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By Gerald L. Maatman, Jr.

Seyfarth Synopsis: Our latest blog gave readers a detailed breakdown of the second trend of our 15th Annual Workplace Class Action Report (WCAR), which was class certification rulings in 2018.  While Plaintiffs attained noticeably high rates of success in the areas of ERISA and wage & hour litigation this year, employers also fared well in the employment discrimination space.  In today’s video, author Jerry Maatman explains the reasoning behind these developments, and provides his perspective on potential outcomes in 2019 with regards to class certification.  Check out Jerry’s in-depth analysis in the link below!

By Gerald L. Maatman, Jr.

Seyfarth Synopsis: As our 2019 Workplace Class Action Report describes, 2018 was quite an interesting year for employers in terms of class certification rulings. Plaintiffs achieved robust numbers of initial conditional certification rulings of wage & hour collective actions in 2018, while employers secured less defeats of conditional certification motions and decertification of § 216(b) collective actions. Check out the extensive analysis below!

Anecdotally, surveys of corporate counsel confirm that complex workplace litigation – and especially class actions and multi-plaintiff lawsuits – remains one of the chief exposures driving corporate legal budgetary expenditures, as well as the type of legal dispute that causes the most concern for companies. The prime component in that array of risks is indisputably complex wage & hour litigation.

The circuit-by-circuit analysis of 301 class certification decisions in all varieties of workplace class action litigation is detailed in the following map:

Wage & Hour Certification Trends

Plaintiffs achieved robust numbers of initial conditional certification rulings of wage & hour collective actions in 2018, while employers secured less defeats of conditional certification motions and decertification of § 216(b) collective actions. The percentage of successful motions for decertification brought by employers saw a significant dip in 2018 to 52%. This was fully 11% less than the figure of 63% in 2017.

Most significantly, for only the second time in over a decade, and for the second year in a row, wage & hour lawsuit filings in federal courts decreased. That being said, the volume of FLSA lawsuit filings for the preceding four years – during 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017 – were at the highest levels in the last several decades.

As a result, an increase in FLSA filings over the past several years had caused the issuance of more FLSA certification rulings than in any other substantive area of complex employment litigation – 273 certification rulings in 2018, as compared to 257 certification rulings in 2017, 224 certification rulings in 2016, and 175 certification rulings in 2015.

The analysis of these rulings – discussed in Chapter V of this Report – shows that a high predominance of cases are brought against employers in “plaintiff-friendly” jurisdictions such as the judicial districts within the Second and Ninth Circuits. For the first time in a decade, however, rulings were equally voluminous out of the Fifth Circuit, which also tended to favor workers over employers in conditional certification rulings. This trend is shown in the following map:

The statistical underpinnings of this circuit-by-circuit analysis of FLSA certification rulings is telling in several respects.

First, it substantiates that the district courts within the Second, Fifth, and Ninth Circuits are the epi-centers of wage & hour class actions and collective actions. More cases were prosecuted and conditionally certified – 50 certification orders in the Ninth Circuit, 42 certification orders in the Fifth Circuit, and 32 certification orders in the Second Circuit – in the district courts in those circuits than in any other areas of the country. That being said, the district courts in the Third, Fourth, and Sixth Circuits were not far behind, with 22, 23, and 29 certification orders respectively in those jurisdictions.

Second, as the burdens of proof reflect under 29 U.S.C. § 216(b), plaintiffs won the overwhelming majority of “first stage” conditional certification motions (196 of 248 rulings, or approximately 79%). However, in terms of “second stage” decertification motions, employers prevailed in just over half of those cases (13 of 25 rulings, or approximately 52% of the time).

The “first stage” conditional certification statistics for plaintiffs at 79% for 2018 were even more favorable to workers than in 2017, when plaintiffs won 73% of “first stage” conditional certification motions. However, employers fared much worse in 2018 on “second stage” decertification motions. Employers won decertification motions at a rate of 52%, which was down from 63% in 2017 (but up slightly from 45% in 2016).

The following chart illustrates this trend for 2018:

Third, this reflects that there has been an on-going migration of skilled plaintiffs’ class action lawyers into the wage & hour litigation space for close to a decade. Experienced and able plaintiffs’ class action counsel typically secure better results. Further, securing initial “first stage” conditional certification – and foisting settlement pressure on an employer – can be done quickly (almost right after the case is filed), with a minimal monetary investment in the case (e.g., no expert is needed, unlike the situation when certification is sought in an employment discrimination class action or an ERISA class action), and without having to conduct significant discovery (per the case law that has developed under 29 U.S.C. § 216(b)).

As a result, to the extent litigation of class actions and collective actions by plaintiffs’ lawyers is viewed as an investment of time and money, prosecution of wage & hour lawsuits is a relatively low cost investment, without significant barriers to entry, and with the prospect of immediate returns as compared to other types of workplace class action litigation.

Hence, as compared to ERISA and employment discrimination class actions, FLSA litigation is less difficult or protracted for the plaintiffs’ bar, and more cost-effective and predictable. In terms of their “rate of return,” the plaintiffs’ bar can convert their case filings more readily into certification orders, and create the conditions for opportunistic settlements over shorter periods of time.

The certification statistics for 2018 confirm these factors.

The great unknown for workplace class action litigation is the impact of the Epic Systems ruling, and whether it reduces class action activity in the judicial system and depresses settlement values of workplace lawsuits.

At the same time, a future Congress may effectuate a legislative response to abrogate or limit the impact of workplace arbitration agreements with class action waivers, but that will be dependent upon ideological and political dynamics based on future elections.

As a result, Epic Systems may well impact case filing numbers in the near term, and as a result, class action settlement numbers are likely to decrease.

Employment Discrimination & ERISA Certification Trends

Against the backdrop of wage & hour litigation, the ruling in Wal-Mart also fueled more critical thinking and crafting of case theories in employment discrimination and ERISA class action filings in 2018.

The Supreme Court’s Rule 23 decisions have had the effect of forcing the plaintiffs’ bar to “re-boot” the architecture of their class action theories. At least one result was the decision two years ago in Tyson Foods v. Bouaphakeo, 136 S. Ct. 1036 (2016), in which the Supreme Court accepted the plaintiffs’ arguments that, in effect, appeared to soften the requirements previously imposed in Wal-Mart for maintaining and proving class claims, at least in wage & hour litigation.

