The roller coaster of employer liability under the background check provisions of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) recently took an upswing with the California Court of Appeals’ decision in Culberson v. Walt Disney Parks & Resorts. The Culberson court considered two class claims, both of which are now-familiar spindles ready to prick the
employment
Hyper-Technical Interpretation: 9th Circuit Increases FCRA Reach
By Heidi Siegmund, Bryan A. Fratkin, Joel Allen, Sabrina A. Beldner, Christopher M. Michalik, Bruce M. Steen & McGuireWoods LLP on
Posted in Strategy
On Jan. 29, 2019, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a strikingly broad decision, raised the bar for employers’ compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). In Gilberg v California Check Cashing Stores LLC, the court held that an employer violates the FCRA by including, in a pre-background check notice form,
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Supreme Court Upholds Employee Class-/Collective-Action Waivers under Federal Arbitration Act
By The Editors on
Posted in Class Action
We’ve been monitoring the appellate battles over the enforceability of class- and collective-action waivers in the employment context since September 2016, when we pondered whether circuit splits would land the issue in the Supreme Court. Since then, our colleagues in the Labor and Employment practice at McGuireWoods have supplied interim reports on the Supreme…
“Opt Out” Provisions May Provide Path Forward for Class-Action Waivers in Employment Contracts
By The Editors on
Posted in Class Action
Los Angeles labor and employment litigators Michael Mandel and Amy Beverlin bring us perspective on three class-action waiver cases currently awaiting decision by the Supreme Court, as well as a potential path forward for class-action waivers in employment contracts.
Everyone is talking about the future of class-action waivers in employment arbitration agreements after the Supreme…
Confidentiality & Class Action Settlements
By The Editors on
Posted in Settlement
Many class settlement agreements contain confidentiality clauses. How seriously should we take them?
Thornton v. Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, LLC, No.12-CV-298-JED-FHM, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 151211 (N.D. Okla. Oct. 22, 2013), answers the question: seriously indeed.
Thornton itself was not a class action. It was a sex discrimination case. In Thornton, the defendant identified…
A Tale of Two Arbitrations
By The Editors on
Posted in Motions Practice
Those who argue that AT&T v. Concepcion killed the class action must be having an interesting January. Two of the more significant cases so far this year–Compucredit Corp. v. Greenwood (2012) and D.R. Horton, Inc. v. Cuda (NLRB 2012), have involved similar questions about when a defendant can move to compel arbitration in a…
Classic Cases – General Telephone Company of the Southwest v. Falcon
By The Editors on
Posted in Certification
In July 1969, General Telephone Company of the Southwest hired Mariano Falcon, a Mexican-American, as part of minority recruitment effort. Falcon maintained a good employment record until, “[i]n October 1972 he applied for the job of field inspector; his application was denied even though the promotion was granted several white employees with less seniority.” Dissatisfied…
Supreme Court Grants Certiorari in Wal-Mart v Dukes
By The Editors on
Posted in Certification
In a decision that has already garnered massive press coverage and commentary the Supreme Court yesterday granted certiorari in the case that will be known as Wal-Mart v. Dukes. The 9th Circuit’s opinion affirmed certification of the largest-ever employment class action. (Too large, in Wal-Mart’s opinion.)
The Supreme Court will not review…
New Employment Class Action Blogs
By The Editors on
Posted in Lawyers
One of the peculiarities about class-action practice is how segmented it can be. Because Rule 23 can apply to many different kinds of class actions–ranging from international human rights violations to the vagaries of various benefits plans–many lawyers will consider themselves "class action experts" even if all they’ve ever worked on are securities cases…
How to Oppose FLSA Collective Actions
By The Editors on
Posted in Certification, Strategy
In the world of class actions, case brought under the Federal Labor Standards Act (FLSA) stand apart from other class actions. Unlike a standard Rule 23 class action, the plaintiff in an FLSA action has the option of filing a class action under Rule 23, a collective action under the FLSA, or both.…