LAWSUITS NEWS & LEGAL INFORMATION
Anne Wallace
Anne Wallace is a New York lawyer, currently living in the metropolitan Washington, DC area. She writes on legal and business issues and teaches at the college and professional level. Anne graduated from Fordham Law School and Wellesley College.
Amazon Retaliates against Women Demanding Fair Pay
December 7, 2023.
Seattle, WA In Wilmuth v. Amazon, three professional research team leaders filed a proposed class and collective lawsuit against Amazon.com, Inc. for its established practice of paying women less than men for similar work. It’s the usual gross, dreary, demeaning stuff that women deal with at work. But the Amazon researchers also claim that the company retaliated against them for raising the issue of gender pay discrimination. The retaliation they describe may amount to a form of wrongful termination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Read [ Amazon Retaliates against Women Demanding Fair Pay ]
Lawsuit Links PFAS PFOA Water Contamination to Ulcerative Colitis
November 27, 2023.
Charleston, SC On September 13, Marye Smith filed a perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina. Smith v. 3M Company alleges that Ms. Smith developed ulcerative colitis because of years of exposure to toxic PFAS in drinking water contaminated with aqueous firefighting foam.
Read [ Lawsuit Links PFAS PFOA Water Contamination to Ulcerative Colitis ]
Jury Awards $107 Million in Asbestos Mesothelioma Lawsuit
November 22, 2023.
Los Angeles, CA On July 11, a California jury awarded the family of a man who died of asbestos mesothelioma more than $107 million. Joel Hernandezcueva, the father of four young children, died in 2014 from pleural mesothelioma, a terminal cancer that his treating physicians testified is caused only by asbestos exposure.
Read [ Jury Awards $107 Million in Asbestos Mesothelioma Lawsuit ]
Home Healthcare Employer Settles Wage Lawsuit for $700,000
November 19, 2023.
Newark, NJ On October 20, Bayada Home Health Care Inc. agreed to pay home healthcare workers $700,000 to settle an unpaid wage lawsuit. Ivanovs v. Bayada Home Health Care Inc. was a 6-year legal battle. The workers' awards will range from $300 to $6,000, according to the settlement.
Read [ Home Healthcare Employer Settles Wage Lawsuit for $700,000 ]
ESG Rules for ERISA Plan Investing Survive Conservative Challenge
November 14, 2023.
Amarillo, TX On September 21, US District Court for the Northern District of Texas Judge Matthew J. Kasmaryk held that plan fiduciaries may consider environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in choosing pension plan investments. The ERISA lawsuit, Utah v. Walsh, was seen as the “anti-woke” coalition’s best shot at limiting the range of factors that fiduciaries could consider in investment decisions.
Read [ ESG Rules for ERISA Plan Investing Survive Conservative Challenge ]
Customer Service Representatives Stiffed of Pre- and Post-Shift Wages
October 23, 2023.
Newark, NJ On September 22, Rusty Brittain and Richard Tounsel, two call center workers, filed a collective and class action unpaid wage lawsuit against their former employer. Brittain v. DialAmerica Marketing, Inc. alleges that DialAmerica had an established practice of failing to pay customer service representatives for all hours worked as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act. Townsel has filed an additional claim under Illinois wage and hour laws. The lawsuit seeks damages and other relief on behalf of all similarly situated employees for the past three years. DialAmerica employs more than 5,000 call service representatives and managers at locations throughout the country, so the affected class could be large.
Read [ Customer Service Representatives Stiffed of Pre- and Post-Shift Wages ]
Exposure to PFAS Doubles Cancer Risk in Women
October 18, 2023.
Ann Arbor, MI A study, published on September 18 in the Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology suggests that exposure to perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS and PFOA) compounds greatly increases the risk of melanoma, ovarian and uterine cancers in women. The precise mechanism is unknown, but PFAS exposure appears to affect the immune and hormonal systems, liver function and other bodily processes.
Read [ Exposure to PFAS Doubles Cancer Risk in Women ]
Construction Laborers Pension Plan Sues Investment Manager for ERISA Breach
October 17, 2023.
Los Angeles, CA On September 15, the Construction Laborers Pension Plan for Southern California and the Board of Trustees for that fund filed an ERISA lawsuit against Meketa Investment Group and Judy Chambers. The lawsuit alleges that Meketa breached its fiduciary duty to the Pension Fund by advising it to invest $30 million in participants’ retirement savings in a California-focused Infrastructure Fund to be managed by Onset General Partner, LLC. Onset was a hastily formed company with ties to Chambers. Meketa then essentially abandoned its fiduciary and contractual duties to review and monitor Onset’s investment program.
