PRACTITIONER BLOG

Read our analyses of developments in Impact Litigation and stay current on class action law

Impact Fund and Allies File Amicus Brief Defending Courts’ Role Protecting Workers During Litigation
Workplace Litigation, Defense Tactics, Amicus Brief Teddy Basham-Witherington Workplace Litigation, Defense Tactics, Amicus Brief Teddy Basham-Witherington

Impact Fund and Allies File Amicus Brief Defending Courts’ Role Protecting Workers During Litigation

Our brief highlights the role afforded to courts to intervene and address the conduct of counsel and parties in litigation. This historical role is especially important in litigation connected to the workplace, where the power imbalance between employers and employees presents unique threats to the rights of employees in the form of coercion and retaliation.

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Class Actions, Statistical Evidence Teddy Basham-Witherington Class Actions, Statistical Evidence Teddy Basham-Witherington

TYSON FOODS V. BOUAPHAKEO: HAS THE SKY FALLEN?

Earlier this year, statistics made headlines as the subject of a new Supreme Court decision, Tyson Foods, Inc. v. Bouaphakeo. As Jocelyn Larkin described in her earlier blog post, employees working in the kill, cut, and retrim departments of a Tyson Foods pork processing plant in Iowa alleged that they had not been paid overtime for the time they spent putting on and taking off the protective gear required to do their dangerous jobs. At trial, the employees relied on “representative evidence” to prove liability – an observational study that resulted in an estimated average “donning and doffing” time for each department. A jury awarded the class of employees about $2.9 million in unpaid wages.

The Supreme Court accepted Tyson’s appeal and agreed to consider two questions:

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