Unpaid Wages Legal News Articles & Interviews

San Francisco, CA  On November 15, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced that Amazon had agreed to pay the State of California $500,000 and amend its Covid-19 notification practices to comply with California’s new “right-to-know” law. AB 685, enacted in December 2020, amended the California Labor Code to require employers to notify workers about potential workplace exposure in ways designed to actually provide them with meaningful information, on the basis of which they might make informed healthcare choices.

Chicago, IL On October 19, Maria Guadalupe Amador filed a Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) collective action lawsuit against Kemper Corp., alleging that the insurance giant cheated her and other call center workers out of wages due under federal and Illinois law. Recent lawsuit news coverage has often focused on whether very small (de minimus) amounts of time must be counted in wage calculations under federal law. Ms. Amador’s off the clock work claims are not small, however. Further, the tasks to be accomplished during the unpaid time seem to have been essential to the workers’ performance of other tasks.

Washington, DC On October 12, the U.S. Supreme Court denied DoorDash Inc’s petition for certiorari, thus declining to review the decision of the California Court of Appeals in Brandon Campbell v. DoorDash, Inc. The Court of Appeals’s decision permitted Campbell, a DoorDash driver, to proceed with his Private Attorneys General (PAGA) claim, without first submitting it to arbitration. Campbell’s PAGA claim was based on his allegation that DoorDash’s payment scheme violated the minimum wage requirements of the California Labor Code.

Washington, DC On September 9, Delta Airlines, Inc. asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review decisions by the Ninth Circuit and preceding lower courts in Oman v. Delta Airlines, Inc. The Oman decisions recognize the generous protections of the California Labor Code for airline employees based in California.

San Francisco, CA On September 20, the Ninth Circuit partially dismissed, partially upheld and remanded back to the District Court a GrubHub driver’s claim that he was owed back wages and other remedies under the California Labor Code and related wage orders. Raef Lawson v. Grubhub is a complicated decision, but there is some positive news for gig workers who allege that they were misclassified as independent contractors.

San Jose, CA On September 23, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California heard objections to a $95.7 million offer made by Wells Fargo to settle consolidated class action lawsuits brought by Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Consultants (HMCs). The lawsuits allege that the bank violated California state labor laws by failing to either provide or pay for rest breaks for its HMCs.

Cleveland, OH On September 14, the Northern District of Ohio granted conditional certification to a group of hemp workers in Tenita Bryant v. North Coast Natural Solutions, LLC. The employees may now move one step farther along in their pursuit of unpaid wages claims against a collection of related hemp enterprises that did business as AgeVital Pharmacy. Their lawsuit alleges violations of both the federal Fair Labor Standards Ace (FLSA) and the Ohio Minimum Fair Wage Standards Act (OMFWSA).

Butte, MT U.S. Minerals, Inc. has agreed to plead guilty to a federal misdemeanor charge under the Clean Air Act (CAA) and to pay a criminal penalty of $393,200. The mining company has also agreed to a medical monitoring program for current and former employees who have been exposed to elevated levels of arsenic. Employees who take advantage of the medical monitoring program will not forfeit their right to pursue civil lawsuits, including unpaid wages claims, as the facts dictate. In addition, U.S. Minerals has also offered to settle a civil lawsuit brought by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for $106,800.

Fresno, CA Three former employees of Kraft Heinz Foods Co. at the Tulare, California plant have filed a lawsuit citing violations of federal and California employee labor laws including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866; the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990; the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), the Ralph Civil Rights Act, and the Tom Bane Civil Rights Act.

Santa Clara, CA Assembly Bill 701 is expected to reach California lawmakers any day now. Bill 701 will curtail Amazon’s algorithm-led and unfavorable warehouse work conditions by requiring warehouses to disclose quotas and work speed metrics to employees and government agencies. The bill will also put an end to “time off task” penalties that affect health and safety, including bathroom use, and prohibit retaliation against workers who complain.