Legal News Articles & Interviews

Charleston, SC On May 26, Jeffrey Clark filed a lawsuit against 3M and a host of other corporate defendants citing his exposure to perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS/PFOA) firefighting foams as the likely cause of his kidney cancer. Clark v. 3M Company will be consolidated for pre-trial proceedings into the Multidistrict Litigation now currently before the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina.

San Francisco, CA  In the wake of the Northern District of California’s rejection of a proposed settlement that would have limited Monsanto’s future liability for glyphosate lawsuits, Monsanto has announced that it will reconsider reformulating Roundup products marketed for residential use. Bayer AG has looked to limit its potential financial exposure to Monsanto glyphosate lawsuits ever since it acquired the company in 2018.

San Francisco, CA Sneaker giant Nike seems poised to settle a long-running California labor lawsuit for $8.25 million. Rodriguez v. Nike Retail Services Inc. has a history that reflects one of the more significant developments in California labor law since 2018.

Santa Clara, CA Although the “No Surprises Act” will be in effect January 1, 2022, the first regulations are slated for July 2021. If all goes according to plan, patients to emergency rooms will no longer be hit with outrageous ER overcharges or receive surprise bills in the mail, mainly due to out of network treatment.

Kalamazoo, MI On May 6, Susan Gleason and Candi Gabrielse filed a class action ERISA lawsuit against Bronson Healthcare Group Inc. in the Western District of Michigan. Gleason v. Bronson Healthcare is an example of increasingly distinctive subtype of breach of fiduciary duty lawsuits that focus on the relative cost and performance of two Fidelity investment funds, both of which were part of the Bronson Healthcare Group, Inc. 403(b) Tax Sheltered Matching Plan.

San Francisco, CA Parties have asked the Northern District of California to approve an agreement to settle unpaid wages claims against Ecolab. If approved as expected, the settlement would end a lawsuit in which employees claim that they were misclassified as salaried workers and consequently deprived of overtime, double time and unpaid rest periods including meal breaks.

Pensacola, FLThe second 3M earplug lawsuit ended with a win for the defense.  The Combat Arms Earplug manufacturer lost the first bellwether trial that ended with a $7.1 million win for veterans. Now, hundreds of thousands of victims with hearing loss allegedly from defective earplugs await the third and final trial on June 7th in Pensacola.

Los Angeles, CA On May 18, the California Supreme Court heard arguments about what the phrase “regular rate of compensation” means for the purpose of calculating premium payments that must be paid when employers fail to offer meal and rest breaks as required by the California Labor Code. More specifically, the questions are: Does the phrase “regular rate of compensation,” as used in Industrial Wage Order No. 5-2001, mean the same thing as “regular rate of pay” under California Labor Code Section 226.7? Must the premium payments required by Wage Order No. 5 include any additional incentive compensation such as nondiscretionary bonuses, or are they limited to an hourly worker’s base wage?

Los Angeles, CA A former employee of In-N-Out Burger accuses the fast food restaurant chain of numerous California Labor Code violations, and unfair business practices, from COVID protocol failure to retaliation for whistleblowing. Luis Becerra is seeking to represent current and former In-N-Out employees dating back to January 2020.

San Francisco, CA After more than two years of negotiations, Kaiser Permanente has settled two class action lawsuits claiming that it discriminated against employees on the basis of race and in violation of the California Labor law.