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The full Eleventh Circuit is being pressed to review a panel decision in a dispute over a $1.4 million robocall settlement that found class representatives can’t recover routine incentive awards, with the lead plaintiff arguing that this categorical ban would hobble class action litigation and an objector to the deal taking issue with the calculation of class counsel’s fees.
A group of Pizza Hut delivery drivers Monday asked a Texas bankruptcy judge to deny franchise owner NPC International’s request to find that July’s Chapter 11 stay extends to a wage suit against individual executives, saying the company has no obligation to defend them.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce cannot file an amicus brief supporting Postmates’ challenge to a California law that lets workers sue if companies take too long to pay arbitration fees, couriers facing a suit by the delivery service have told a federal judge, arguing the Chamber’s views would add nothing to the case.
In a case that has important implications for companies facing mass arbitration demands from their customers, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Terry Green ruled last week that Intuit cannot halt arbitration with nearly 10,000 customers who allege the financial software company steered them into paying for tax preparation services after they attempted to use a free version of Turbo Tax.
Our clients won a significant victory yesterday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Just two weeks after oral argument, the court affirmed a district court ruling compelling Postmates to arbitrate with more than 5,000 of our clients. KL’s Warren Postman argued the case on behalf of thousands of Postmates couriers, who allege that the company failed to pay minimum wage and overtime because it improperly classified them as independent contractors.
Gibson Dunn’s first appellate showdown with plaintiffs represented by Keller Lenkner featured one judge saying he was “completely unsympathetic” to the merits of their argument that filing large batches of individual arbitrations somehow games the system. Read the full article on Law.com.
Last week, Keller Lenkner Partner Warren Postman argued in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on behalf of more than 5,000 Postmates couriers. Our clients seek to have their claims against the company heard in individual arbitrations. Circuit Judge Paul Watford told a lawyer for Postmates Inc that those 5,000 couriers “didn’t do anything wrong” by simultaneously filing claims in individual arbitration that they were misclassified as independent contractors.
Keller Lenkner’s first wave of cases have focused on workers in the gig economy. Mr. Lenkner said he believed that his firm could economically mount arbitration claims, one by one, because the gig workers had similar allegations against companies like Uber and Postmates — namely that they have been misclassified as independent contractors.
A California federal judge won’t delay enforcement of her order requiring Postmates to arbitrate thousands of couriers’ misclassification claims while the company appeals the decision, saying Thursday that the harm the company claimed it would face due to steep arbitration fees was it own doing.
A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday decided to move forward with a case regarding whether UberBLACK drivers, who offer luxury Uber rides, should be classified as employees rather than contractors under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The move comes as the ride-hailing company faces pressure from workers and lawmakers to classify independent gig workers as employees so they receive the required employee benefits that range from state to state.