By Gerald L. Maatman, Jr., Christopher J. DeGroff, Matthew J. Gagnon, and Ala Salameh
Seyfarth Synopsis: On November 19, 2019, the EEOC released its inaugural “Agency Financial Report” (“AFR”) for Fiscal Year 2019 (here). Substantively, the AFR is a data compilation regarding the EEOC’s financial health, initiatives, and guiding principles. The AFR is an important
Continue Reading New Chair Of The EEOC Begins To Make Her Mark: A Look At The EEOC’s Inaugural Agency Financial Report
By Gerald L. Maatman, Jr. and Christina M. Janice
Seyfarth Synopsis: In the latest development in the ultra-high stakes nationwide Prescription Opiate Litigation, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit recently granted the petition of six Ohio cities to appeal the class certification order of U.S. District Court Judge Daniel A. Polster creating a new and innovative
Continue Reading Sixth Circuit Allows Appeal Of Novel Class Action Ordered In Nationwide Opiate Litigation
By Gerald L. Maatman, Jr. and Alex W. Karasik
Seyfarth Synopsis: In an EEOC disability discrimination lawsuit alleging that an employer failed to accommodate and then wrongfully terminated a laundry technician with anxiety, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee granted the employer’s motion for summary judgment, holding the EEOC did not establish that the employee
Continue Reading Tennessee Federal Court Axes ADA Anxiety Discrimination Claim And Grants Summary Judgment To Employer Against The EEOC
By: Gerald L. Maatman, Jr., Christopher J. DeGroff, Matthew J. Gagnon, and Ala Salameh
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Trump Administration has succeeded in replacing several open positions within the upper echelons of the EEOC. Employers are anxiously looking for any sign as to how this slate of leadership will put its stamp on the agency’s mission and, more
Continue Reading What A Long Strange Year It’s Been . . . The EEOC’s Fiscal Year Comes To An Uncharacteristically Quiet Close
By Gerald L. Maatman, Jr. and Christina M. Janice
Seyfarth Synopsis: In complex class actions, courts have looked to Rule 23 to authorize class actions either for trial, or for approval of a previously negotiated settlement. Now as thousands of public entities nationwide pursue financial relief from opiate manufacturers, distributors, and pharmacies, U.S. District Court Judge Daniel A.
Continue Reading Ohio Federal Judge Crafts An Unprecedented Class Action Mechanism To Bring Relief To Counties And Cities Struggling To Address Opioid Crisis
By: Gina R. Merrill, David B. Ross, and Gerald L. Maatman, Jr.
Seyfarth Synopsis: In a decision with far–reaching implications for workplace class actions, the D.C. Circuit recently affirmed the denial of class certification of a Rule 23(b)(3) class on the grounds that the proposed class contained uninjured class members in the case of In Re
Continue Reading Good News For Employers: D.C. Circuit Insists On “Hard Look” At Uninjured Class Members At Class Certification Stage
By Gerald L. Maatman, Jr., Michael L. DeMarino, and Andrew Cockroft
Seyfarth Synopsis: Complex class actions often present a scenario in which some or most of the putative class members are subject to arbitration agreements, but the named plaintiff is not. In Gembarski v. PartsSource, Inc., No. 2018-0125, 2019 Ohio LEXIS 1639 (Ohio Aug. 14, 2019), the Supreme
Continue Reading The Supreme Court of Ohio Rules That Defendants Need Not Plead An Arbitration Defense To Defeat Class Certification
By Gerald L. Maatman, Jr. and Alex W. Karasik
Seyfarth Synopsis: In the latest battle of the multi-year showdown between the State of Texas and the EEOC – whereby Texas asserted that the EEOC’s 2012 “Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions Under Title VII” (“Guidance”) interfered with its authority to limit the hiring
Continue Reading Fifth Circuit Rules That The EEOC Can’t Mess With Texas Over Criminal Background Checks
By Gerald L. Maatman, Jr. and Alex W. Karasik
Seyfarth Synopsis: After a federal magistrate judge in California ordered the EEOC to provide written discovery responses relative to the substance its pre-suit investigation of a sex discrimination charge in EEOC v. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., No. 17-CV-5382, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 129046 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 1, 2019), the EEOC
Continue Reading Federal Court Rules That Employer Is Not Entitled To EEOC’s Pre-Suit Materials
By Gerald L. Maatman, Jr., Thomas E. Ahlering and Andrew R. Cockroft
Seyfarth Synopsis: While most employers are likely familiar with the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (“BIPA”), they should know that Illinois is not the only state with a biometric privacy law and many other states are not far behind from joining that group. In addition to states
Continue Reading Copy-Cat Class Actions Meet Copy-Cat Legislation: Illinois’ BIPA Spurs New Biometric Privacy Legislation Across The Nation