Employment Legal News Articles & Interviews

Santa Ana, CA On August 18, Allianz Asset Management of America, LLC and the Investment Committee of the Allianz Asset Management of America 401(k) Savings and Retirement Plan agreed to settle a breach of fiduciary duty ERISA lawsuit brought by former participants in the plan. The $7.5 million payout will go to roughly 5,139 participants and beneficiaries in the 401k plan, according to the filing.

Charleston, SC On August 29, the District Court for the District of South Carolina preliminarily approved a revision to the $12.5 billion proposed settlement in a class action perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl lawsuit brought by a long list of water utilities. The settlement was reached after a five-year legal battle that involved 37.4 million pages of discovery documents and more than 160 depositions. The revision is specifically designed to protect the utilities from some future liabilities.

Santa Clara, CA An unpaid wages lawsuit filed by former Amazon warehouse employees in a California federal court has reached a settlement. The lawsuit, filed in February 2021, accused Amazon of violating the Fair Labor Standards Act and the California Labor Code when they were forced to undergo unpaid COVID-19 screenings before clocking in. They spent at least 10 to 15 minutes being screened before each shift.

San Francisco, CA A proposed California labor class action against Twitter, or X Corp., alleging age discrimination will proceed after a California federal judge partially denied the company’s attempt to toss the complaint. The social media platform is now facing claims that mass layoffs occurred after Elon Musk took control of the company and disproportionately impacted employees over the age of 50.

San Francisco, CA The City of San Francisco at the end of August filed a lawsuit against Qwick Inc., accusing the hospitality staffing company of misclassifying their workers as independent contractors to deny them guaranteed wages and benefits. Qwick workers are unable to receive overtime, meals and rest breaks, health care or paid leave, and San Francisco city attorney David Chiu says Qwick has an "unfair business advantage" over businesses abiding by the California labor and employment laws.

New York, NY A former pizzeria employee has filed a proposed class action lawsuit against the owner of two New York pizza shops, alleging he was paid below minimum wage and was not paid overtime. The complaint claims that an “illegal” tip credit was used to justify being paid no more than $10 per hour. The complaint, which was filed late August in New York federal court, alleges both restaurants violated the Fair Labor Standards Act, New York Labor Law and the New York State Wage Theft Prevention Act.

Los Angeles, CA A Los Angeles jury sided with a WestRock employee who claimed he was discriminated against and awarded him $9.5 million in a California labor lawsuit. Lowry McCray accused the cardboard packaging giant of terminating him because he has a mental disability that caused his unfair treatment in the workplace. Further, WestRock refused to investigate the unfair treatment that could have helped McCray.

Santa Clara, CA Apple Inc. workers who filed a wage-and-hour dispute in a California court have settled for $500,000. An investigation, which began in early 2022, showed that Apple’s overtime pay rate each month did not include the commissions that Solutions Consultants earned that month and Apple did not pay all Solutions Consultants for travel time between required meetings and their worksites.

Santa Clara, CA A California wage and hour lawsuit filed by a real estate brokerage operator and almost 3,000 agents is close to settlement. The lawsuit, which was filed three years ago, alleges Redfin Corp. misclassified the real estate agents as independent contractors to avoid paying overtime wages, and other California labor law violations.

St. Paul, MN On August 21, the federal District Court for the District of Minnesota dismissed – for a second time-- an ERISA lawsuit brought by participants in the Taylor Corporation’s 401k and profit-sharing plan. The decision in Fritton v. Taylor Corp. concludes that the participants did not meet the requirements of what it termed “the meaningful benchmark standard.” The District Court is not the only court to apply this standard.