Week Adjourned: 2.5.10
February 5th, 2010. By LucyC
Top Class Actions
Toyota: “Moving Forward” Alright. This week is really the week of the Toyota class action. I have to be honest—I’ve lost count as to the number of lawsuits that have been filed, but I did see a report today that put the number at 29, and counting. That may just be some kind of world record.
At the heart of the issue is the now infamous sticking gas pedals. (It puts a whole new spin on the expression ‘give it some gas’—and certainly creates a little irony for Toyota’s tagline: moving forward.)
Of course, it’s not really funny, given that hundreds if not thousands or possibly millions of people will be at the very least inconvenienced by the recalls, now totalling some eight million cars—but it will also affect people’s livelihoods, and at worst there are reports of injuries.
In the highly unlikely event you’ve not heard about this issue, you can find more out all the recalls here.
Overdoing the Overdraft thing. Again. Yet another overdraft fees lawsuit was filed this week, this time the accused party is Fifth Third Bank. The lead plaintiffs in this lawsuit allege that they were illegally charged overdraft fees for purchases made on the ATM and debit cards, even when they had enough funds in their accounts to pay for purchases. Crazy.
And—you guessed it—bank customers were not allowed to ‘opt out’ of the overdraft protection program, which is misnamed in my opinion. Really that should read ‘overdraft protection scam’.
Top Settlements
BP Stands for Big Payout? It was a bit of a windfall payday this week for 10 British Petroleum employees. These guys were among dozens of employees, reportedly, that suffered sore throats and dizziness from exposure to toxic chemicals at a BP Facility in Texas during March and April 2009.
The jury who heard the lawsuit awarded each of the 10 workers $10 million in punitive damages, and between $5,000 and $244,000 per person for medical expenses, lost earnings and pain and suffering. The total settlement was $100 million.
Of course BP denied any wrongdoing—that’s a no brainer. But the jury wasn’t buying. Could that have been due to the fact that this particular refinery has a poor safety record predating this particular incident? Lawyers representing the workers cited a 2005 explosion that killed 15 people and injured 170, and they contended BP had failed to take adequate steps to remedy the problems. You know, it probably would have cost less all around—to the workers and BP—if the company had addressed the safety issues in the first place.
Not-So-Cheap Labor? About 200 Spanish-speaking immigrants who were screwed out of their earned overtime wages were vindicated this week when they won their class action against Rockville-based Hann & Hann Construction Services.
The settlement is for $600,000, and according to reports the company will pay “overtime plus 50 percent to every hourly employee who worked for the company from May 8, 2006, to May 8, 2008, who was not paid for overtime.”
You know, there’s a potential cycle of events here. You could argue that the banks recognized a business opportunity with overdraft protection plans (so called), because seemingly thousands of people are not being paid fairly or being legally compensated for their overtime, and so they find themselves going into overdraft just to pay their bills…just a thought. But that doesn’t excuse the gouge.
That’s it for this week - see you at the Bar!
