A TIPS CLE PROGRAM

The Wage-Hour Litigation Wars: Successful Strategies for Plaintiff and Defense Counsel in Litigating Wage-Hour Claims and Class Actions

Saturday, August 9, 2008
2:00 pm - 3:30 pm
New York Hilton

TIPS Committee Main Sponsor:
Employment Law and Litigation

TIPS Committee Co-sponsors:
Corporate Counsel and Employee Benefits

Sections, Divisions, Forums, Special Standing Committees and Commissions
Co-sponsors:
Labor and Employment Law, Real Property, and Trust and Estate Law

Program Chairs:
Tony Cabassa, Tompson, Sizemore & Gonzalez, Tampa, FL
Marlene K. Heyser, Workplace Law Strategies, Santa Ana, CA
Susan J. Jennings, Life Insurance Company of the SW, Dallas, TX
Jonathan G. Rose, Katten Muchin Roseman LLP, Washington, DC

Description:
The floodgates of wage-hour claims and class actions continue to overflow with multi-million dollar lawsuits. In 2007 Wal-Mart agreed to pay $33,000,000 to settle an overtime case with 87,000 Wal-Mart employees. Wal-Mart and other large and small employers have been sued for unpaid overtime claims in numerous states actions, as well as under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The FLSA requires that non-exempt employees be paid overtime for hours after 40, be paid for all time worked and imposes not only back pay but penalties for a willful violation. Many of the cases involve alleged misclassification of employees as exempt managers, thus denying them overtime pay.

Class actions claiming that the Plaintiff represents a “class” of employees substantially increase the employer liability. Employees who are misclassified or wrongfully denied overtime pay are loosing significant amounts of money on an ongoing basis.

These class and representation action cases are not limited to large employers or managers claiming misclassification. Many medium and small firms and employees earning little more than minimum wage are parties in this wage-hour litigation. Meal and rest period claims and other benefit issues further complicate these claims in many cases. In today’s competitive business employers are seeking to minimize costs, with labor costs being a major factor. Plaintiff and defense counsel who once handled only the occasional wage-hour claim are now faced with a growing number of these claims and class actions as part of their practice.

The plaintiff and defense counsel in this workshop will discuss strategies to successfully litigate and resolve both individual claims and class actions.

Moderator:
Tony Cabassa, Tompson, Sizemore & Gonzalez, Tampa, FL

Speakers:
Sylvia Garcia, Garcia and Birge, Escondido, CA
Lloyd Loomis, Lewis Brisbos Bisguard & Smith, New York, NY
Adam Klein, Outten & Golden, Los Angeles, CA

REGISTER TODAY!