Archive for the 'Social Justice Class Action Lawsuits' Category
December 6th, 2010 by Admin
Our nation’s highest court, the Supreme Court, announced today that it will review the Walmart class action. The case is on appeal, after lower court judges approved the class action status. Walmart has appealed those decisions, and now it’s up to the Supreme Court.
The Walmart class action lawsuit has been brewing for years, until it’s now the biggest workplace discrimination case in history. Plaintiffs claim that Walmart showed bias against women in its hiring and promotion practices.
And it’s just that huge size that lawyers for Walmart are claiming prevents it from a true class action lawsuit. They say the group is so large, that all those plaintiffs couldn’t possibly have enough in common to form a proper class action.
But lawyers for the plaintiffs in this class action lawsuit say the large size stems from the large size of Walmart itself. Walmart is, after all, the largest employer in the United States. The plaintiffs cover 170 different types of jobs, and over three thousand store locations.
Walmart is highly centralized, so that policies and practices are very uniform across the country. Another reason why lawyers for the plaintiffs claim the class action status is appropriate.
Previous judges in lower courts had deemed size irrelevant, and voted the class action to go forward. This had been the last news in this Walmart class action, and came out last April, when a a United States Court of Appeals voted 6 to 5 for the class action status.
The Walmart class action has roughly half a million members, and represents a potential multi billion dollar liability for Walmart.
October 20th, 2010 by Admin
Bank of America Class Action
A Bank of America class action was announced today, in a case over alleged illegal foreclosures on homes in the State of New Jersey. Plaintiffs Lawrence Friscia and Jonathan Minkove bring the lawsuit on behalf of homeowners who went through the process of foreclosure with Bank of America, and suffered due to the bank’s disregard of procedures.
Bank of America allegedly foreclosed on thousands of homes in New Jersey, but without proper procedures in place, missing paperwork, and disregard of facts and regulations. Foreclosure administrators at the bank admittedly signed paperwork without proper investigation or review of the facts. They are often now called Robo Signers and Rubber Stampers. Their admission of signing without proper backup review is one of the main facts on which the Bank of America class action hinges.
Paintiff Friscia is head of a firm in Newark, NJ which counsels distressed homeowners. Plaintiffs are suing for damage to their credit scores, emotional distress, and time they had to spend away from their jobs, spent in meetings relating to foreclosure proceedings, as well as attorney meetings.
The Bank of America class action alleges that the bank regularly promised to negotiate terms with mortgage holders in trouble, but then failed to honor those terms. They are accused of rushing to seize homes without regard to foreclosure procedures, regulations, or fair business practices. The are accused of acting to seize homes without full knowledge of cases. They are accused of violations of the New Jersey Fair Foreclosure Act as well as the Consumer Fraud Act.
The Bank of America class action also hinges upon the fact that the bank voluntarily suspended its foreclosure actions for a period of time, between October 8 and October 18, 2010. This, according to the foreclosure class action, is admission of guilt.
August 30th, 2010 by Admin
Walmart Class action
The landmark sex discrimination lawsuit has been given class action status as of April 2010, in a big victory for the plaintiffs. Now, the Walmart class action is currently being weighed as to whether to include women who worked at the retail giant from 1998 to 2001. The United States’ largest private employer appealed the class action status a few times, but so far to no avail. The Walmart class action sticks, to the dismay of Walmart lawyers.
Walmart is the world’s largest retailer, with over three thousands stores in the United States. About a million women are possible affected by the Walmart class action, which alleges sex discrimination. Plaintiffs argue that Walmart pays women less and promotes them less often than men. If they lose, Walmart stands to lose billions of dollars.
A lower court will decide whether women who worked at Walmart from 1998 to 2001 can join the Walmart class action. Lower courts will also decide whether punitive damages will be part of the Walmart class action.
According to the plaintiffs, women were more often than not steered away from management jobs. They were encouraged to remain in cashier jobs, with little or no chance of promotion. Excuses for not qualifying women into management positions included not being able to move a fifty pound bag of dog food.
All this comes after Walmart has tried for years to upgrade its image with the public. From supplying disaster relief to stressing eco friendly practices in its business, Walmart has tried in various ways to convince the public that it cares for its employees and the population in general. This is a huge setback in the PR department.
Experts in class action lawsuits say that with its new status, the Walmart class action means there is great pressure on the retail giant to settle.
August 6th, 2010 by Admin
Police at the G20 Summit in Toronto this past June
The G20 meeting in Toronto, Canada this past June involved anit-G20 protests that were peaceful until a group of about one hundred anarchists broke away from the protest marches and began setting cars on fire and smashing storefront windows. This prompted Toronto Police to detain and arrest nearly 1000 people after violence broke out.
Now nearly 800 people are part of a $45 million G20 class action lawsuit headed by main plaintiff Sherry Good. She claims she was not part of any violence or organizing any protests, and was wrongfully hemmed in and arrested by Toronto Police. The class action is actually against Toronto Police Services Board and the federal attorney general in Canada.
Ms. Good claims she suffered a panic attack after the arrest and has lost trust in the police. The Toronto Police Services Board is the organization that oversees the majority of riot police responsible for the arrests that day in June. The Federal attorney general is being sued because they legally represent the RCMP, or Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
The violence was carried out by a relatively small group of black-clad protesters who jumped on cars, threw Molotov cocktails, set cars afire, smashed windows of retailers, coffee shops, banks and small stores.
Police used shields, pepper spray, clubs and tear gas to end the violence and then officers on horseback tried to sweep the crowd into the park where the protest had begun.
