The Litigation Counsellor®

On September 24, 2021, class claims were filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado against the U.S. Department of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austen, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, Food and Drug Administration Acting Commissioner Janet Woodcock and the United States of America arguing that the defendants cannot force military members to submit to a COVID-19 vaccine.

On September 21, 2021, class claims were filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas against United Airlines Inc. (“United”) by a group of employees who allege that the airline has discriminated against employees who have resisted the companywide COVID-19 vaccine mandate based on religious or medical grounds.

In the complaint, named plaintiffs David Sambrano, David Castillo, Kimberly Hamilton, Debra Jennefer Thal Jonas, Genise Kincannon and Seth Turnbough describe how on August 6, 2021, United’s CEO Scott Kirby announced a companywide COVID-19 vaccine mandate which requires employees to receive a COVID-19 vaccine within five weeks of the FDA granting full approval to a vaccine or five weeks after September 20, 2021, whichever came first.

On September 1, 2020, international consulting firm Deloitte was served with class claims in federal court in the Southern District of New York, alleging that the company’s parental leave program is highly misleading.

In the complaint, named plaintiff Saxon Knight describes how Deloitte advertises to both the public and its employees, that it offers a progressive parental leave program. The plaintiff argues that the defendant company makes it a point to self-promote its parental leave policies and has been generously lauded by the media for its commitment to allowing employees to take up to 16 weeks of paid leave.

On August 12, 2020, popular food chain Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (“Chipotle”) was served with proposed class claims in federal court in the District of Arizona, alleging that the company discriminates against female employees who are breast feeding.

Tensions continue to mount in the class action lawsuit between upmarket grocery chain Whole Foods Inc. (“Whole Foods”) and a class of employees who allege that the store violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act by refusing to allow employees to wear “Black Lives Matter” face masks while on duty. Plaintiffs filed a reply brief in support of their emergency motion for preliminary injunction on August 11, 2020, in swift response to the defendant’s August 5, 2020, memorandum in opposition of preliminary injunction.

On July 20, 2020, the Florida Education Association filed suit in Miami-Dade Circuit Court against Florida state governor Ron DeSantis, Florida Commissioner of Education, Richard Corcoran, the Florida Department of Education, the Florida Board of Education and Miami-Dade County Mayor, Carlos Gimenez, alleging that the defendants are violating the Florida state constitution by attempting to recklessly reopen in-person schools in fall 2020.

On March 31, 2020, U.S. District Court Judge for the Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division, Sara L. Ellis, granted class certification to a class of African Americans who argue that defendant Personnel Staffing Group, LLC (d/b/a Most Valuable Personnel (“MVP”)) systematically steered African American workers away from work assignments at defendant Gold Standard Baking Inc. (“GSB”) because of GSB’s discriminatory hiring policy.

On January 3, 2017, a former Google employee filed a complaint in San Francisco containing another round of gender-based discrimination claims against Google Inc. Plaintiff, Heidi Lamar, is alleging that the company paid more-experienced female workers lower salaries than their less-experienced male counterparts.

On December 27, 2017, Charlene Bost sued Walmart Inc. in federal court for being wrongfully fired after making multiple complaints about harassment in the workplace. Bost, a 46-year-old transgender woman, alleged that her coworkers and supervisors referred to her as “it,” “thing” and “shim,” a slur combing “she” and “him,” during her employment at a Sam’s Club in the suburbs of Charlotte, North Carolina. According to the lawsuit, one of Bost’s male bosses even subjected her to unwanted physical advances.

On December 20, 2017, a massive proposed class action was filed in California federal court against Amazon, T-Mobile and hundreds of other companies for allegedly discriminating against older workers. According to the suit, the defendants intentionally excluded this demographic from being exposed to Facebook advertisements pertaining to job opportunities in a decisive move to target a younger audience.

On July 3, 2017, U.S. District Judge William Pauley III signed off on a $32.5 million settlement which pays African American MetLife Securities Inc. employees thousands of dollars to end a proposed class action claiming that MetLife violated federal civil rights laws. Marcus Creighton, the lead plaintiff in the suit, alleged that the company systematically discriminated against its black employees and ultimately paid them less than their white coworkers.

On December 7, 2016, a group of former and current African American employees of Time Warner Inc. and its subsidiaries, CNN and Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., filed a class-action lawsuit against the companies alleging racial discrimination. The suit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, is largely the result of information revealed in an internal Human Resources Diversity Trends Report.

In light of the recent National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decision in In re Hispanics United of Buffalo, Inc., No. 03-CA-027872, companies, both with and without unions, may want to take some time to reexamine their social media policies. Although the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 (NLRA) was enacted to prevent workers from being retaliated against for forming unions, the recent decision expands that protection to just about any worker who engages in “concerted activity” within the meaning of the act.