Employers can expect more wage-and-hour litigation in 2014: Report
Reprints
Wage-and-hour claims have been the most predominant type of workplace class action pursued against employers and are expected to continue this year “with no end in sight,” says Seyfarth Shaw L.L.P.'s 10th annual “Workplace Class Action Litigation Report.”
“Corporate counsel, therefore, can expect to see a consistent level of significant litigation activity,” says the report, issued Tuesday.
“In terms of risk management, I think the No. 1 compliance issue of 2014 has to be the manner and method” by which employers compensate their employees, said Gerald L. Maatman Jr., the report's author and a Chicago-based Seyfarth Shaw partner.
The report says that in terms of novel litigation theories, “employers can expect an increase in off-the-clock litigation brought by nonexempt employees, fueled by new theories attacking employer rounding practices,” and the increased use of mobile devices in terms of its application to the continuous workday, among other developments.
The report says that among other anticipated developments this year, class actions under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act “will continue to receive increased scrutiny at the class certification stage” in light of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Wal-Mart Stores Inc. v. Dukes, “potentially making it increasingly more difficult for plaintiffs to secure certification offers claims.”
The report adds, however, that plaintiffs attorneys will “continue to push the envelope of available remedies under ERISA, and have had some successes in the lower courts.”
Furthermore, employment discrimination class action litigation, both in terms of private plaintiff cases and government enforcement litigation brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, will remain “white hot” this year, says the report.
The report also provides an overview of 2013 in workplace class action litigation, including chapters on leading class action settlements, federal law rulings and state law rulings.
Copies of the 804-page report may be obtained here.