Read [ Construction Laborers Pension Plan Sues Investment Manager for ERISA Breach ]
Allianz Asset Management Settles ERISA Lawsuit for $7.5 Million
October 3, 2023.
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.
Read [ Allianz Asset Management Settles ERISA Lawsuit for $7.5 Million ]
$12.5 Billion PFAS Settlement Revised to Extend 3M Liability
September 29, 2023.
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.
Read [ $12.5 Billion PFAS Settlement Revised to Extend 3M Liability ]
- Minnesota District Court Dismisses ERISA Fiduciary Breach Lawsuit (Sep-5-23)
- Maryland’s Largest Water Utility Files PFAS Lawsuit (Aug-30-23)
- Pfizer 401k Plan Hit with ERISA Lawsuit (Aug-18-23)
- Xerox Settles ERISA Lawsuit for $7.2 Million plus Free or Reduced-Cost Retiree Medical and Dental Coverage (Aug-15-23)
- 3M to Settle PFAS/PFOA Water Contamination Lawsuit for $10.3 Billion (Jul-24-23)
- Xerox Settles ERISA Lawsuit for $7.2 Million plus Free or Reduced-Cost Retiree Medical and Dental Coverage (Jul-5-23)
- J&J Talcum Powder Lawsuit Begins May 31, Despite Bankruptcy Stay (Jun-27-23)
- As Goes the Water in Waterville, so Goes the Nation’s (Jun-13-23)
- Family Feud Savages ESOP Participants’ Retirement Fund (Jun-12-23)
- State AGs Join Opposition to LTL Bankruptcy in Talcum Powder Lawsuits (May-29-23)
- PFAS Linked to Obesity (May-26-23)
- Enfamil Linked to Preemie Blindness, Cerebral Palsy (May-23-23)
- San Francisco Superior Court: Pay Banquet Servers $9 Million (May-18-23)
- ERISA Lawsuits Target Environmental, Social and Governance Factors in Plan Asset Decisions (May-16-23)
- Ninth Circuit Overturns California’s “No Forced Arbitration Law” (Apr-30-23)
- Johnson & Johnson Offers $8.9 Billion to Settle Talcum Powder Lawsuits (Apr-29-23)
- Can PFAS and PFOAs be Scrubbed from Drinking Water? (Apr-27-23)
- What Now? Retirement Plan Cybertheft Is ERISA Lawsuit To Watch (Apr-3-23)
- Gaming Giant to Settle ERISA Lawsuit for $5.5 Million (Mar-28-23)
- Camp LeJeune Contaminated Water Lawsuits – Where’s the Flood? (Mar-25-23)
- Thinx, Inc. to Settle PFAS/PFOA Lawsuit (Mar-20-23)
- In Utah Nonpatients Can Sue for Medical Malpractice (Sometimes) (Feb-7-23)
- ERISA Lawsuit Settlement Hits Stumbling Block (Jan-30-23)
- Can PAGA Claims Survive U.S. Supreme Court’s Pro-Arbitration Decisions? (Jan-24-23)
- Jury Awards Idaho Man $7.96 Million in Medical Malpractice Lawsuit (Dec-29-22)
- L3 Technologies ERISA Lawsuit Seeks Class Action Status (Dec-28-22)
- Asbestos Mesothelioma Victims Stymied by Bestwall LLC Bankruptcy (Dec-27-22)
- California Files PFAS/PFOA Lawsuit against 3M Company (Dec-26-22)
- DOL Files Unpaid Wages Lawsuit on Behalf of Home Healthcare Workers (Dec-13-22)
- Yale University Pension Plan Lawsuit Heading to Jury Trial (Dec-12-22)
- North Carolina Sues 3M Co. for PFAS/PFOA Environmental Damage (Dec-5-22)
- Booz Allen Hamilton BlackRock Target Date Funds at Heart of New ERISA Lawsuit (Dec-4-22)
- Time Spent “Booting Up” Computers may be Compensable (Nov-29-22)
- Department of Defense to Stop Using PFAS-Based Firefighting Foam in 2024 (Nov-14-22)
- Veteran Files Camp LeJeune Contaminated Water Lawsuit (Nov-7-22)
- Parties to Settle 401k Fiduciary Breach Lawsuit in Reichert v. Juniper Networks, Inc. (Oct-31-22)
- Assisted Living Operator to Settle Wage and Hour Lawsuit for $9.5 Million (Oct-18-22)
- CDC: Preemies and Low Birth Weight Babies Have No Access to Breast Milk at 13 Percent of Neonatal Intensive C (Oct-11-22)
- $90 Million Missing -- “Embezzlement and fraud,” cry AME Pastors in Pension Lawsuit (Sep-14-22)
- Class Action Toxic Tort Lawsuit Filed in Camp LeJeune Water Contamination Case (Sep-12-22)