Employment & Labor

The government's ruling on the General Motors case limits employee protection for offensive language or behavior in the workplace.

The High Court ruled that gays and transgenders are protected by the federal civil law prohibiting employers from firing workers based on sexual orientation.

NPR just announced that Facebook reached a $52M payout following a class action lawsuit for failure to provide a safe working environment for its content moderators. The suit claims that as a result of the repeated exposure to extreme graphic content, many content moderators suffered "debilitating physical and psychological harm," including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The settlement gives class members, consisting of current or former content moderators, $1000 each and up to $50,000 for medical treatment. Facebook also agreed to provide mental health counseling to its moderators.

As the government shifts its focus from coronavirus containment to restarting the economy, discussions have begun in Congress regarding the second pandemic relief bill, in particular, the issue of providing immunity for businesses from lawsuits related to the pandemic. As companies reopen, employees want to return to work without the risk of getting sick. At the same time, employers want liability protection from workers who might get COVID-19 on the job and decide to sue. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who will oversee much of the coronavirus relief legislation, thinks a lawsuit shield for companies against possible claims must be included.

The putative class action plaintiffs, the fans, ticket holders, come out swinging. ‘No’, they exclaim, this is a classic case of fraudulently inducing consumers to purchase PPV and tickets to the fight under false pretenses by concealing material facts, a serious injury existing before the fight, before any sales of PPV and to the fight arena. Before the contracts were even signed. Those disclosures certainly would have disrupted PPV and ticket sales, a circumstance unfavorable to all defendants. It was hidden from the consumers.

The 400 million dollar fight of the century, but Manny Pacquiao never disclosed his torn rotator cuff injury prior to signing the deal, or telling Nevada boxing authorities before the fight. A defensive, boring fight resulted. Numerous class actions were quickly filed, everyone in the arena or watching on HBO. The defendants come out swinging, filing motions to dismiss in the first round. The fans ‘knocked out’ in the first round’ with the federal district court judge stating ‘disappointed fans injuries’ are not recognized by the courts. Scores of lawsuits, class actions and individual actions, consumers knocked out. Part II of III.

Keen fight fans and critics observed Pacquiao’s right jabs were not landing as hard and fast as before, notably from the fourth round onwards. Indeed, right after Mayweather was announced the winner Pacquiao’s team revealed that he was actually hampered by a shoulder injury, which had started hurting from the third round and had been re-aggravated in the fourth. One version of the injury’s genesis is that about three weeks before the match, Pacquiao collided with another fighter during sparring, entangled arms resulting in a right rotator cuff (the ball of muscles and tendons attaching the upper-arm bone to the shoulder socket) tear. The lawsuit that followed alleged the injury predated the fight’s contract signing. In either event, the media, public and Nevada State Athletic Commission (NASC) were not timely informed.

While employers certainly bemoan an ‘expansion’ of the employee definition, it is argued that it provides them improved clarity regarding previously uncertain classification issues.

PAGA of 2004 ushered in a new era for California employees and employers.

California Pay Stub law is a highly technical minefield for an employer and a ripe field for class action prosecution.

“The reality is that this game destroys people’s brains.”

How can employees obtain class action certification on commonality and typicality without the testimony of every class member making a class action trial unmanageable?