Press & News

Lorie Almon, Jerry Maatman and Condon McGlothlen Quoted in Employment Law360
01/04/2007

The December 29 issue of Employment Law360 includes comments from three Labor and Employment attorneys in two articles about cases and trends to watch in 2007. In “Cases to Watch in 2007,” Dukes et al. v. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is among five selected pending cases that have potential for a dramatic impact on labor and employment law. "The Ninth Circuit’s ruling on the appeal – and further appellate proceedings thereafter – likely will be one of the top class action developments for employers in 2007 and beyond," noted Gerald Maatman, a partner with Seyfarth Shaw LLP. "The Ninth Circuit's future ruling in Dukes will likely reposition the legal guide posts."

“Trends to Watch in 2007” predicts that wage and hour class actions and worker retaliation claims will continue to rise in 2007 and cites that the number of class actions brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act and state laws, which increased in 2006, will continue to do so in the coming year. "The filings seem to only increase daily, and the plaintiffs' wage and hour bar has made large strides in terms of pooling resources to pursue high stakes cases," according to Lorie E. Almon, an employment lawyer and co-managing partner of Seyfarth Shaw LLP's New York office. "There is no sense that they plan to turn to other areas of litigation any time soon, so we expect to see an increase in both the volume and size of the cases."

Another trend may be an increase in retaliation claims following the Supreme Court’s June 22 decision in Burlington Northern v. White, which cut down a defendant’s chances to get a case thrown out on a motion for summary judgment. But the plaintiffs' bar is ready to pounce in 2007, said Condon A. McGlothlen, a partner in Seyfarth Shaw LLP's Chicago office who regularly represents employers in equal opportunity matters. "Expect an upsurge in retaliation cases under all federal EEO laws. EEOC has already seen this in its charge docket, and has pledged to increase its already vigorous pursuit of such cases," said McGlothlen. "Judges seem more likely to send retaliation claims to juries, and juries sometimes find those claims meritorious, even while rejecting the underlying discrimination claim. Already a wave, this could well become a flood."