Class Action Attorneys Blog

Debt Collectors Beware - Consumers Can Fight Back

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 14:29:27 -0500

There is no question that the struggling economy has put more Americans into debt and more businesses are trying to recover payments that are rightfully owed to them. But we have laws that require these businesses to try to collect these debts in a fair and just manner. Consumers need not stand by and submit themselves to harassing treatment from debt collectors. They can stand up and fight back to stop this demeaning conduct.

Do You Know What You're Being Charged for Your 401(k)?

Tue, 26 Jul 2011 15:43:29 -0500

In the past five years, many employees' 401(k) plans have taken a hit along with the economy. So it would be expected that, especially during such times, employers would make sure that they choose 401(k) plans for their employees with options that maximize the returns on their investments, right? However, rather than ensuring the selection of a plan in which the fees and expenses charged to employees are minimized, some employers are instead simply choosing 401(k) plan advisors based on pre-existing relationships, incentives, and often just sheer indifference and then give the advisor carte blanche to select the employees' investment options. The problem is that plan/investment advisors are only selecting investment options because they are receiving kickbacks through revenue sharing from the mutual fund companies that have overly expensive funds that no reasonable - or honest - advisor would otherwise select for employees. The end result is that the plan advisors, and in some cases the employers as well, are receiving the benefits of the investments while the employees are stuck with the diminished returns of an investment portfolio with excessive fees and expenses.

Working Through Lunch?

Fri, 15 Jul 2011 17:04:18 -0500

As an attorney, I frequently find myself working through my lunch or eating while I work. Generally, this is due to necessity because of deadlines approaching or because of a need to incessantly catch up on work from being out of the office for whatever reason. Unfortunately, too many people can probably relate to the feeling of being behind on work as well as my experience of working through lunch. An important difference to make, however, is that as an attorney, I am (1) paid on a salary basis for all of my hours worked and (2) rightfully classified as an exempt employee under the learned professional exemption of the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA"). Therefore, it is okay if I work through my lunch because my salary is designed to compensate me for every minute that I work, even if it's during my lunch. For many many other jobs though, especially any job that you are paid an hourly wage, if you work through your lunch or eat at your desk while doing work - even paperwork - then you NEED to be compensated by your employer. It's the law!

Hospitals Endangering Patients with Double CT Scans

Sat, 18 Jun 2011 16:08:12 -0500

A recent NY Times article reports that the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services continues to find that some hospitals are unnecessarily performing double CT scans on patients' chests in order to increase the bill to the healthcare insurance providers. More specifically, the hospitals are performing one CT scan using iodine contrast and one CT scan without the contrast solution. Radiologists say one scan or the other is needed depending on the patient’s condition, but performing two scans in succession is rarely necessary. In addition to the effects this practice is having on health insurance costs and Medicare/Medicaid (over 25 million in 2008), the real concern has to be for the patients who are being unnecessarily exposed to additional radiation. For comparison purposes, two CT scans of the chest would be equal to approximately 700 standard chest X-rays.

Cell Phones Declared "Possibly Carcinogenic" to Humans

Wed, 01 Jun 2011 10:24:24 -0500

For years, industry and government groups in the U.S. have denied any cancer risk posed by the radiation that is transmitted by cell phones. Earlier this week, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a branch of the World Health Organization (WHO), issued a press release confirming what foreign researchers have been suggesting over the last decade: cell phone radiation may cause cancer.

"Independent Contractor" status increasingly coming under fire.

Fri, 06 May 2011 12:03:21 -0500

In a precedent setting class action case, a court in Pennsylvania recently found that the owners and operators of the Split Rock Resort in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains had misclassified 259 salespersons as “independent contractors” and that those salespersons were entitled to over $2.2 Million in wages, benefits and penalties plus interest under Pennsylvania’s Wage Payment and Collection Law.

Protection from Retaliation Extends to Employees Who Only Make Oral Complaints about FLSA Violations

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 12:17:08 -0500

In Kasten v. Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corp., the Supreme Court clarified the language contained within the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (Act) that forbids employers “to discharge . . . any employee because such employee has filed any complaint” alleging a violation of the Act, 29 U. S. C. §215(a)(3). In reversing the Seventh Circuit Court, the Supreme Court held that the scope of statutory term “filed any complaint” includes ORAL, as well as written, complaints.

