posted by on Aug 30
Walmart Class Action
The Walmart Class Action was filed in April 2010, when it was allowed to proceed as a class action. The original Walmart lawsuit was filed in 2001, over alleged gender discrimination against women employees. About one million women in the United States may be part of the Walmart class action, which exposes Walmart to billions of dollars of potential loss. Walmart asked the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to remove the class action status, but to no avail. The landmark case against Walmart will now proceed with the class action status in courts. Walmart says it will appeal again, this time to the Supreme Court.
The suit alleges that Walmart gives women fewer promotions and pays them less. Walmart is the world’s largest retail store, and the United States’ largest private employer. The case affects women who’ve worked in Walmart stores since 2001. A lower court is also deciding whether women who worked at Walmart from 1998 to 2001 can also be included in the Walmart Class Action lawsuit. There are more than three thousand Walmart stores in the United States alone. Walmart tried unsuccessfully to undo the class action status, which is considered a big victory for the plaintiffs.
Walmart has tried hard in the last decade to upgrade its image with the public. They’ve engaged in several high-profile public relation projects, like improving the eco friendly aspects of the businness, and helping with disaster relief efforts.
It’s interesting to note that the six judges who ruled in favor of establishing the case as a Walmart class action were appointed by Democratic presidents, while the five who ruled against where appointed by Republicans.
Experts in class action law agree that if the class action status sticks, Walmart will under tremendous pressure to settle the case.
posted by on Aug 6
Riot Police at the G20 in Toronto in June
Toronto Police and the federal Attorney General in Canada are named in a G20 class action lawsuit over wrongful arrests in June. The 45 million Canadian dollar suit is brought by representative for the plaintiff, Sherry Good. Ms. Good claims she and hundreds of others present at the protests against the G20 Summit were detained for hours and arrested without cause amidst chaos during protests that turned violent.
Violence during the otherwise peaceful G20 protests was initiated and mostly carried out by a relatively small group of people, dressed all in black and wearing black balaclavas. This group smashed windows of small businesses, banks and coffee shops, and in some cases did some looting as well. They also targeted at least three police cars in different sections of the city, in some cases setting them on fire. In one case, a windshield was smashed and molotov cocktail thrown through the hole.
Ms Good, along with nearly 800 plaintiffs in the G20 class action lawsuit say they were not violent, and had nothing to do with the violence but were targeted for detention and arrest nevertheless. They are suing the Toronto Police Services Board, who oversees the Toronto Police. They are also suing the federal Attorney General, who legally represents the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
posted by on Jul 11
Facebook, the online social networking giant, has faces numerous lawsuits since its inception just a few short years ago. The latest comes from Canada, where a law firm in Winnipeg, Manitoba has filed a Facebook class action lawsuit just this month.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his website are faced with allegations that his website mishandled private information and used personal data for commercial purposes, committing a breach of privacy for the main plaintiff, Donald J. Woligroski. Mr. Woligroski is a resident Winnipeg and a registered user of Facebook. He and the class action claim injury due to mishandling of private information on the internet.
Privacy advocates have had issue with Facebook for a long time. The current class action filed in Canada involves sharing tools where personal information is allegedly sent to other websites. Facebook says the claims are without merit and that they will fight the lawsuit vigorously.
posted by on Jan 28
Unpaid Wages are a Common Problem in the Workplace
Unpaid Wages are a widespread problem, despite decades of fair labor laws and enforcement via the State and Federal government and watchdog agencies.
Workers have had problems in this area it seems ever since there have been workers. An until recently, the legal recourse has been limited, since an individual suing a company often didn’t come out ahead in the end, with legal costs and stress.
But now unpaid wages class action lawsuits have become more common, and workers can join together to sue a common employer for unpaid wages and overtime. Overtime lawsuits, unpaid commissions, and unpaid wages are handled regularly in a class action format, as more lawyers specialize in this area of legal expertise.
Unpaid Wages can result from any number of the following events, which are all considered a basis for unpaid wages class action lawsuits:
- Your overtime hours being classified incorrectly as exempt from overtime
- no breaks for meals or rest
- mistakes in calculating the overtime amounts
- chargebacks
- not getting paid for on-call, travel or other compensable time
- failure for reimbursement
- being classified as an independent contractor when you’re not
Unpaid wages class action lawsuits allow the worker the chance to challenge unfair payment practices on an even playing field, where as an individual, it was either too costly or too risky.
