Employment Legal News Articles & Interviews

New York, NY McCutcheon v. Colgate- Palmolive Co. is a rarity among modern ERISA lawsuits for the simple reason that it deals with a defined benefit retirement plan. In her class action lawsuit, Rebecca McCutcheon claims that her benefit and the benefits of many participants in the Colgate-Palmolive Co. Employees’ Retirement Income Plan (“Plan”) were miscalculated. Surprisingly, the expert witness offered by the Plan was unable to answer fundamental questions about how benefits were calculated.

Sacramento, CA: Morgan Stanley, known as one of the world's top investment banks, regularly stiffed its workers, according to a proposed class action lawsuit that was settled in California federal court last month to the tune of $10.2 million. The international financial firm was accused of forcing its financial advisers to pay expenses such as business travel, phone and internet services and licensing fees and more, which violate the California Labor Law

New Haven, CT Peter Salovey, the president of Yale University, must submit to a deposition in a long-running class action ERISA lawsuit. Vellali v. Yale University claims that the university, as a fiduciary of the Yale University Retirement Account Plan (the “Plan”), mismanaged Plan assets and investment options in a way that harmed workers trying to save for retirement. It occurs in the context of several similar university ERISA lawsuits. The results of these have been very mixed – some wins, some losses for plan participants, with no clear trend developing. Yale University also has a long history of labor troubles.

Los Angeles, CA A Los Angeles commercial glass manufacturer has agreed to pay $1.3 million to resolve a class action California unpaid wages lawsuit brought on behalf of workers who claim they were shorted on overtime and meal and rest breaks between 2012 and 2018. Most of the more than 1,000 current and former employees affected will pocket about $800, although some will collect as much as $2,400.

Los Angeles, CA: Every time an employee at a Wal-Mart fulfillment center in Chino, California wanted to leave the building they were required to go through anti-theft metal detectors. This time-consuming process cut into 30-minute lunch breaks, unless of course you didn’t leave the building to eat lunch. And on April 12, 2019 a federal district court jury ruled that a violation of the California labor law, ordering Wal-Mart to shell out over $6 million.

Los Angeles, CA Three ERISA lawsuits – two in the District Court for the Central District of California and two in the Northern District of California – show that ERISA can be a powerful tool to protect workers’ rights. Plan participants who claim that their 401k accounts were mismanaged are on a lawsuit hot streak, and patients who have had coverage denied for medical treatments deemed too “investigational” are beginning to see some success, as well.

Chicago, IL On March 31, participants in the Boeing Voluntary Investment Plan (VIP Plan) filed a class action ERISA lawsuit in the Northern District of Illinois. The lawsuit alleges that Boeing knew about problems with its 737 MAX series of airplanes and hid the bad news, all while encouraging plan participants to invest in company stock though the VIP Stock Fund. When the planes dove out of the sky, the stock price dropped, too. Although it hardly compares to the terrible and tragic loss of life, plan participants were also injured when their retirement savings vanished.

San Francisco, CA The settlement in O’Connor v. Uber, if approved, will end a 6-year class action California labor lawsuit over worker misclassification. The affected drivers will receive approximately 37 cents per mile driven for Uber. Significantly, however, Uber has not agreed to re-classify drivers as employees for benefit, minimum wage and overtime protections under California labor law. The settlement occurs as Uber moves toward an initial public offering that could value the company at $100 billion.

Los Angeles, CA: The Supreme Court’s decision in March to reject the California Trucking Association’s appeal regarding workers illegally misclassified by companies as independent contractors is a victory for the California Labor Commissioner, truckers and teamsters. While the decision doesn’t set a standard for determining whether an independent driver is an employee, workers may be considered employees under the California prevailing wage law.

Oakland, CA The District Court for the Northern District of California has approved a settlement in a class action California unpaid wages lawsuit. In the lawsuit, Bisaccia v. Revel Systems, a group of inside sales representatives claim that Revel Systems, Inc. (Revel) failed to pay overtime wages as required under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Under the terms of the settlement, a group of 149 plaintiffs will share a total of $2.75 million.