NJ Dept. of Labor Attempting to Amend State Wage and Hour Laws... for the Employer's Benefit

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 15:21:23 -0500

A public hearing was held in Trenton, New Jersey on April 15, 2011 regarding a proposal to amend N.J.A.C. 12:56-6.1 and 12:56-7 with regard to exemptions from overtime compensation for executive, administrative, professional, and outside sales employees. The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development specifically wants to repeal its existing regulations for these exemptions and adopt the language of the federal counterparts instead. While the goal is to eliminate any inconsistencies between the state and federal regulations, the effect will be to lessen the burden on New Jersey employers hoping to justify denying overtime compensation to certain employees.

Misclassification of Independent Contractors

Tue, 08 Feb 2011 17:23:01 -0500

I have written about this issue of misclassification in our firm's class action blog, but my firm's recent filing of a lawsuit on behalf of misclassified Allstate agents reminded me again of the significance of this issue. Millions of workers are intentionally misclassified by their employers as independent contractors. Some of the reasons employers misclassify workers may be to avoid paying overtime compensation, workers compensation, family medical leave and/or unemployment benefits, among others.

Physician's Assistants are Entitled to Overtime Pay

Fri, 21 Jan 2011 11:22:01 -0500

In a recent ruling against Crozer Chester Medical Center, U.S. District Judge Eduardo C. Robreno found that physician's assistants (PAs) are entitled to receiving overtime pay under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act or FLSA. The Judge disagreed with the defendant's argument that PAs are exempt from the FLSA overtime regulations under the professional employee exemption.

Unaccounted Millions at Stake for Philadelphia's Foreclosed Homeowners

Tue, 11 Jan 2011 12:05:10 -0500

With potentially hundreds of millions of dollars unaccounted for, the Philadelphia Sheriff's Office has suspended, and intends to terminate, most of the managers who have handled sheriff's sales of foreclosed Philadelphia properties. The Director of Finance and Compliance, the Solicitor and the Real Estate Supervisor - all suspended. The private company that handled sheriff's sales - fired. All sheriff's sales are on hold for the next two months, and the Philadelphia District Attorney has been put on notice. This upheaval is mostly due to the hard work and investigation of Philadelphia's City Controller, Alan Butkovitz, who concluded that former Sheriff John D. Green and his staff created "an opportunity for fraud" by failing to adequately track $53 million handled by the Sheriff's Office.

Consumer Class Actions in Danger of being Preempted

Fri, 05 Nov 2010 12:21:19 -0500

The future of consumer class action litigation may be at stake in a case scheduled for oral argument next week before the Supreme Court. In AT&T Mobility, LLC v. Concepcion, the Court will decide whether corporations can ban class actions in the fine print of their contracts with consumers, and thus eliminate the ability of consumers to band together in order to fight unfair and fraudulent corporate practices. The elimination of this type of suit would leave consumers helpless in situations where they were defrauded by companies for relatively small amounts.

Phone Cramming Scams

Mon, 04 Oct 2010 00:38:08 -0500

Cramming refers to the various devious methods used by third-party vendors to unsuspectingly sign up cell phone users for monthly charges that appear directly on their cell phone bills.

Cord Blood Benefits Mostly Speculative Right Now

Mon, 20 Sep 2010 15:13:21 -0500

Did you spend $2,000 or $3,000 to store your newborn’s umbilical cord blood in a private cord blood bank? You may have been convinced to do so by exaggerated advertising.

Class Action Filed Against Banco Santander, S.A. and Soveriegn Bank in Overdraft Fee Litigation

Thu, 12 Aug 2010 16:23:37 -0500

Pogust Braslow & Millrood recently filed a Complaint against Banco Santander, S.A. and Soveriegn Bank involving unfair and excessive overdraft fees. The plaintiff in this case, Chris Shalaby, was charged hundreds of dollars in overdraft fees due to the banks’ reordering of certain transactions. These overdraft fees and those charged to thousands of other customers have become major sources of profit for Banco Santander, S.A. and Soveriegn Bank over the years.