Hence, it is clear that the playbook on Rule 23 strategies is undergoing a continuous process of evolution.

Filings of “smaller” employment discrimination class actions have increased due to a strategy whereby state or regional-type classes are asserted more often than the type of nationwide mega-cases that Wal-Mart discouraged.

In essence, at least in the employment discrimination area, the plaintiffs’ litigation playbook is more akin to a strategy of “aim small to secure certification, and if unsuccessful, then miss small.”

In turn, whereas employment-related class certification motions were a mixed bag or tantamount to a “jump ball” in 2017 – when 7 of 11 motions were granted and 4 of 11 were denied – employers were far more successful in 2018, where only 3 of 11 motions were granted for plaintiffs and 8 of 11 were denied.

The certification rate of 27% was the lowest on record over the last decade.

The following map demonstrates this array of certification rulings in Title VII and ADEA discrimination cases:

In terms of the ERISA class action litigation scene in 2018, the focus continued to rest on precedents of the U.S. Supreme Court as it shaped and refined the scope of potential liability and defenses in ERISA class actions.

The Wal-Mart decision also has changed the ERISA certification playing field by giving employers more grounds to oppose class certification.

The decisions in 2018 show that class certification motions have the best chance of denial in the context of ERISA welfare plans, and ERISA defined contribution pension plans, where individualized notions of liability and damages are prevalent.

While plaintiffs were more successful than employers in litigating certification motions in ERISA class actions, their success rate was less than in previous years. In 2018, plaintiffs won 11 of 17 certification rulings or 65%. By comparison, in 2017, plaintiffs won 17 of 22 certification motions, with a success rate of 77%.

A map illustrating these trends is shown below:

Overall Trends

So what conclusions overall can be drawn on class certification trends in 2018?

In the areas of wage & hour and ERISA claims, the plaintiffs’ bar is converting their case filings into certification of classes at a high rate. To the extent class certification aids the plaintiffs’ bar in monetizing their lawsuit filings and converting them into class action settlements, the conversion rate is robust. Conversely, plaintiffs’ success rate in the context of employment discrimination class actions is modest, as employers have a high success rate in blocking such certification motions.

Whereas class certification for employment discrimination cases (3 motions granted and 8 motions denied in 2018) was far less possible, class certification is relatively easier in ERISA cases 11 motions granted and 6 motions denied in 2018), but most prevalent in wage & hour litigation (with 196 conditional certification motions granted and 52 motions denied, as well as 13 decertification motions granted and 12 motions denied).

The following bar graph details the win/loss percentages in each of these substantive areas:

–          a 27% success rate for certification of employment discrimination class actions (both Title VII and age discrimination cases);

–          a 65% success rate for certification of ERISA class actions; and,

–          a 79% success rate for conditional certification of wage & hour collective actions.

Obviously, the most certification activity in workplace class action litigation is in the wage & hour space.

The trend over the last three years in the wage & hour space reflects a steady success rate that ranged from a low of 70% to a high of 79% (with 2018 representing the highest success rate ever) for the plaintiffs’ bar, which is tilted toward plaintiff-friendly “magnet” jurisdictions were the case law favors workers and presents challenges to employers seeking to block certification.

Yet, the key statistic in 2018 for employers was a significant decrease in the odds of successful decertification of wage & hour cases to 52%, as compared to 63% in 2017, a decrease of 11%.

Comparatively, the trend over the past five years for certification orders is illustrated in the following chart:

While each case is different and no two class actions or collective actions are identical, these statistics paint the all-too familiar picture that employers have experienced over the last several years. The new wrinkle to influence these factors in 2018 was the Supreme Court’s ruling in 2018 in Epic Systems and in 2016 in Tyson Foods. To the extent it assists plaintiffs in their certification theories, future certification decisions may well trend further upward for workers.

Lessons From 2018

There are multiple lessons to be drawn from these trends in 2018.

First, while the Wal-Mart ruling undoubtedly heightened commonality standards under Rule 23(a)(2) starting in 2011, and the Comcast decision tightened the predominance factors at least for damages under Rule 23(b) in 2013, the plaintiffs’ bar has crafted theories and “work arounds” to maintain or increase their chances of successfully securing certification orders in ERISA and wage & hour cases. This did not hold true in the context of employment discrimination lawsuits. In 2018, their certification numbers were up for ERISA and wage & hour case, and down for employment discrimination litigation.

Second, the defense-minded decisions in Wal-Mart and Comcast have not taken hold in any significant respect in the context of FLSA certification decisions for wage & hour cases. Efforts by the defense bar to use the commonality standards from Wal-Mart and the predominance analysis from Comcast have not impacted the ability of the plaintiffs’ bar to secure first-stage conditional certification orders under 29 U.S.C. § 216(b). If anything, the ruling two years ago in Tyson Foods has made certification prospects even easier for plaintiffs in the wage & hour space, insofar as conditional certification motions are concerned. The conversion rate of successful certification motions hit an all-time high of 79% in 2018.

Third, while monetary relief in a Rule 23(b)(2) context is severely limited, certification is the “holy grail” in class action litigation, and certification of any type of class – even a non-monetary injunctive relief class claim – often drives settlement decisions. This is especially true for employment discrimination and ERISA class actions, as plaintiffs’ lawyers can recover awards of attorneys’ fees under fee-shifting statutes in an employment litigation context. In this respect, the plaintiffs’ bar is nothing if not ingenuous, and targeted certification theories (e.g., issue certification on a limited discrete aspect of a case) are the new norm in federal and state courthouses.

Fourth, during the certification stage, courts are more willing than ever before to assess facts that overlap with both certification and merits issues, and to apply a more practical assessment of the Rule 23(b) requirement of predominance, which focuses on the utility and superiority of a preclusive class-wide trial of common issues. Courts are also more willing to apply a heightened degree of scrutiny to expert opinions offered to establish proof of the Rule 23 requirements.

Finally, employers now have a weapon to short-circuit the decision points for class action exposure through use of mandatory workplace arbitration agreements. Based on the Epic Systems ruling, a class waiver in an arbitration agreement is now an effective first-line defense to class-based litigation.

