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Case Name:
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Description of the Case:
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Employment Law |
| Sunstone Hotel Properties, Inc. |
Employed for years as a server at a hotel managed by Sunstone Hotel Properties, Plaintiff was required to perform her duties without state mandated, 30-mintue meal breaks or 10-minute rest periods. As is common in the food and beverage industry, her employer did not staff enough employees to cover others for even the briefest breaks. Plaintiff brought suit in November 2007 on behalf of all hourly, non-exempt employees of Sunstone Hotel Properties in seeking the payment of past-due wages.
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| California Pizza Kitchen |
Plaintiff was a non-exempt, hourly employee working as a server at CPK. He was regularly denied full 30-minute meal periods during work shifts of five or more hours. Plaintiff brought suit on behalf of approximately 15,000 class members. A settlement of $3,200,000 was reached and was approved by the Court on August 15, 2008. |
| Dion International Trucks, Inc. |
Dion International faces this pending class action as a result of its unfair labor practices. Plaintiff alleges that he and all other hourly employees were forced to work overtime without compensation, were denied meal breaks and rest periods, and were denied complete wages due at the time of separation from employment. The case was filed in August 2007. A settlement on behalf of employees of the San Marcos location has been reached and has received preliminary court approval. |
| American Golf Corporation |
Plaintiff was an hourly employee working at one of American Golf Corporation's golf courses in Southern California. After being subjected to numerous Labor Code violations, including being denied 10 minute rest periods for every 4 hours worked and meal breaks in the first 5 hours of his shift, he brought a class action suit on behalf of more than 3,500 hourly employees in California. AGC agreed to settle the case for $2,600,000 and final court approval of the settlement was obtained on December 14, 2007. |
| Vintage Design |
Plaintiff filed this action after his separation from employment seeking an injunction against Vintage Design's policy of denying 30-minute meal breaks within the first 5 hours of each shift and denying employees' rights to rest periods. Plaintiff's complaint also seeks damages on behalf of all hourly employees in the amount of one hour of pay for every missed break as set by the California Labor Code. A settlement encompassing 32,331 work weeks was reached in September 2007 and final approval of the settlement was ordered by the Court in April 2008. |
| Antelope Valley Newspapers, Inc. |
Antelope Valley Newspapers, Inc. dba Antelope Valley Press employees a number of non-exempt, hourly employees and regularly requires these employees to work through state-mandated meal periods and rest breaks. Plaintiffs brought this action in an effort to enforce California's labor laws and seek restitution of unpaid wages. The case is in discovery.
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San Diego Padres
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Plaintiff filed a class action on behalf of all persons employed in the sales division of the San Diego Padres, including Sales Representatives and Account Executives between February 4, 2000 and January 25, 2006. Plaintiff alleged misclassification of employee status and the right to overtime compensation. Individual settlements were reached for all class members and the Padres reclassified the sales position so that those employees now receive overtime compensation.
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| Premier Food Services, Inc. |
Premier Food Services, Inc. provides labor for food and beverage operations at the Del Mar Racetrack and catered events. Hundreds of employees are hired on both a seasonal and year-round basis. Plaintiff was employed as an infield bartender. Like his fellow workers, Plaintiff was denied meal breaks and rest periods as required by California law. This class action lawsuit is brought on behalf of all hourly employees of Premier Food Services, Inc. for Labor Code violations between February 26, 2003 and the present. Mediation failed to resolve the case and the parties are preparing for trial.
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San Diego Padres
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Plaintiff was employed by the San Diego Padres in media relations and brought suit for unpaid overtime and penalties under the California Bounty Hunter Law. Her claim was settled for a confidential figure.
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| Diakon Logistics (Delaware), Inc. |
As former driver for Diakon, Plaintiff delivered and installed furniture from Jerome's throughout San Diego County. He alleges that he and all other Diakon drivers were misclassified as independent contractors and forced to work uncompensated overtime and personally cover business expenses including gasoline, truck rental charges, insurance and repair costs. The case was filed in July 2007 and is in the discovery phase.
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| Cafe Sevilla |
Two former employees of Cafe Sevilla catering brought suit for unpaid overtime and multiple Labor Code violations including charging employees the cost of required uniforms, failing to pay reimbursements of expenses, meal breaks and rest periods. Settlement was reached in early 2007. |
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Sunrise Senior Living
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A former employee of Sunrise Senior Living brought suit in federal court alleging wrongful termination, misclassification of employee status and unpaid overtime. Through a series of mediations with a federal magistrate, the case settled for a confidential figure.
