What is an Employment Class Action Lawsuit?
Class actions play an essential role in the American civil justice system. Historically, class actions have been the basis for the most important civil rights cases, addressing school desegregation, prisoners’ rights and employment discrimination. The class action device is also used by employees who seek to represent other, similarly situated, potential litigants.
The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that 80 percent of employers are not in compliance with applicable wage and hour laws. Wage-and-hour-related class actions are an invaluable tool for large groups of employees who might never see the recovery of the wages owed to them in any other way. Often, when individual employees are underpaid or otherwise wronged by their employer, they simply cannot afford to file their own lawsuits. Not only is litigation expensive, but employees may fear retaliation and loss of their job if they sue their employer. Also, many employees do not know their rights are being violated. If one employee has been subjected to violations in the workplace, it is likely that other employees have endured similar violations. The class action allows an employee who could not afford to sue individually to obtain representation and recovery. Moreover, where there are numerous employees with the same issues, the class action is a valuable savings of judicial time and resources and prevents inconsistent judgments.
Class actions are often handled on a contingency fee basis, meaning that the attorneys pay the large costs of litigating the class action and only get paid if they win or settle the case. Our firm also handles wage-and-hour class actions on a contingency fee basis.
As a California employee, you have the right to sue your employer if you have experienced a withholding of wages, including overtime and double time, have been forced to miss your meal or rest breaks, or have been deprived of compensation for work-related expenses.
Our seasoned and skilled attorneys have served as Class Counsel in multiple successful wage-and-hour class actions in the State of California, procuring the largest per-person unpaid wages award in California. We are proud of our record of winning over $100 million for our clients through our class action efforts.
If you believe you are owed wages from your employer, don’t delay, call us today at 805-644-7111 for your FREE CASE EVALUATION.