In sum, notwithstanding these shifts in proof standards and the contours of judicial decision-making, the likelihood of class certification rulings favoring plaintiffs are not only “alive and well” in the post-Wal-Mart and post-Comcast era, but also thriving. The battle ground may shift, however, as employers may create a bulwark against such class-based claims based on the Epic Systems ruling.

By: Gerald L. Maatman, Jr.

Seyfarth Synopsis: Yesterday’s blog closely examined pivotal rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2018, which was the first trend of the 15th Annual Workplace Class Action Report (WCAR).  Today, we begin the WCAR video series with author Jerry Maatman’s analysis of the Supreme Court’s significant rulings in 2018.  In addition to providing an overview of a groundbreaking year at the Supreme Court, Jerry also previews what employers should expect from the Court in 2019.  Watch our video in the link below!

By: Gerald L. Maatman, Jr.

Seyfarth Synopsis: The first key trend from our 15th Annual Workplace Class Action Litigation Report involves rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court.  Over the past few years, the Supreme Court has issued a number of rulings that impacted the prosecution and defense of class actions in significant ways. Today, we provide readers with an outline of the most important workplace rulings issued by the Supreme Court in 2018, as well as which upcoming decisions employers should watch for in 2019.  Read the full breakdown below!

Over the past decade, the U.S. Supreme Court – led by Chief Justice John Roberts – increasingly has shaped the contours of complex litigation exposures through its rulings on class action and governmental enforcement litigation issues. Many of these decisions have elucidated the requirements for pursuing employment-related class actions under Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

The 2011 decision in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes and the 2013 decision in Comcast Corp. v. Behrend are the two most significant examples. Those rulings are at the core of class certification issues under Rule 23.

This year saw another signal ruling in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, which marks a gateway device to block prosecution of class actions in the judicial system and forces adjudication of claims on an individual, bi-lateral basis in arbitration.

To that end, federal and state courts cited Wal-Mart in 608 rulings in 2018; they cited Comcast in 235 cases in 2018; and despite its issuance in May of 2018, they cited Epic Systems in 119 decisions by year’s end.

The past year also saw a change in the composition of the Supreme Court in April of 2018, with Justice Neil Gorsuch assuming the seat of Antonin Scalia after his passing in 2016, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh taking the seat of Anthony Kennedy in October 2018, after Kennedy’s retirement and a bruising Senate confirmation battle.

Given the age of some of the other sitting Justices, President Trump may have the opportunity to fill additional seats on the Supreme Court in 2019 and beyond, and thereby influence a shift in the ideology of the Supreme Court toward a more conservative and strict constructionist jurisprudence. In turn, this is apt to change legal precedents that shape and define the playing field for workplace class action litigation.

Rulings In 2018

In terms of decisions by the Supreme Court impacting workplace class actions, this past year was no exception. In 2018, the Supreme Court decided seven cases – four employment-related cases and three class action cases – that will influence complex employment-related litigation in the coming years.

The employment-related rulings included two wage & hour collective actions and two union cases, and in class actions that involved securities and human rights. A rough scorecard of the decisions reflects one distinct plaintiff/worker-side victory, and defense-oriented rulings in six cases.

Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, 138 S. Ct. 1612 (2018) – Decided on May 21, 2018, this employment case involved the interpretation of mandatory workplace arbitration agreements between employers and employees and whether class action waivers within such agreements – which require workers to arbitrate any claims on an individual, bi-lateral basis (and waive the ability to bring or participate in a class action or collective action) – violate employees’ rights under the National Labor Relations Act to engage in “concerted activities” in pursuit. In a 5 to 4 ruling, the Supreme Court held that class action waivers in arbitration agreements are valid. The decision is likely to have far-reaching implications for litigation of class actions and collective actions.

Cyan, Inc., et al. v. Beaver County Employees Retirement Fund, 138 S. Ct. 1061 (2018) – Decided on March 20, 2018, this class action case posed the issue of whether federal law bars state courts from hearing certain securities class actions. The case turned on interpretation of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (“SLUSA”) – which imposes tougher standards on securities class actions brought in federal courts – and whether it mandated that state courts can no longer hear class actions based on the Securities Act of 1933. In a 9 to 0 decision, the Supreme Court held that SLUSA did not strip state courts of jurisdiction over class actions alleging violations of securities laws and that defendants cannot remove such lawsuits from federal court to state court. In this regard, it did not spell the end of what many have viewed as a “cottage industry” of state court-based class action filings in states such as California where class action lawyers target public companies with securities claims over drops in stock process.

Encino Motors, LLC v. Navarro, et al., 138 S. Ct. 1134 (2018) – Decided on April 2, 2018, in this wage & hour case the Supreme Court examined whether service advisors at car dealerships are exempt under 29 U.S.C. § 213(b)(10)(A) from the overtime pay provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). The Supreme Court held 5 to 4 that service advisors are exempt under the FLSA. The ruling is apt to have far-reaching implications on the legal tests for interpretation of statutory exemptions under the FLSA, as the broader reading of the exemption potentially could reduce the number of workers allowed to assert wage & hour claims against their employers.

CNH Industrial N.V. v. Reese, et al., 138 S. Ct. 761 (2018) – Decided on February 20, 2018, in this employment case the Supreme Court held in a per curium opinion that collective bargaining agreements are to be interpreted according to ordinary principles of contract law, including the rule that a contract is not ambiguous unless it is subject to more than one reasonable interpretation. The case involved a collective bargaining agreement, which provided health care benefits under a group benefit plan to certain employees who retired under the pension plan. The agreement expired by its terms in May 2004. At that time, a class of CNH retirees and surviving spouses filed a lawsuit seeking a declaration that their health care benefits vested for life. In reversing lower court rulings that determined that the collective bargaining agreement was ambiguous and they therefore could rely on extrinsic evidence in interpreting the contract to favor the claims of the union members, the Supreme Court held that the “only reasonable interpretation of the 1998 agreement was that the health care benefits expired when the collective bargaining agreement expired in 2004.

