A Victory For Low-Wage Workers: Class Actions Remain The Best Way To Protect The Rights Of Large Numbers Of Employees
Class actions are important tools for protecting the rights of workers-particularly those workers on the lower rungs of the economic ladder. When large numbers of these workers are denied their rights in the workplace-such as overtime pay or meal and rest breaks, they can join together in a class action to demand justice.
Large and powerful companies that have been subject to this type of litigation hate class actions. And it is no secret that these business interests have seduced the conservative faction of the United States Supreme Court into doing their bidding. In decision after decision, those same five justices have contorted the law, the facts, and their rational facilities, in an attempt to gut the class action device. Arbitration (Concepcion), removal to federal court under the Class Action Fairness Act (Standard Fire), and class certification itself (Dukes) have all been manipulated in an overt effort to prevent poor and working class people from having their day in court.
Thankfully, there are many brave and conscientious judges who have resisted this trend. For example, on May 28, 2013, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued its opinion in Leyva v. Medline Industries, Inc. Leyva addressed the critical issue of whether individual damages calculations can defeat commonality for the purpose of class certification. For many years, in both the state and federal courts, the answer to that question had been no. See, e.g., Blackie v. Barrack, 524 F.2d 891, 905 (9th Cir. 1975); Brinker v. Superior Court, 273 P.3d 513, 546 (2012). (more…)