On February 26, statements from over 69,000 former female employees of Sterling Jewelers were released as part of an ongoing class action suit. The class action against Sterling Jewelers, the parent company of jewelers such as Kay Jewelers, Jared, and others, involves pay discrimination against women. In their statements, the women seeking collective action against Sterling Jewelers detail their encounters with various types of harassment while at the company, ranging from pay discrimination to lewd behavior by male bosses, and including disparate treatment when they’ve tried to report inappropriate behavior.
Sterling Jewelers Suit Casts Light on Wider Policies Hurting Women
In light of Justice Scalia’s Death, Dow Chemicals Settles Instead of Taking Its Chances in Front of the Supreme Court
In a statement released on February 26th, Dow Chemicals announced the $835 million settlement of a pending class-action lawsuit citing “growing political uncertainties due to recent events within the Supreme Court and increased likelihood for unfavorable outcomes for business involved in class action suits.” The suit in question—a class action lawsuit alleging illegal urethane price fixing—has already been decided by a lower court in favor of the plaintiff class with damages totaling $1.06 billion. Prior to settlement, Dow filed a writ of certiorari with the Supreme Court, requesting review of the lower court’s verdict for improper application of class-action lawsuit standards. However, it appears that the passing of Justice Scalia has revised Dow’s risk assessment to the tune of $835 million.
Uber Plans to Appeal Driver Class Certification
The U.S District Court for the Northern District of California set up a high-stakes legal battle for Uber that might erode the unicorn’s $50 billion valuation.
In his September 1decision, Judge Edward M. Chen granted class-action status to a lawsuit brought by two Uber drivers seeking reclassification as employees to obtain reimbursement for expenses and tips. He ordered that the suit applies to all drivers in California who didn’t waive their right to the class action.
Despite the fact that Judge Chen had previously approved the arbitration clause stated in Uber’s drivers contracts in O’Connor v. Uber Technologies, Inc., he recently denied Uber’s motion to compel arbitration finding the arbitration clauses entered into with Uber drivers to be unenforceable.
Volkswagen Braces for “Dieselgate” Fallout
On September 19, 2015 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) called for a recall of almost 500,000 Volkswagen (VW) diesel powered cars, after finding these cars contain software that manipulates results for standard emissions tests. In its report, the EPA states that this software “allowed Volkswagen vehicles to spew as much as 40 times the pollution allowed under the Clean Air Act.” On Tuesday, VW disclosed that 11 million cars have this software, suggesting that there is a possibility for a global recall.
Since this announcement there have already been 16 class actions filed against VW in the United States. These suits “include claims for breach of warranty and fraud by concealment as well as various state consumer protection laws.”
Class Certification in Nexium ‘Pay for Delay’ Litigation Survives Appeal
On January 21, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit concluded that a district court did not abuse its discretion in certifying a class of Nexium purchasers in their “pay for delay” claim against the drug’s producer, AstraZeneca. The plaintiff class, made up of Nexium purchasers, asserted a Sherman Act claim against AstraZeneca, arguing the drug company injured consumers by foreclosing generic markets of the heartburn drug.
Silicon Valley Juggernauts Continue to Struggle with No-Poaching Claims
Microsoft and Redwood City-based company Oracle, a database and software developer, are the latest Silicon Valley tech companies to be sued for allegedly using illegal tactics to keep employee wages low. Complainants are attempting to join with a similar 2011 claim against other Silicon Valley companies like Apple and Google.
Google Poised to Execute Long-Delayed Stock Split
Google’s 2-for-1 stock split, which was first floated to investors almost two years ago but delayed by a shareholder lawsuit, has finally been approved by Google’s board on January 30, 2014, following a settlement of the lawsuit.
Halliburton: After Arguments
The blogosphere is abuzz over Halliburton. Will the Supreme Court overturn Basic
and abolish the fraud-on-the-market presumption? Will the decision end shareholder class actions as we have known them? Presumably, by the Fourth of July, we will know.
Judge Awards Highest Antitrust Settlement Ever In Massive Credit Card Class Action
In December of 2013, U.S. District Judge John Gleeson of Brooklyn, New York approved what is believed to be the largest antitrust settlement ever made. The case revolves around claims by merchants against Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. alleging that the two companies fixed merchant fees charged each time customers used credit or debit cards. The estimated $5.7 billion settlement comes amid a flurry of objections and appeal filings by thousands of retailers who believe the sum is inadequate. The amount was originally even higher—$7.25 billion and certain injunctive relief.
D.C. Circuit’s Rail Freight Contacts Decision Reflects Greater Scrutiny of Antitrust Class Certification in the Wake of Supreme Court’s Comcast Ruling
[Editor’s Note: The following post is authored by Arnold & Porter LLP]
Earlier this month, the influential U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued an important decision on the standards for certifying antitrust class actions. Taking its cue from the Supreme Court’s decision this past March in Comcast Corp. v. Behrend, the D.C. Circuit vacated a lower court decision certifying a class of shippers in an antitrust case against railroads alleging collusion on fuel surcharges. The ruling in In re: Rail Freight Fuel Surcharge Antitrust Litigation is significant as the first known decision to apply Comcast to reject a proposed antitrust class. Companies facing overreaching class action suits may be able to take comfort that, after a few lower court decisions sidestepping Comcast, the principles set forth in that decision are now catching on in the lower courts.
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