Janus, et al. v. AFSCME, 138 S. Ct. 2448 (2018) – Decided on June 27, 2018, in this employment case the Supreme Court considered whether Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, 431 U.S. 209 (1977), should be overruled and public-sector “agency shop” arrangements invalidated under the First Amendment so as to prevent public-sector unions from collecting mandatory fees from non-members. In ruling 5 to 4, the Supreme Court held that the application of a mandatory public sector union fee requirement is a violation of the First Amendment, thereby overruling Abood. This ruling had an immediate impact on millions of workers in 22 states that do not have right-to-work laws. Since many workers are apt to cease paying union dues with the abolishment of the fair share fee payments requirement, the decision will have a significant impact on the ability of public-sector unions to conduct their business.

China Agritech, Inc. v. Resh, et al., 138 S. Ct. 1800 (2018) – Decided on June 11, 2018, in this class action case the Supreme Court examined whether the tolling rule for class actions established in American Pipe & Construction Co. v. Utah, 414 U.S. 538 (1974), tolled the statute of limitations to permit a previously absent class member to bring a subsequent class action outside the applicable limitations period. American Pipe had held that the filing of a class action tolls the running of the statute of limitations for all putative members of the class who make timely motions to intervene after the lawsuit is deemed inappropriate for class action status. The Supreme Court interpreted American Pipe more narrowly, and held that it does not permit the maintenance of a follow-on class action past the expiration of the statute of limitations. In essence, the ruling limits the tolling rule in American Pipe to apply only to subsequent individual claims.

Jesner, et al. v. Arab Bank, PLC, 138 S. Ct. 1386 (2018) – Decided on April 24, 2018, this class action posed the issue of whether foreign-based corporations can be sued in U.S. courts for alleged violations of the Alien Tort Statute. The Supreme Court decided 5 to 4 that Plaintiffs may not do so. The end result will be to bring a halt to class actions brought to hold foreign-based corporations responsible in U.S. courts for alleged human rights violations committed overseas.

The decisions in Epic Systems, Beaver County, Navarro, Reese, Janus, China Agritech, and Jesner are sure to shape and influence workplace class action litigation in a profound manner.

These cases will impact rules on American Pipe tolling and application of statute of limitations in class actions; the ability of foreign-based claimants to prosecute class actions based on overseas labor and human rights abuses; the obligations of corporations to fund lifetime retiree benefits under collective bargaining agreements; the scope of exemptions in wage & hour litigation; union fee litigation and membership rights; securities fraud class action litigation in state courts; and defenses to workplace class actions based on class waivers in mandatory arbitration agreements.

In addition, Epic Systems may turn out to be one of the most important workplace class action decisions over the last several decades in terms of its ultimate impact on litigation dynamics.

Rulings Expected In 2019

Equally important for the coming year, the Supreme Court accepted five additional cases for review in 2018 – that will be decided in 2019 – that also will impact and shape class action litigation and government enforcement lawsuits faced by employers.

Those cases include two employment lawsuits and three class action cases.

The Supreme Court undertook oral arguments on four of these cases in 2018; the other case underwent oral argument in early 2019.

Frank, et al. v. Gaos, No. 17-961 – Argued on October 31, 2018, this case concerns whether and in what circumstances a cy pres award in a class action – that supplies no direct relief to class members – nonetheless comports with the Rule 23 requirement that a settlement binding class members must be fair, reasonable, and adequate. The ultimate ruling by the Supreme Court likely will determine the legality of cy pres awards, and if approved, create guidelines for the appropriateness of cy pres awards in class action settlements.

Home Depot U.S.A. v. Jackson, et al., No. 17-1471 – Argued on January 15, 2019, this case involves the Class Action Fairness Act and the circumstances under which Defendants may remove a class action to federal court where Defendants file a counter-claim. The ultimate decision likely will determine if the Supreme Court’s earlier ruling in Shamrock Oil & Gas Co. v. Sheets, 313 U.S. 100 (1941) – that a Plaintiff may not remove a counter-claim against it – extends to third-party Defendants bringing counter-claims.

Lamps Plus, Inc. v. Varela, et al., No. 17-988 – Argued on October 29, 2018, this case poses the issue of whether the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) forecloses a broad interpretation of an arbitration agreement that allows prosecution of a class arbitration based solely on general language commonly used in arbitration agreements. Given the ruling in Epic Systems in 2018, the upcoming decision in this case will be of critical significance to employers involved in arbitration of workplace disputes.

New Prime Inc. v. Oliveria, et al., No. 17-340 – Argued on October 29, 2018, this case presents the issue of whether a court or an arbitrator must determine the applicability of § 1 of the FAA – which applies only to “contracts of employment” – to independent contractor agreements. The future decision in this case will be important to employers seeking to use class action waivers in workplace arbitration agreements used with independent contractors.

Mount Lemon Fire District v. Guido, No. 17-587 – Argued on October 1, 2018, this case raises the issue of whether the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (“ADEA”) applies to state and local governmental entities. A future decision will determine the coverage of the ADEA relative to the public sector employees.

The Supreme Court is expected to issue decisions in these five cases by the end of the 2018/2019 term in June of 2019.

Rulings in these cases will have significance for employers in complying with employment discrimination laws, structuring arbitration proceedings, and defending class action litigation.

Implications For Employers

Each decision outlined above may have significant implications for employers and for the defense of high-stakes class action litigation. As always, we will closely monitor all Supreme Court case developments and report them to our readers. Stay tuned!

By Gerald L. Maatman, Jr.

Seyfarth Synopsis: At 852 pages, Seyfarth’s 15th Annual Workplace Class Action Litigation Report analyzes 1,453 rulings and is our most comprehensive Report ever.

Click here to access the microsite featuring all the Report highlights. You can read about the five major trends of the past year, order your copy of the eBook, and download Chapters 1 and 2 on the 2019 Executive Summary and key class action settlements.

The Report was featured today in an exclusive article in MarketWatch. Click here to read the coverage!

The Report is the sole compendium in the U.S. dedicated exclusively to workplace class action litigation, and has become the “go to” research and resource guide for businesses and their corporate counsel facing complex litigation. We were again honored this year with a review of our Report by Employment Practices Liability Consultant Magazine (“EPLiC”). Here is what EPLiC said: “The Report is a must-have resource for legal research and in-depth analysis of employment-related class action litigation. Anyone who practices in this area, whether as a corporate counsel, a private attorney, a business execu­tive, a risk manager, an underwriter, a consul­tant, or a broker, cannot afford to be without it. Importantly, the Report is the only publica­tion of its kind in the United States. It is the sole compendium that analyzes workplace class actions from ‘A to Z.’” Furthermore, EPLiC recognized our Report as the “state-of-the-art word” on workplace class action litigation.

