Legal News Articles & Interviews

Sacramento, CA On March 19, Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered all Californians to stay home except for workers essential to health care, public safety, food, agriculture and media. Those who can work remotely may be juggling work and children. Laid off and furloughed workers are looking at reduced paychecks, even with the wage and benefit protections of federal and California labor law. Independent contractors and the self-employed may be looking at even worse circumstances.

Santa Clara, CA Coronavirus and e-cigarette use have one thing in common: they harm the lungs. And as of March 2020, hundreds of Juul e-cigarette lawsuits have been combined in a California federal court, with many more complaints expected.

Whippany, NJ Bayer, one of the largest and most high-profile public companies in the world, started negotiations last year with plaintiffs’ lawyers to settle tens of thousands of lawsuits involving Roundup. Now it’s been slammed with a shareholder derivative lawsuit.

West Palm Beach, FL Zantac cancer lawsuits will be consolidated in multidistrict litigation in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. At the time of its formation on February 6, the MDL included 15 cases. An additional 126 cases were pending in 21 districts nationwide, and more plaintiffs are expected to join. The consolidated lawsuit will include cancer injury claims and consumer class actions against defendants who manufactured, sold or distributed Zantac and other ranitidine medications.

San Francisco, CA Putting into place public health measures to deal with COVID-19 also raises a number of California labor law issues. Employers are scrambling to navigate a new workplace, which could mean their employees working from home. And employees are anxious to understand their legal rights. Here are the top FAQ’s asked by employees.

New York, NY Retirement plan participants who are concerned that plan administrators and service providers may be running the plan for their own benefit can extract three important lessons from Haley v. Teachers Ins. & Annuity Assoc. of America. First, the possibility that plan fiduciaries and record keepers may be engaged in self-dealing is a very hot topic. These ERISA lawsuits may involve thousands of retirement plans and exponentially more retirement savers. That many plaintiffs can spell huge liability for those who manage a plan. Second, the success of these lawsuits depends on being granted class action status; and finally, the issue of who is a fiduciary and why it matters is often central when it comes to allegations of self-dealing.

Las Cruces, NM On January 14, Bonnie Becker, doing business as Oma’s Slice of Heaven, filed a class action lawsuit in New Mexico federal district court, claiming that First Savings Bank assessed bank overdraft fees even when the transactions in question did not overdraw the account.

San Francisco, CA On March 3, PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP (PwC) offered to settle a lawsuit brought under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) and California labor law. The lawsuit claims the accounting giant systematically discriminated against job applicants older than 40. The settlement offer includes payment of $11.625 million and a promise to remedy discriminatory hiring practices in the future.

Santa Clara, CA Many veterans wrongly believe they cannot file a lawsuit against 3M after the company reached a $9.1 million settlement with the Department of Justice in July 2018 to resolve claims that it defrauded the government by knowingly selling the defective earplugs. But that $9.1 million dollars 3M paid did not go to the service members affected. 3M earplug lawsuits are still being filed and reviewed by attorneys and the first bellwether trials have been slated.

Richmond, CA Blue Apron workers have agreed to settle Bailey v. Blue Apron LLC ,their lawsuit over the  company’s practice of requiring workers to submit to security checks before clocking in for work and after clocking out. The time required for the security checks was unpaid and allegedly violated California labor laws requiring payment for all time during which an employee is under the employer’s control.