Employment Class Actions: A General Counsel Briefing

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently announced that Scripps Medical Group (Scripps) has agreed to pay $6.875 Million to settle an age/disability discrimination charge that had been filed with the EEOC.  According to the EEOC, Scripps “subjected a class of physicians to a mandatory retirement age, regardless of the individuals’ abilities to do

In recent months, the U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (EEOC) has intensified its scrutiny of employer qualification standards under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This trend follows the EEOC’s identification of this area as an “emerging or developing” issue as highlighted on this blog in September. Indeed, Between September 14 and October 2, 2023,

EEOC makes no secret as to the policies and practices most likely to trigger systemic action.  Indeed, since 2012, EEOC has issued official Strategic Enforcement Plans as a framework for focusing its efforts on areas that EEOC considers most critical.  In its most recent Strategic Enforcement Plan for 2024-2028, finalized on September 21, 2023, EEOC

            In a boon for employers with exempt employees, the Third Circuit held earlier this year as an issue of first impression that paid time off (PTO) is not part of an exempt employee’s salary under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Thus, although PTO arguably has a monetary value, employers will not be

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to facilitate cooperation between the two agencies through information sharing, joint investigations, training and outreach. 

The WHD’s areas of responsibility include enforcement of the Fair Labor Standards Act, including federal minimum wage,

The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) became effective on June 27, 2023 and enhances the accommodation protections provided by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).  For more information on how the PWFA differs from the ADA, see my prior article at the following link: “How the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act Enhances Protections for Pregnant Workers

We previously reported here on the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) lawsuit alleging that a group of affiliated employers engaged in age discrimination through the use of artificial intelligence technology. The case has now been settled by the parties without any major rulings from the court on the novel issues surrounding technology use in

On July 17, 2023, the California Supreme Court delivered its highly anticipated response to the United States Supreme Court decision in Viking River Cruises, Inc. v. Moriana, 142 S. Ct. 1906 (2022), clarifying the effect of enforceable arbitration agreements on standing for California’s Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (“PAGA”). The holding in Adolph v.

In the flurry of controversial U.S. Supreme Court rulings issued at the end of this term, one unanimous opinion flew under the radar which impacts how employers must accommodate religious practices and expressions of their employees. The Court’s June 29, 2023 ruling in Groff v. DeJoy makes it more difficult for employers to show that

The Sixth Circuit has adopted a new approach for determining whether notice to “potential plaintiffs” can be sent out in collective actions brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), now requiring a “strong likelihood” of similarity between the named plaintiffs and others they seek to include in the collective action. The ruling in Clark