The 2019 Report analyzes rulings from all state and federal courts – including private plaintiff class actions and collective actions, and government enforcement actions –  in the substantive areas of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, and the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005. It also features chapters on EEOC pattern or practice rulings, state law class certification decisions, and non-workplace class action rulings that impact employers. The Report also analyzes the leading class action settlements for 2018 for employment discrimination, wage & hour, ERISA class actions, and statutory workplace laws, as well as settlements of government enforcement actions, both with respect to monetary values and injunctive relief provisions.

We hope our loyal blog readers will enjoy it!

Executive Summary

The prosecution of workplace class action litigation by the plaintiffs’ bar has continued to escalate over the past decade. Class actions often pose unique “bet-the-company” risks for employers. As has become readily apparent in the #MeToo era, an adverse judgment in a class action has the potential to bankrupt a business and adverse publicity can eviscerate its market share. Likewise, the on-going defense of a class action can drain corporate resources long before the case even reaches a decision point. Companies that do business in multiple states are also susceptible to “copy-cat” class actions, whereby plaintiffs’ lawyers create a domino effect of litigation filings that challenge corporate policies and practices in numerous jurisdictions at the same time. Hence, workplace class actions can impair a corporation’s business operations, jeopardize or cut short the careers of senior management, and cost millions of dollars to defend. For these reasons, workplace class actions remain at the top of the list of challenges that keep business leaders up late at night with worries about compliance and litigation. Skilled plaintiffs’ class action lawyers and governmental enforcement litigators are not making this challenge any easier for companies. They are continuing to develop new theories and approaches to the successful prosecution of complex employment litigation and government-backed lawsuits.

New rulings by federal and state courts have added to this patchwork quilt of compliance problems and risk management issues. In turn, the events of the past year in the workplace class action world demonstrate that the array of litigation issues facing businesses are continuing to accelerate at a rapid pace while also undergoing significant change. Notwithstanding the transition to new leadership in the White House with the Trump Administration, governmental enforcement litigation pursued by the U.S. Equal Employment Commission (“EEOC”) and other federal agencies continued to manifest an aggressive agenda, with regulatory oversight of workplace issues continuing as a high priority. Conversely, litigation issues stemming from the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) reflected a slight pull-back from previous efforts to push a pronounced pro-worker/anti-business agenda. The combination of these factors are challenging businesses to integrate their litigation and risk mitigation strategies to navigate these exposures. These challenges are especially acute for businesses in the context of complex workplace litigation. Adding to this mosaic of challenges in 2019 is the continuing evolution in federal policies emanating from the Trump White House, the recent appointments of new Supreme Court Justices, and mid-term elections placing the Senate in control of Republicans and the House in control of Democrats. Furthermore, while changes to government priorities started on the previous Inauguration Day and are on-going, others are being carried out by new leadership at the agency level who were appointed over this past year. As expected, many changes represent stark reversals in policy that are sure to have a cascading impact on private class action litigation.

While predictions about the future of workplace class action litigation may cover a wide array of potential outcomes, the one sure bet is that change is inevitable and corporate America will continue to face new litigation challenges.

Key Trends Of 2018

An overview of workplace class action litigation developments in 2018 reveals five key trends. First, class action litigation has been shaped and influenced to a large degree by recent rulings of the U.S. Supreme Court. Over the past several years, the U.S. Supreme Court has accepted more cases for review than in previous years – and as a result, has issued more rulings – that have impacted the prosecution and defense of class actions and government enforcement litigation. The past year continued that trend, with several key decisions on complex employment litigation and class action issues that were arguably more pro-business than decisions in past terms. Among those rulings, Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, 138 S. Ct. 1612 (2018) – which upheld the legality of class action waivers in mandatory arbitration agreements – is a transformative decision that is one of the most important workplace class action rulings in the last two decades. It is already having a profound impact on the prosecution and defense of workplace class action litigation, and in the long run, Epic Systems may well shift class action litigation dynamics in critical ways. Coupled with the appointments of Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court in 2018, litigation may well be reshaped in ways that change the playbook for prosecuting and defending class actions.

Second, the plaintiffs’ bar was successful in prosecuting class certification motions at the highest rates ever as compared to previous years in the areas of ERISA and wage & hour litigation, while suffering significant defeats in employment discrimination litigation. While evolving case law precedents and new defense approaches resulted in good outcomes for employers in opposing class certification requests, federal and state courts issued many favorable class certification rulings for the plaintiffs’ bar in 2018. Plaintiffs’ lawyers continued to craft refined class certification theories to counter the more stringent Rule 23 certification requirements established in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, 564 U.S. 338 (2011). As a result, in the areas of wage & hour and ERISA class actions, the plaintiffs’ bar scored exceedingly well in securing class certification rulings in federal courts in 2018 (over comparative figures for 2017). Class actions were certified in significantly higher numbers in “magnet” jurisdictions that continued to issue decisions that encourage – or, in effect, force – the resolution of large numbers of claims through class-wide mechanisms. Furthermore, the sheer volume of wage & hour certification decisions in 2018 increased as compared to last year, and plaintiffs fared better in litigating those class certification motions in federal court than in the prior year. Of the 273 wage & hour certification decisions in 2018, plaintiffs won 196 of 248 conditional certification rulings (approximately 79%), and lost only 13 of 25 decertification rulings (approximately 52%). By comparison, there were 257 wage & hour certification decisions in 2017, where plaintiffs won 170 of 233 conditional certification rulings (approximately 73%) and lost 15 of 24 decertification rulings (approximately 63%). In sum, employers lost more first stage conditional certification motions in 2018, and saw a reduction of their odds – a decrease of 11% – of fracturing cases with successful decertification motions.

