Labor and Employment class actions involving contractors are on the rise in California, especially in its $50-plus billion per annum agricultural industry — 12.5% of all agricultural production nationwide. Employers using seasonal workers are always at risk of wage/hour class action lawsuits.
Last year saw courts, particularly federal courts, continue their close scrutiny of class action settlements to ensure that they are fair and reasonable to class members, and do not unfairly prioritize the interests of class counsel, class representatives, or defendants.
Employee misclassification claims continue to be the focus of class action litigation in the logistics space. In general, these cases involve allegations by independent contractors (most often owner-operators) that they should be classified as employees, and thereby receive benefits.
The second half of 2022 saw a wave of class action litigation under state wiretapping laws against website operators that use widely deployed online technologies, such as chatboxes and session replay software.
Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) class action lawsuits were heavily litigated again in 2022, as plaintiffs continued to target companies using biometric technology and their vendors. At the same time, avoiding liability continued to be a challenge for businesses defending BIPA cases
On November 3, 2022, two consumers filed a putative class action complaint against a fast fashion company, claiming that the apparel company’s “Conscious Choice” clothing line deceived consumers into buying products labeled as made from environmentally friendly materials.
ArentFox Schiff is pleased to announce that 121 attorneys have been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America 2023, with an additional six attorneys highlighted as “Lawyers of the Year” and 40 attorneys listed as “Ones to Watch.”
Class action defense counsel should not assume that engagement letters and retainer agreements between representative plaintiffs and class counsel are privileged. Under Rule 23’s “adequacy” requirement, these letters can be both relevant and discoverable.
The absence of insurance regulations to limit or deter unlawful cost-of-insurance (“COI”) increases for universal life insurance (“ULI”) policies has resulted in a flurry of class action activity against carriers.
An April Supreme Court ruling significantly reduced the scope of communications platforms that could be considered autodialers subject to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).
A federal district court recently found that a large diet and wellness company likely violated California’s Automatic Renewal Law by failing to send consumers confirmation emails that included specific instructions about how to cancel their subscription memberships.
Folgers Coffee Co., and its parent company, J.M. Smucker, were sued in federal court for allegedly inflating the number of servings contained in certain canisters of Folgers’ ground coffee.
During this political season, there’s no doubt that candidates and political groups have been urging their supporters – and complete strangers – to get to the polls by sending an unprecedented amount of text messages.
Our initial alert highlighted various hospitality and service industry businesses suing their insurers to recover for losses arising out of closure and stay-at-home (Civil Authority) orders.