Class Action Lawsuits for Labor Disputes

Class actions are often referred to as representative actions which are brought by a number of litigants who have collective interest over a case. The plaintiffs whose claims involve the same question of law and of fact must be numerous.

Class action regarding labor law violations is frequent. In claims for overtime pay for instance, employees may choose to file a class action suit to pursue their cause. This is done to strengthen their case against their employer.

In California, about 46 class action suits have been filed in state and federal courts from March 13-19, 2009. Of the total suits, eight class action suits allege violations of labor laws.

Advantages of Class Action Labor Lawsuits

A class action suit aggregates a large number of individualized claims into one representational suit. It offers a number of advantages such as the following:

1. The integration may increase the efficiency of the legal process and lowers the expenses of litigation. Since the action has common questions of law and fact, repeating the days of having the same witnesses, exhibits and issues may be avoided.

2. Class action may lump small recoveries into a big one.

Usually, the court does not deal with minimal claims. With class action, a relatively paltry potential recoveries may appear worthy by aggregating the claims. Hence, when a class suit for overtime pay is filed and is won against an employer, the latter should compensate the affected employees no matter how minimal their individual claim is.

3. In case of “limited fund” cases, class action suit assures all plaintiffs fair compensation. This is because a class action centralizes all claims into one venue where a court can fairly allocate the assets among all plaintiffs should they win the case.

4. A class action prevents the situation where different courts decide differently creating an “incompatible standards” for the defendant to follow. If a court refuses to litigate an employee’s claim, the defendant may use this ruling to defeat the claim of another employee filed in another court.

Class Action vs. Individual Employment Lawsuits

This does not mean that class action is superior to individual litigation.  Whether it is superior or not is determined by a judge’s ruling on a motion for class certification.

Some people refuse to litigate their claims in class. This is because class members often receive little benefits from class actions. However, the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 has already addressed this concern.

For employment issues, it is better to pursue cases in class. Usually, an employer has a team of lawyers to fight claims in court. Aside from taking a class action suit, plaintiffs should engage the services of employment attorneys in pursuing their labor claims.