Third, filings and settlements of government enforcement litigation in 2018 did not reflect a head-snapping pivot from the ideological pro-worker outlook of the Obama Administration to a pro-business, less regulation/litigation viewpoint of the Trump Administration. Instead, as compared to 2016 (the last year of the Obama Administration), government enforcement litigation actually increased in 2018. As an example, the EEOC alone brought 199 lawsuits in 2018 as compared to 184 lawsuits in 2017 and 86 lawsuits in 2016. However, the settlement value of the top ten settlements in government enforcement cases decreased dramatically – from $485.25 million in 2017 to $126.7 million in 2018. The explanations for this phenomenon are varied, and include the time-lag between Obama-appointed enforcement personnel vacating their offices and Trump-appointed personnel taking charge of agency decision-making power; the number of lawsuits “in the pipeline” that were filed during the Obama Administration that came to conclusion in the past year; and the “hold-over” effect whereby Obama-appointed policy-makers remained in their positions long enough to continue their enforcement efforts before being replaced in the last half of 2018. This is especially true at the EEOC, where the Trump nominations for the Commission’s Chair, two Commissioners, and its general counsel were stalled in the Senate waiting for votes of approval (or rejection), and one of the two nominees withdrew at year-end due to the delay. These factors are critical to employers, as both the DOL and the EEOC have had a focus on “big impact” lawsuits against companies and “lead by example” in terms of areas that the private plaintiffs’ bar aims to pursue. As 2019 opens, it appears that the content and scope of enforcement litigation undertaken by the DOL and the EEOC in the Trump Administration will continue to tilt away from the pro-employee/anti-big business mindset of the previous Administration. Trump appointees at the EEOC and the DOL are slowly but surely “peeling back” on positions previously advocated under the Obama Administration. As a result, it appears inevitable that the volume of government enforcement litigation and value of settlement numbers from those cases will decrease in 2019.

Fourth, the monetary value of the top workplace class action settlements decreased dramatically in 2018. These settlement numbers had been increasing on an annual basis over the past decade, and reached all-time highs in 2017. While the plaintiffs’ employment class action bar and governmental enforcement litigators were exceedingly successful in monetizing their case filings into large class-wide settlements this past year, they did so at decidedly lower values in 2018 than in previous years. The top ten settlements in various employment-related class action categories totaled $1.32 billion in 2018, a decrease of over $1.4 billion from $2.72 billion in 2017 and a decrease of $430 million from $1.75 billion in 2016. Furthermore, settlements of wage & hour class actions experienced over a 50% decrease in value (from $525 million in 2017 down to $253 million in 2018); ERISA class actions saw nearly a three-fold decrease (from $927 million in 2017 down to $313.4 million in 2018); and government enforcement litigation registered nearly a fourfold decrease (from $485.2 million in 2017 down to $126.7 million in 2018). Whether this is the beginning of a long-range trend or a short-term aberration remains to be seen as 2019 unfolds.

Fifth, as it continues to gain momentum on a worldwide basis, the #MeToo movement is fueling employment litigation issues in general and workplace class action litigation in particular. On account of new reports and social media, it has raised the level of awareness of workplace rights and emboldened many to utilize the judicial system to vindicate those rights. Several large sex harassment class-based settlements were effectuated in 2018 that stemmed at least in part from #MeToo initiatives. Likewise, the EEOC’s enforcement litigation activity in 2018 focused on the filing of #MeToo lawsuits while riding the wave of social media attention to such workplace issues; in fact, fully 74% of the EEOC’s Title VII filings this past year targeted sex-based discrimination (compared to 2017, where sex based-discrimination claims accounted for 65% of Title VII filings). Of the EEOC’s 2018 sex discrimination lawsuit filings, 41 filings included claims of sexual harassment. The total number of sexual harassment filings increased notably as compared to 2017, where sexual harassment claims accounted for 33 filings. Employers can expect more of the same in the coming year.

Implications For Employers

The one constant in workplace class action litigation is change. More than any other year in recent memory, 2018 was a year of great change in the landscape of Rule 23. As these issues play out in 2019, additional chapters in the class action playbook will be written.

The lesson to draw from 2018 is that the private plaintiffs’ bar and government enforcement attorneys at the state level are apt to be equally, if not more, aggressive in 2019 in bringing class action and collective action litigation against employers.

These novel challenges demand a shift of thinking in the way companies formulate their strategies. As class actions and collective actions are a pervasive aspect of litigation in Corporate America, defending and defeating this type of litigation is a top priority for corporate counsel. Identifying, addressing, and remediating class action vulnerabilities, therefore, deserves a place at the top of corporate counsel’s priorities list for 2019.

Seyfarth Synopsis: Happy Holiday season to our loyal readers of the Workplace Class Action Blog! Our elves are busy at work this holiday season in wrapping up our start-of-the-year kick-off publication – Seyfarth Shaw’s Annual Workplace Class Action Litigation Report. We anticipate going to press in early January, and launching the 2019 Report to our readers from our Blog.

This will be our Fifteenth Annual Report, and the biggest yet with analysis of over 1,400 class certification rulings from federal and state courts in 2018.  The Report will be available for download as an E-Book too.

The Report is the sole compendium in the U.S. dedicated exclusively to workplace class action litigation, and has become the “go to” research and resource guide for businesses and their corporate counsel facing complex litigation. We are humbled and honored by the recent review of our 2018 Annual Workplace Class Action Litigation Report by Employment Practices Liability Consultant Magazine (“EPLiC”) – the review is here. Here is what EPLiC said: “The Report is a must-have resource for legal research and in-depth analysis of employment-related class action litigation. Anyone who practices in this area, whether as a corporate counsel, a private attorney, a business execu­tive, a risk manager, an underwriter, a consul­tant, or a broker, cannot afford to be without it. Importantly, the Report is the only publica­tion of its kind in the United States. It is the sole compendium that analyzes workplace class actions from ‘A to Z.’” Furthermore, EPLiC recognized our Report as the “state-of-the-art word” on workplace class action litigation.

The 2019 Report will analyze rulings from all state and federal courts – including private plaintiff class actions and collective actions, and government enforcement actions –  in the substantive areas of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, and the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005. It also features chapters on EEOC pattern or practice rulings, state law class certification decisions, and non-workplace class action rulings that impact employers. The Report also analyzes the leading class action settlements for 2018 for employment discrimination, wage & hour, and ERISA class actions, as well as settlements of government enforcement actions, both with respect to monetary values and injunctive relief provisions.

Information on downloading your copy of the 2019 Report will be available on our blog in early January. Happy Holidays!

By Gerald L. Maatman, Jr.

