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Coordinating Complex Employment Litigation

By Deborah A. Sudbury, Douglas M. Towns and Sandra H. Dermody

In the past several years, employment class and collective action lawsuits have caught the attention of employees across the country. Many of these cases have resulted in multi-million dollar settlements or verdicts. Merely by way of example, within the first several months of 2004, the court granted approval of a $36.5 million settlement for alleged gender discrimination against United Airlines; the City of New York paid $26.8 million for claims of discrimination by a class of Hispanic police officers; and Longhorn Steakhouse agreed to pay $525,000 to settle a claim brought by the EEOC for alleged sexual harassment of two teenaged employees.

Equally troubling, once an industry or corporation is viewed as potentially vulnerable on an issue, copycat cases may be brought in multiple jurisdictions against the same defendant or against others in the same industry. Likewise, the same plaintiffs' counsel may bring multiple lawsuits against the same company or other companies in the same business or industry. For example, Taco Bell reached a $9 million settlement with some of its California employees based on claims of working off the clock and missed meal breaks. Taco Bell has also faced similar lawsuits in Arizona, Washington and Oregon. Clearly, companies must aggressively defend such class and collective actions. Moreover, proactive companies will want to ensure that they are properly positioned to defend against future class or collective claims. Coordinating large class cases or multi-jurisdictional litigation is challenging and demands unique case management strategies.

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