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F.H. Paschen/S.N. Nielsen, Inc.
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Plaintiff was employed by F.H. Paschen as a construction superintendent and worked many hours of overtime. He was improperly classified as "exempt" from overtime and denied compensation for those hours. Plaintiff sued on behalf of all construction superintendents employed by F.H. Paschen in California for a number of Labor Code violations, including unpaid overtime. The court certified the case for class treatment in February 2005 and a settlement of $1,080,000 was reached on behalf of 84 Class Members.
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The Press Enterprise
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Plaintiff was employed by the Press Enterprise and was required to work in excess of 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week, but was denied overtime compensation. He brought these issues to the attention of his employer, but no changes in corporate policy were made. Plaintiff filed a class action on behalf of all employees at the Press Enterprise for unpaid overtime compensation. Settlements were reached for all class members. |
| Pacific Aggregates |
This was a putative class action brought on behalf of all hourly employees of Pacific Aggregates and Pacific Clay Products for overtime and other Labor Code violations. Plaintiff was a hourly employee who used a daily time card to "punch in" and "punch out." Her clocked time was manually adjusted to avoid overtime by her employer. Additionally, she was denied meal breaks and rest periods. The case was filed August 2005. A mediated settlement was reached in November 2006. 58 class members shared in the $280,000 settlement fund. |
Consumer Fraud |
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Pop N Go
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Plaintiff invested in defendants company in return for three promissory notes that later went into default. Plaintiff sued in state court for promissory note fraud, breach of contract and misrepresentation. A confidential settlement concluded the matter short of trial.
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Bank of America
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This class action was brought by Plaintiff to bring an end to BofA's practice of overcharging recording fees on reconveyances of residential mortgage loans. The court approved a settlement wherein more than 80,000 consumers were paid back 100% of the overcharges.
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| Intergulf Development Group |
The Intergulf Development Group constructed and sold 330 condominium units at Treo @ Kettner in Downtown San Diego. All units were sold before completion of construction and buyers were promised access to a unique 3,000 sq. ft. rooftop terrace with 360 degree views of San Diego. Purchasers relied upon these representations in buying their units and found out after closing escrow that Intergulf had decided not to construct the rooftop terrace two years earlier. Plaintiff brought a class action alleging false advertising on behalf of all original purchasers of Treo condominiums. Class certification was granted on November 20, 2006. Pursuant to a settlement approved by the Court on May 8, 2008, 253 class members will receive restitution of $5,000 each. |
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Wells Fargo
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Plaintiff brought this class action challenging unfair overlimit fees arising out of Wells Fargos' overdraft protection program. A settlement of $1,000,000 was reached approximately 44,000 customers.
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L90
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Plaintiff created and ran an Internet lottery website that was ultimately sold to L90 in exchange for $20,000,000 of stock in the acquiring company. However, the financial condition and SEC filings of L90 were grossly misrepresented, thus depriving Plaintiff of the correct valuation of his shares of stock. After three L90 executives pled guilty to securities fraud, Plaintiff entered into a confidential settlement with L90.
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CitiFinancial
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Plaintiff brought this class action on the grounds that CitiFinancial charged excessive fees on the payoff/refinance of residential mortgage loans. A settlement was reached benefiting approximately 19,000 borrowers.
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Coldwell Banker
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This UCL class action arose out of Coldwell Bankers practice of charging Transaction Coordinator Fees to its clients in real estate purchases without disclosing that such fees were not required and were nothing more than additional compensation to the broker. The Court of Appeal ordered class certification (petition to the Supreme Court denied). A claims-made settlement valued at $35,000,000 was reached before trial on behalf of 174,000 Class Members.
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Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group
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Plaintiff alleges a class-wide scheme of fraud and deceit against DTG. Plaintiff contracted to rent an economy class vehicle from DTG and requested to pay for a Loss Damage Waiver. When Plaintiff went to select a vehicle on the lot, he was given a "free" upgrade to a full sized vehicle. Without revision to his rental agreement, he was charged an additional amount for the Loss Damage Waiver. A tentative settlement has been reached an is pending Court approval. The settlement has a value to consumers between $3,000,000 and $16,000,000.
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