Legal News Articles & Interviews

San Francisco, CA On June 28, the Ninth Circuit confirmed that, in lawsuits brought under the California Labor Code, even very small amounts of work time – measured in seconds, not minutes – must be counted and compensated. The opinion in Rodriguez v. Nike should put an end to latest employer-driven campaign to revive the federal de minimus standard in California labor lawsuits.

Washington, DC It’s semiannual prognostication time for ERISA lawsuits, and in our crystal ball, we see a mysterious stranger, great fortune and heartbreak. No, actually, not. But relying on our lesser powers, we suspect that, for the next six months, three issues will loom large.

San Francisco, CA: After two years of litigation, a California labor lawsuit involving about 4,500 technicians has finally settled for $7.5 million, after legal fees. The federal class action alleged that O.C. Communications Inc., a tech talent supplier, and Comcast Corp. violated state and federal laws, including not paying the workers for all the hours worked and failure to compensate the techs for piecework, overtime or minimum wages.

Washington, DC The Department of Labor has proposed changes in the interpretation of the “joint employer rule.” The rule allows workers, especially in class action wage and hour lawsuits, to reach beyond an immediate employer to seek recovery from a franchisor, corporate parent or other related business entity. If the change goes into effect, it will affect the application of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), but it will not necessarily limit wage and hour protections under California labor law.

Alameda, CA: Patricia Schmitz, age 61, a mother of two with grandchildren and former school teacher, was diagnosed with mesothelioma last year and her doctors say she has little chance to survive. Her asbestos talc case states that J&J products caused the disease; J&J’s attorneys and expert witness argued her cancer was “spontaneous in nature”. The jury awarded Schmitz $12 million in damages.

San Diego, CA A new study, conducted by researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, suggests an association between glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s weed killer Roundup, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in human beings.

Los Angeles, CA Chelsea Hamilton and Alyssa Hernandez brought a class action California labor lawsuit against Wal-Mart, claiming that going through the mandatory security check took so much time and was so intrusive that they were left with less than their legally protected half-hour meal break. Taking feminine hygiene stuff out of their purses was embarrassing. Ms. Hernandez also said the break room was crowded and noisy. They were not prevented from taking the break, but they were discouraged out of it. In April, they won a $6.1 million jury award on behalf of Wal-Mart workers.

Sacramento, CA: Uber and Lyft have become wildly successful, mainly due to classifying their drivers as independent contractors rather than employees, but misclassification is a violation of the California labor law and should the state Senate pass Bill AB5, the gig might be up for them and many other companies whose workers may be re-classified as employees.

Washington, DC: The FDA in December 2017 recommended that repeated use of MRIs with gadolinium contrast dye be minimized wherever possible, and when MRIs are taken closely together in particular. It’s like a Catch-22: an MRI can detect cancer but it can also pose certain risks -- is it better to be safe than sorry?

Philadelphia, PA On May 17, a jury returned an $80 million verdict for Patricia and George Mesigian in their surgical mesh lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Ethicon. The award included $50 million in punitive damages and a record-setting $30 million in compensatory damages.