LAWSUITS NEWS & LEGAL INFORMATION

Oakland, CA: A California judge has given the green light to settle several California labor lawsuits alleging the retail giant violated California’s Private Attorneys General Act by failing to provide seating for more than 90,000 cashiers.

New Berlin, WI: Danell Behrens filed a proposed class action overdraft fees lawsuit in February 2017 against Landmark Credit Union (LCU), alleging the not-for-profit financial institution charged its members more than $2 million in overdraft fees, in violation of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (ETFA) and LCU’s own overdraft program contract. LCU has agreed to refund some of those fees and change its overdraft practices as part of the settlement agreement.

Memphis, TN: A former Store Manager recently filed an employment complaint against First Cash and Cash America (also known as Cash America Pawn) for unpaid overtime compensation. “We estimate that 1,000 store managers nationwide have been misclassified and eligible for overtime,” says attorney Alan Crone, “and upwards of 3,000 employees may have an overtime claim against Cash America Pawn for violating the Fair Standards Labor Act.”

Santa Clara, CA: As a disability claims consultant and former Unum employee, Linda Nee knows just about every trick in the insurance company’s books to dispute and deny disability benefits to claimants. She says that Unum, or First Unum is “nickel and diming” its policy holders by alleging overpayments associated with SSDI and other monthly earnings offsets, including Retirement Income.

Hartford, CT: Imagine that an injury results in you being disabled and unable to return to work. You apply for long term disability but Hartford, your insurance company, denies your benefits. You don’t have any savings and no other source of income. And then you find out that Hartford, along with two other insurance companies, bails out the town of Hartford for millions of dollars – and not even their policyholders. Wouldn’t you want to be part of that payout? Wouldn’t you be angry, to say the least?

Los Angeles: After workers at Fullerton Pacific Interiors Inc., complained about California labor law violations to the non-profit Carpenters Contractors Cooperation Committee, the California Labor Commissioner’s Office stepped in. Investigators found that the drywall company paid a daily rate that didn’t include overtime hours or rest breaks and 28 workers were not even paid minimum wage. Fullerton was fined nearly $2million for wage theft violations.

San Francisco, CA On July 24, 2018, the Ninth Circuit held that the plaintiffs in a pension plan lawsuit could continue their legal fight as a class action, rather than having to arbitrate individually.Munro v. University of Southern California is a major victory for ERISA plan participants who were required to sign individual arbitration agreements as a condition of employment. The Court likened these ERISA lawsuits to whistle blower lawsuits–essentially viewing the plaintiffs as public prosecutors acting in defense of the pension plan itself. This is a very broad argument that may ultimately have wider legal implications.