Pending Cases Of Note
Petzold v. Metrocities Class Action
Workers From Four Continents Sue Wal-Mart for Employment Wage & Hour Violations
Lawsuit: Workers from California, China, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Nicaragua, Swaziland Denied Basic Rights; Cites Massive, Systematic Wage, Hour Violations
WASHINGTON, Sept. 13 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Wal-Mart workers on four continents sued the giant retailer today in California Superior Court in Los Angeles. They maintain that Wal-Mart failed to meet its contractual duty to ensure that its suppliers pay basic wages due; forced them to work excessive hours seven days a week with no time off for holidays; obstructed their attempts to form a union; and, made false and misleading statements to the American public about the company's labor and human rights practices.
The workers are represented by Terry Collingsworth, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based International Labor Rights Fund, and Los Angeles area co-counsels Dan Stormer of Hadsell and Stormer, and Paul Hoffman of Schonbrun DeSimone Seplow Harris Hoffman & Harrison. This legal team recently represented Burmese plaintiffs who sued Los Angeles-based Unocal corporation for using forced labor during the construction of a natural gas pipeline in Burma. The suit was settled earlier this year when the Burmese plaintiffs accepted a cash offer from the company that Business Week estimated to be in the vicinity of $30 million.
Wal-Mart maintains a Supplier Standards Agreement with its foreign suppliers that incorporates adherence to its corporate code of conduct as a direct condition of supplying products to Wal-Mart. By incorporating the code of conduct into the supply agreement, it creates a contractual obligation enforceable by the workers supplying to Wal-Mart, who are the intended beneficiaries of the code's worker rights provisions.
Wal-Mart has consumer outlets throughout the United States, and sells light manufactured goods that are manufactured in thousands of factories around the world. Plaintiffs are class representatives for workers employed in Wal-Mart's supplier factories, including factories located in Swaziland, Nicaragua, mainland China, Indonesia and Bangladesh who were denied their basic minimum wage, forced to work overtime, and in certain cases denied the right to organize. For these workers, this lawsuit represents one of the few viable ways in which these violations can be addressed, especially given the lack of enforceable mechanisms in their home countries.
The other class of Plaintiffs will be employees of California businesses which have been harmed by Wal-Mart's unfair labor practices, including Wal-Mart's false representations regarding compliance with its code of conduct, and which as a result have lost business and/or a competitive financial advantage. Within this class are also trade unions members who were forced to make wage and benefit concessions to allow their employers to try to compete with Wal-Mart. This class of plaintiffs will bring their claim under California's Unfair Business Practices Act, Section 17200.
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National Lawyers Guild v. City of L.A.
Xue Lu and Jie Hao v. United States of America
United States District Court, Central District of California
Case No.CV 01-01758 MRP (BQRx)
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AT&T Class Action
- Waters Claim Form
- Plaintiff's Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Support of Adequacy of Former Employees as Class Representatives in Response to August 5, 2010 Order: 8-23-10
- Defendant's Statement of Non-Opposition to Plaintiff's Motion for Preliminary Approval of Class Action Settlement: 7-22-10
- Defendant's Answer to First Amended Complaint: 10-28-09
- Declaration of Julie Green on Behalf of Claims Administrator With Respect to Mailing of Class Notices (10-25-10)
- Supplemental Declaration of Michael D. Seplow -- 2-4-11
- Request for Exclusion Form
- Notice of Class Action Settlement
- Joint Stipulation of Class Settlement and Release Between Plaintiffs and Defendant (Settlement Agreement) 8-23-10
- Unopposed Motion for Preliminary Approval of Class Action Settlement and Provisional Certification of the Class; Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Support Therof: 7-15-10
- Order for Further Briefing and Filing: 8-5-10
- Order Amending Order for Preliminary Approval of Class Settlement: 9-30-10
- Order for Preliminary Approval of Class Action Settlement, Conditional Class Certification, Approval of Class Notice and Setting of a Final Fairness Hearing: 9-13-10
- Notice of Lodging of Executed Settlement Agreement and Joint Stipulation Between Plaintiffs and Defendant: 7-23-10
- Motion for Final Approval
- Motion for Award of Attorneys Fees
- Joint Case Management Statement: 12-7-09
- Joint Case Management Statement: 5-17-09
- First Case Management Order: 12-16-09
- First Amended Class Action Complaint: 9-17-09
- Declaration of Todd M. Schneider
- Declaration of Randy Renick
- Declaration of V. James DeSimone
- Declaration of V. James DeSimone in Further Support of Motion for Preliminary Approval of Class Action Settlement and Provisional Certification of the Class and Exhibit A: 8-23-10
- Declaration of Thomas W. Falvey
- Declaration of Thomas E. Geidt in Support of Motion for Preliminary Approval of Class Action Settlement and Provisional Certification of the Class: 8-23-10
- Declaration of Rudy Fajardo
- Declaration of Michael D. Seplow in Support of Motion for the Preliminary Approval of Class Action Settlement and Provisional Certification of the Class and Exhibits 1-4: 7-15-10
- Declaration of Michael D. Seplow in Further Support of Motion for Preliminary Approval of Class Action Settlement and Provisional Certification of the Class and Exhibits 1-4 (including final executed Class Action Settlement Agreement): 8-23-10
- Declaration of Michael D. Seplow
- Declaration of Matthew Righetti
- Declaration of Julie Green
- Declaration of J.D. Henderson
- Declaration of Duane Waters
- Declaration of Douglas Silverstein
- Declaration of Debra Turner
- Declaration of Barrett S. Litt
- Class Action Complaint: 8-27-09
- Civil Minute Order: 8-4-10
- Janko v. Gates
