Press & News

Jerry Maatman, Devjani Mishra and Firm's Annual Workplace Class Action Litigation Report Noted in HRfocus
"Class Actions Suits In the Workplace Are On the Rise"
03/22/2007

The article "Class Actions Suits In the Workplace Are On the Rise" in the Institute of Management & Administration's publication HRfocus highlights the firm's Annual Workplace Class Action Litigation Report noting: "Workplace class action lawsuits on job discrimination, wage and hour inequities, and post-employment benefits rose last year and will continue to do so this year, according to a report. The Third Annual Workplace Class Action Litigation Report from the law firm of Seyfarth Shaw shows that attorneys representing the plaintiffs in such cases were aggressive in collective workplace litigation, winning significant verdicts and injunctive relief, settlements, and court rulings. The report analyzed the most influential class filings and rulings of 2005, focusing on claims against employers in federal courts under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, and other federal statutes on workplace issues. It also analyzed state court workplace class findings and rulings. "

"Employers should be more concerned with such lawsuits than with actions by shareholders, the report noted. "While shareholder and securities class action filings decreased dramatically in 2006, employment-related class action filings increased significantly. Of special concern from the report's findings is the rise in "mega class actions" that cross state lines and attack large corporations, according to Gerald Maatman, general editor of the report and co-chair of the law firm's complex discrimination litigation group. The numbers of those cases have grown, as has the complexity of the individual claims, he said. The 2006 actions indicate that employers are succeeding in defeating motions for class certification of mega class claims, he noted. In other cases, employers have succeeded in limiting the scope of the class or of the claims."

"Although you may not be able to prevent a current or former employee from bringing a suit against your company alleging pregnancy-related discrimination, there are steps you can take to ameliorate the situation, according to attorney Devjani Mishra with Seyfarth Shaw in New York City. She discussed how HR can deal with such lawsuits in a recent IOMA audio conference, "Pregnancy Leave: How to Avoid Discrimination Complaints" (visit www.ioma.com/audioconferences/776.html to order a CD of the complete session). Her suggestions make sense not just for pregnancy-related issues, but for overall compliance best practices: Follow posting requirements under the Family and Medical Leave Act and state law, Maintain a supply of leave forms, and provide them promptly to employees, Implement a written leave policy describing paid and unpaid leave and any eligibility requirements, Enforce these policies uniformly, Administer health and other benefits plans uniformly and to the letter, Adopt gender-neutral parental leave policies, Consider the applicable short-term disability leave provisions under state law or private insurance, Observe state law or employer-specific nondiscrimination requirements for adoptive parents and for domestic or civil union partners, Document performance evaluations and problems uniformly for all employees, Document promotion and termination decisions based on objective criteria, Document reductions in force and forced ranking decisions, Implement and observe anti-harassment policies, Avoid assumptions or stereotypes and maintain appropriate boundaries, Preserve the confidentiality of private health information, Engage in and document the interactive process, Be creative and use common sense."