News & Analysis as of

Class Action Employee Rights State Labor Laws

A class action is a type of legal action where a representative individual or group of individuals can bring a claim on behalf of a larger group or class who share a common legal interest.
Fox Rothschild LLP

Washington State Sees Surge in Wage-and-Hour Class Actions

Fox Rothschild LLP on

Washington employers are experiencing a significant rise in wage-and-hour class action lawsuits, a trend that has accelerated with the recent entry of several California-based law firms into the state. These firms,...more

Fox Rothschild LLP

Knowledge [Literally] Pays: Important Considerations for Massachusetts Employers

Fox Rothschild LLP on

Massachusetts is one of the most employee-friendly states in the nation when it comes to wage-and-hour laws. While the federal minimum wage is only $7.25 per hour, Massachusetts currently requires most employers to pay a...more

Morgan Lewis

Class Action Litigation Over Massachusetts Lie Detector Statute Surges: What Employers Need to Know

Morgan Lewis on

Massachusetts employers are increasingly being targeted in a growing wave of class action litigation under the commonwealth’s longstanding law G.L. c. 149, § 19B. In relevant part, the law requires that all job applications...more

FordHarrison

Liquidated Damages Now Unavailable in Certain New and Pending Payroll Frequency Lawsuits

FordHarrison on

Real World Impact:  Many New York employers facing substantial liability arising from class actions alleging pay frequency violations of New York Labor Law Section 198 now have relief. Governor Hochul recently signed into law...more

Fox Rothschild LLP

New York Scales Back Damages for Frequency-of-Pay Violations

Fox Rothschild LLP on

A recent change to New York labor law means employers will no longer face business-crippling lawsuits for minor frequency-of-pay mistakes, as long as they have not previously been found to have violated the state’s...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

New York Sharply Curtails Damages for Weekly Pay Violations

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

The 2025 New York State budget includes a provision that reduces the potential damages available to plaintiffs for violation of the weekly pay requirement of the New York Labor Law....more

Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP

Good News for Employers: Court Upholds Prospective Meal Break Waivers for Short Shifts

In the recent decision of Bradsbery v. Vicar Operating, Inc., a California appellate court addressed the enforceability of prospective written meal period waivers for employees working shifts between five and six hours. ...more

Buchalter

Class Action Alert: “Conflict of Interest” Policies Are the Newest Trend for Class Action Lawsuits Against Employers in Washington...

Buchalter on

Following a recent Washington Supreme Court decision, plaintiffs’ attorneys in Washington are targeting a new type of class action claim against employers: alleged violations of Washington’s noncompetition statute based on...more

ArentFox Schiff

Prospective Written Meal Period Waivers Survive, California Court Affirms Enforceability

ArentFox Schiff on

The California Court of Appeal recently issued a significant decision affirming that employers and employees may mutually agree, in writing, to prospectively waive the employee’s meal period for shifts between five and six...more

Stoel Rives - World of Employment

California Court of Appeal Confirms the Legality of Prospective Meal Period Waivers

In Bradsbery v. Vicar Operating, Inc., a California Court of Appeal answered a question that many California employers may not have known even needed to be answered—whether California employees can prospectively waive their...more

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

An Important Win for Employers in California: Meal Period Waivers

For over a decade, many California employers have issued written meal period waivers that permit employees to voluntarily agree to prospectively waive 30-minute meal periods throughout their employment and under certain...more

Clark Hill PLC

In win for employers, the California Court of Appeal ruled prospective meal break waivers can be permissible

Clark Hill PLC on

What is a “blanket” or “prospective” meal period waiver? California employers can offer non-exempt employees the opportunity to (1) waive their first meal period if their work period does not exceed six hours or (2) waive...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

California Court of Appeal Rules Prospective Meal Waivers Are Enforceable

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

The California Labor Code generally requires that employers provide meal periods to non-exempt employees working more than five hours. However, the Labor Code provides that meal periods can be waived by agreement of the...more

Fox Rothschild LLP

California Court Rules in Favor of Prospective Meal Period Waivers for Employers

Fox Rothschild LLP on

In a significant ruling for employers, the California Court of Appeal has validated the use of “prospective” meal period waivers, allowing workers to voluntarily waive their meal breaks in advance, under certain conditions....more

Shook, Hardy & Bacon L.L.P.

Does a Day Matter Under the Massachusetts Wage Act? Contradictory Clauses Causes Court to Contend with Canons of Construction

Recently, in a case of first impression, Judge Angel Kelley of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts confronted a “seemingly simple” question on a motion to dismiss: does a difference of one day...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Not Fooling Around: Critical New York State Legislative Updates for Employers as April Begins

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

During the first quarter of 2025, the New York State legislature and Governor Kathy Hochul have been actively advancing several initiatives that – if passed and signed – will require New York employers to adapt their policies...more

Frantz Ward LLP

Ohio Federal Court Preliminarily Approves $20 Million Settlement for Kroger Wage and Hour Lawsuit

Frantz Ward LLP on

On February 20, 2025, Judge Jeffrey P. Hopkins of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio entered an order preliminarily approving a $20.8 million settlement in a collective and class action lawsuit by...more

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

What lies beneath. Three wage and hour dangers you may never see coming.

On January 19, a federal district court in Arkansas paved the way for a jury to decide whether 2,000 employees were entitled to recover unpaid overtime for all weeks in which they worked more than 40 hours, while having...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Federal Lawsuit in New York Raises Questions About Remote Workers’ Rights Under State WARN Laws

The media companies Paramount Global and CBS Interactive, Inc., are facing a class-action lawsuit in federal court over recent layoffs, which allegedly occurred without the proper warning. The outcome of the case may shed...more

CDF Labor Law LLP

Employer Not Required to Initiate Arbitration Following Court-Ordered Arbitration

CDF Labor Law LLP on

The California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District recently issued a clarifying decision in Michelle Arzate, et al. v. ACE American Insurance Company, addressing which party is responsible for initiating arbitration...more

ArentFox Schiff

MA Job Applications Should Provide Notice That You Will Not Use a Lie Detector Test as a Condition of Employment

ArentFox Schiff on

Though most in-house counsel (and even a lot of employment lawyers) are unaware, M.G.L. c. 149, Section 19B makes it unlawful for any employer to subject its employees or job applicants to a lie detector test....more

Stevens & Lee

Third Circuit Predicts No Private Right of Action for Denied Job Applicants Under New Jersey Cannabis Law

Stevens & Lee on

On Dec. 9, 2024, a divided panel of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of a class action lawsuit by New Jersey job applicants denied employment by Walmart because they tested positive for cannabis. The...more

Morgan Lewis

Washington Supreme Court Clarifies Limits on Employers’ Anti-Moonlighting Agreements

Morgan Lewis on

The Supreme Court for the State of Washington issued a decision in David v. Freedom Vans LLC expanding the state’s prohibition against anti-moonlighting covenants for low-wage workers. The court held that employers may not...more

Proskauer - California Employment Law

You Can’t Spell “Aggrieved Employees” Without an “I”: PAGA Claims Cannot be Headless

In yet another attempt to avoid arbitration agreements, plaintiffs’ lawyers in the wake of the blockbuster court decisions in Viking River Cruises, Inc. v. Moriana and Adolph v. Uber Technologies, Inc. began filing so-called...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Navigating Meal Period Compliance: Key Insights From Recent Washington Court Ruling for Employers

An appellate court in Washington state recently held a hospital liable to pay employees who worked through meal period breaks for their time worked plus compensation for an additional break as a penalty, highlighting...more

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