Claire Beniga, Author at Keller Grover

To Appeal Arbitration Ruling Plaintiff Needs to Show Prejudice

The California Supreme Court has essentially ruled that when arbitrators make decisions, they have leeway to make it up as they go along. In a case decided in January, the court upheld an arbitrator's decision which applied a legal defense not allowed under California law because it felt the plaintiff failed to show harm done by the error. In Richey v. Autonation, Inc., the court reviewed an arbitrator's award and decided that although the arbitrator may have committed a mistake in using the … [Read more...]

Study: California’s Low-Wage Workers Aren’t Receiving Court-Ordered Claims

For many of California's low-wage workers, justice was never served after winning judgments against their former employers who cheated them out of owed wages and other employment benefits. In fact, the problem is so bad in California, some are labeling it an "epidemic," reports wage and hour lawyer Eric Grover. According to a report by the National Employment Law Project and the UCLA Labor Centers entitled "Hollow Victories: The Crisis in Collecting Unpaid Wages for California's Workers," only … [Read more...]

Study: Wage Theft Costing American Workers $50 Billion

Wage theft has grown into a potentially $50 billion problem, as a new study from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) has shed light on just how much this injustice is costing U.S. workers. The EPI study, which looked at New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, found two-thirds of low-wage workers had been victims of wage theft during any given week in 2008. This cost workers an average of $2,600 a year, affecting 15 percent of their total earnings. The study suggests that if wage theft is as … [Read more...]

Supreme Court May Impose More Restrictions on Class Actions

It seems that little by little, consumers are losing their rights when battling companies in courts of law as the United States Supreme Court is set to determine if stricter requirements should be imposed on the certification of class actions in federal courts, reports Carey Been, a San Francisco consumer protection lawyer. The Supreme Court justices are using two separate cases as platforms to determine whether district judges must use stricter standards when certifying class actions. In one … [Read more...]

Supreme Court Rules Corporations can Prohibit Class Action Lawsuits

Supreme Court Rules Corporations can Prohibit Class Action Lawsuits04/28/2011 | San Francisco, California, United States | Keller Grover LLP (Press Release) (Blog) | Carey Been, Class Action LawyerIn a 5-4 decision written by Justice Scalia, the Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that corporations can use arbitration clauses to prohibit consumers from banding their claims together in class action lawsuits. In a scathing dissent, Justice Breyer rightly noted that the practical effect of the … [Read more...]