Seyfarth Synopsis: In its recent article on leading content creators in the legal industry, Attorney at Work cited Seyfarth’s Annual Workplace Class Action Litigation Report, calling it a “best-in-show report that makes the firm synonymous with class action litigation.”

Attorney at Work, a popular legal blog named in the ABA Journal’s “Blawg 100 Hall of Fame,” provides commentary with the “inspiration and information” necessary to support outstanding leading work. In a recent article highlighting industry leaders in legal content creation, Attorney at Work said:

“Seyfarth Shaw’s annual Workplace Class Action Litigation Report, now in its 14th year, is a best-in-show report that makes the firm synonymous with class action litigation. At 800 pages, it is a giant publication and is consistently referred to as the source for countless media stories. Not coincidently, this year Seyfarth Shaw was again named a Law360 top employment ‘Practice Group of the Year.’ It has won the accolade for seven consecutive years.”

We are humbled and honored by Attorney at Work’s commentary on our Annual Workplace Class Action Litigation Report. The full article can be found HERE.

The process to compile our Annual Workplace Class Action Litigation Report is a considerable undertaking, and we are grateful that the Report can be seen as a model in the legal industry.

We are particularly proud of Attorney at Work’s words regarding the Report’s reflection on Seyfarth Shaw. After all, our class action practitioners work relentlessly to track, collect, and analyze each and every ruling on class action issues and Rule 23 topics.

Through publishing the Report for 14 years, we have found that the process results in not only a unique compendium of class action decisions, but also in a distinct analytical ability among our team of attorneys. We are pleased that this knowledge is useful to employers and class action practitioners throughout the country.

Many thanks to Attorney at Work — we sincerely appreciate the kudos.

Now that we are getting closer to year’s end, we have tracked and analyzed over 1,500 rulings. At this pace, we predict that the 2019 Report will be our most comprehensive publication to date. Stay tuned for our full analysis of the year’s workplace class action activity in January of 2019.

By Gerald L. Maatman, Jr. and Michael L. DeMarino

Seyfarth Synopsis:  In an opinion laced with frustration over a third appeal in a class action involving attorneys’ fees, the Seventh Circuit ruled that an objector was entitled to recover attorneys’ fees from class counsel’s fee award. “Unless the parties expressly agree otherwise,” the Seventh Circuit explained, “settlement agreements should not be read to bar attorney fees for objectors who have added genuine value.” The Seventh Circuit’s recent ruling in In Re Southwest Airlines Voucher Litigation is a good reminder for companies negotiating class settlements to account for objector fees in settlement agreements up front, or run the risk that an objector will sandbag the settlement by requesting fees later.

The Background Of The Decision

In In Re Southwest Airlines Voucher Litigation, No. 17-3541, 2018 WL 3651028, at *1 (7th Cir. Aug. 2, 2018), the Seventh Circuit addressed the third appeal relating to attorneys’ fees in the settlement of a class action involving Southwest Airline’s cancelled drink vouchers.  In the first appeal, the Seventh Circuit modified class counsel’s fee award because class counsel had failed to disclose a potential conflict of interest. After the appeal, however, class counsel sought a supplemental fee award, along with a 1/5 multiplier, for his time spent appealing – a maneuver the Seventh Circuit called “astonishing.” Id. The district court declined to award the multiplier, but nonetheless awarded class counsel one-third of the requested amount, or roughly $455,294.

Subsequently, an objector, Gregory Markow, sought to vacate the settlement agreement and the supplemental fee award. Markow eventually appealed but then dismissed his appeal in exchange for class counsel’s agreement to take half of the supplemental fee award. The district court approved the new settlement, and Southwest distributed the vouchers and paid class counsel.

Then, in what must have come as a complete surprise to class counsel (and the corporate defendant), Markow sought to recover $80,000 in attorneys’ fees, which were to come out of class counsel’s fee award. The district court denied Markow’s fee request, and Markow appealed that denial.

The Seventh Circuit’s Ruling

In this third appeal, the Seventh Circuit reversed and remanded. The Seventh Circuit noted that the underlying settlement agreements were silent on issue of objector’s fees. In the absence of a settlement agreement that addresses objector fees, the Seventh Circuit explained that it looks to the law. “Objectors who add value to a class settlement may be compensated for their efforts,” explained Circuit Judge David Hamilton, writing for the unanimous panel. Id. at 2. “Unless the parties expressly agree otherwise, settlement agreements should not be read to bar attorney fees for objectors who have added genuine value.” Id.

Relying on the common fund doctrine to fill in the gap left by the parties’ agreements, the Seventh Circuit ultimately concluded that it would be inequitable for Markow’s lawyer to receive nothing despite negotiating, in exchange for dropping the second appeal, a tripling of relief to the class and a significant cut to class counsel’s fees.

Despite its remand, the Seventh Circuit expressed frustration over resolving yet another appeal involving attorneys’ fees. “[W]e expect this case to end, ‘so that the tail can stop wagging the dog,’” it warned. Id. at *4. (citation omitted). The Seventh Circuit determined that it was “difficult to reconcile [class counsel’s] rapacious requests for fees in the district court with our decision in the prior appeal that reduced its already generous fee award as a modest penalty for failing to disclose a potential conflict of interest.” Id.

Implication For Employers

Although objectors are often labeled extortionists by virtue of opportunistic obstacles  they create to securing approval of class-wide settlements, the ruling in In Re Southwest Airlines Voucher Litigation is clear that objectors are entitled to attorneys’ fees when they add value to the class settlement.  Employers navigating class settlements, therefore, should account for objector fees in the settlement agreement. Failure to do so could result in an objector sandbagging the settlement by requesting fees later.

By Gerald L. Maatman, Jr. and Michael L. DeMarino

Seyfarth Synopsis:  In the midst of a legal landscape that is seemingly pro-arbitration, employers should recognize that employees still have a few strategies to oppose arbitration or invalidate an arbitration agreement. The recent ruling of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in Buchanan, et. al. v. Tata Consultancy Services, Ltd., 15-CV-01696 (N.D. Cal. Jul. 23, 2018), is a good reminder for employers that arbitration agreements are still susceptible to challenges like waiver and unconscionability. Employers faced with class actions involving a mix of class members who signed and did not sign arbitration agreements should be careful to preserve their right to enforce the agreements. 

