discrimination charge in EEOC v. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., No. 17-CV-5382, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 129046 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 1, 2019), the EEOC objected to the order and sought review; thereafter, the district judge granted EEOC’s motion for…

Employment Class and Collective Action Update

Personal Anecdotes and Perceived Disparity in the Workplace Insufficient to Certify a Class Action

By Atticus Lee on August 6, 2019

A federal judge in Kentucky recently ruled that anecdotal accounts alone cannot support a class claim of discrimination without “substantial statistical evidence of company-wide discrimination.” Freeman v. Delta Air Lines, No. 2:15-cv-160 (WOB-CJS) (E.D. Ky. June 14, 2019). Federal District Judge William O. Bertelsman denied class certification to a putative class of six African-American part-time baggage handlers for Delta Airlines at the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport (“CVG”). The plaintiffs alleged hostile work environment on the…

Product Liability & Mass Torts Blog

California’s Prop 65 Amendments One Year Later: Litigation Trends and What to Look Out For

By Emilie McGuire, Alex Garel-Frantzen & Jeffrey D. Skinner on August 6, 2019

Blank Danger And Hazard Triangle Warning Sign Isolated Macro

Over the past 10 years, the number of private Proposition 65 actions against businesses have nearly quadrupled from 604 in 2009 to 2,364 in 2018. Additional Prop 65 regulations on “safe harbor” warnings and online retailers took effect last August, clarifying the duties of online retailers regarding warnings, which may have caused a decrease in new Prop 65 actions against online retailers. In light of the new rules and litigation trends, we examine which products…

Class Action Defense Strategy Blog

Lack of Standing Dooms Organizational Plaintiffs’ False Advertising Claims; Such a Challenge Can Be Brought at Any Time

By Robert Guite & Abby Meyer on August 5, 2019

Challenges based on lack of standing can be brought at any time and, in Friends of the Earth v. Sanderson Farms, Inc., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 127964 (N.D. Cal. July 31, 2019), the court dismissed a putative class action for lack of standing pursuant to Rule 12(h)(3) after Plaintiffs supplemented discovery responses and depositions were taken. Although it had earlier denied motions to dismiss brought pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6), the district court concluded that Plaintiffs…