At the same time, this decision in Buchanan is important because it held that a private, individual plaintiff is not entitled to rely on the pattern and practice burden shifting framework articulated in Teams Int’l Bhd. of Teamsters v. U.S., 431 U.S. 324, 360 (1977) – an issue that the Ninth Circuit has not yet addressed.

Background:

In Buchanan, et. al. v. Tata Consultancy Services, Ltd., No. 15-CV-01696 (N.D. Cal. Jul. 23, 2018), four plaintiffs sued Tata Consultancy Services, Ltd. (“TCS”), alleging disparate treatment under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Specifically, plaintiffs claimed that TCS, which is headquartered in India, maintained a pattern and practice of intentional discrimination in its United States workforce by favoring persons who are South Asian or of Indian National Origin. TCS provides consulting and outsourcing services, and plaintiffs claimed that TCS favored individuals who are predominately South Asian when assigning individuals to open client projects. After class certification briefing, the district court certified a class consisting of all individuals “who are not of South Asian race or Indian  nation origin who were employed by [CTS]  . . . and were terminated . . . .” Id. at 6.

After the class was certified, TCS brought a motion to bifurcate the claims of Plaintiff Buchanan from those of other plaintiffs and a motion to compel arbitration. The district court granted both motions.

The Decision

As a threshold matter, the district court held that Plaintiff Buchanan was not entitled to rely on the pattern and practice framework for proving employment discrimination under Int’l Bhd. of Teamsters v. U.S., 431 U.S. 324, 360 (1977). Buchanan was not a member of the class because, unlike the class, he was never employed by TCS. Under the Teamsters framework, the burden shifts to the employer to defeat a prima facie showing of a pattern or practice by demonstrating that the plaintiffs’ proof is either inaccurate or insignificant.

Although the Ninth Circuit has not addressed whether an individual private plaintiff may use the Teamsters framework, the district court held that pattern and practice method of proof is not available to private plaintiffs. “To allow this expansion of Teamsters,” the district court reasoned, “would ‘conflict with the Supreme Court’s oft-repeated holding . . . that ultimate burden of persuading the trier of fact that the defendant intentionally discriminated against plaintiffs remains at all times with the plaintiff.” Buchanan, et. al. v. Tata Consultancy Services, Ltd., at 8. Because Plaintiff Buchanan, as an individual private plaintiff, was subject to a different burden shifting framework than will govern the claims of the class, the district court concluded that bifurcating his claims from those of the class would avoid confusion at trial and support judicial economy.

As to TCS’s motion to compel arbitration, plaintiffs argued that TCS waived its right to demand arbitration and that the arbitration agreement contained impermissible waiver and unconscionable provisions. Addressing plaintiffs’ waiver argument, the district court concluded that although TCS waited until the fourth amended complaint to assert its right to arbitrate, TCS had notified plaintiffs of its intent enforce the agreement as soon as plaintiffs implicated a potential plaintiff to whom the agreement applied. Hence, the district court concluded that plaintiffs were on notice and granting TCS’s motion would not prejudice plaintiffs.

The district court similarly rejected plaintiffs’ contention that the arbitration agreement contained an impermissible prospective waiver of an employee’s federal anti-discrimination rights. The district court ultimately disagreed that Teamsters pattern and practice burden-shifting framework is a substantive right. The district court likewise rejected plaintiffs’ argument that the arbitration agreement was unconscionable because of a “selective[] overlay [of] a pro-Defendant subset of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. ” Id. at 14. Plaintiffs challenged the arbitration agreement because it did not provide employees the opportunity to file motions to strike or motions for judgment on the pleadings. The district court, however, concluded that these limitations did not rise to the level of unconscionability. It reasoned that “[m]otions to strike are disfavored . . . . and Motions for judgment on the pleadings are easily recast” into motions for summary judgment. Id.

Implication For Employers:

This case is a valuable reminder for employers with arbitration agreements that it is still best practice to avoid acting inconsistent with the right to arbitration, lest you supply plaintiffs with a waiver argument. Employers facing a class mixed with employees who signed and did not sign arbitration agreements should be careful preserve their right to enforce arbitration agreements. This may include notifying plaintiffs of the existence of the arbitrations agreement and your intent to enforce the agreement as soon as a plaintiff enters the case to whom the agreement is applicable.

 

On June 21, 2018, XpertHR featured Gerald (Jerry) L. Maatman, Jr. of Seyfarth Shaw LLP as a special guest commentator on its popular podcast series for human resources professionals. In this episode, Jerry provides a comprehensive overview of the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Lewis v. Epic Systems Corp., and the decision’s implications for employers.

In a closely contested 5-4 decision authored by Justice Neil Gorsuch, the Supreme Court held that employers may require employees to sign class action waivers as a condition of employment, and such contacts are unenforceable under the Federal Arbitration Act. In practice, this means that employees who have signed such agreements are obligated to arbitrate workplace disputes individually, rather than as a class or collective action. It is believed that this ruling may affect an estimated 25 million employment contracts, a number that will only continue to rise.

On XpertHR’s podcast, which is hosted by Legal Editor David Weisenfeld, Jerry answers a myriad of key questions about the impact of this decision for employers. David and Jerry touch on important aspects of the ruling such as Justice Ginsburg’s harsh dissent, potential workarounds by the Plaintiff’s bar, the practicality of arbitration agreements for employers, and more. To listen to the full episode, click HERE.

Implications For Employers

The Epic Systems ruling has the potential to immediately influence workplace relations. In fact, the impact of this case is already being seen in courtrooms around the country, with employers incorporating this stance into their arguments against putative employment class actions. Furthermore, as Jerry states in the podcast, the Supreme Court has issued a “mosaic of arbitration decisions” over the past few years that may expand the scope of this ruling beyond just wage & hour cases.

However, though the reading of this decision is pro-business, it may present new complications for employers. For example, the Plaintiff’s bar may adopt the strategy of filing hundreds of individual arbitration claims, a tactic Jerry describes as “death by 1,000 cuts.” Justice Ginsburg’s vociferous dissent can also be interpreted as a plea for Congressional action, though it is difficult to determine the likelihood and proximity of legislative action.

For a full explanation of this case’s impact on employers and HR personnel, make sure to listen to XpertHR’s podcast!