Sometimes victims of discrimination, docked wages, bad products, false claims in ads, unfair treatment, or junk fees would like to assert their legal rights, but they are concerned about how much this might cost them.  A New York employment discrimination and consumer lawyer is prepared to answer questions about lawsuits against corporations, and tactics for dealing with the potentially significant costs.

Pretrial Settlement

One of the main ways in which the cost of asserting one’s rights can be kept under control is with pretrial settlements.  Settlements avoid significant costs in terms of the time and potential personal recovery of the person who filed the lawsuit, and further costs to the person or corporation who is sued.  For that reason, there is a public policy in favor of settlement.  An attorney who is skilled at mediating potential claims prior to filing suit, and who has settled disputes without filing anything, can be of service to a client who has a claim, especially a client who is concerned about the litigation process and its costs.

Employment Discrimination Class Actions

The class action is especially appropriate where a corporation is harming multiple persons in the same or similar way, making them so numerous that if each of them filed a lawsuit individually, the costs would add up.  When a few persons are named as those suing, and persons who suffered from a similar act or policy of the corporation being sued are brought in as class action members, the public policies underlying our laws can be effectively advanced at a reasonable cost. 

In the case of employment discrimination, the federal government, the states including New York, and the cities including New York City and those on Long Island have important policies to eliminate discrimination and policies that fall more heavily on members of protected groups.  A settlement class may be certified, depending on whether there are similar claims, how many people are affected, whether the attorneys involved have actively worked up the case, or other factors.  Alternatively, a class action may be certified for trial, and the persons named in the complaint may efficiently represent the interests of persons absent at the trial by providing testimony, or helping their attorneys demand important documentary or other evidence from the persons or corporations being sued. 

A recent decision by the New York Court of Appeals is an example.  A South Asian-American woman employed at the Washington Bureau of the Bloomberg news and media company applied to transfer to New York, but was told that at least one of the positions she applied for had been turned into a “diversity slot†and given to a person with less formal education or relevant work experience than she had.  Bloomberg claimed that she could not sue herself or represent a class of applicants to New York-based Bloomberg positions, because she never worked in New York yet was suing under a New York law, the New York State Human Rights Law and New York City Human Rights Law.  The court disagreed, explaining that she could sue for “discriminatory conduct pertaining to New York City- or State-based jobs.† Therefore, a nonresident victim could sue in New York under New York employment discrimination laws.

Wage and Hour Class Actions

Another important example of class actions involves earned wages and overtime.  The law in New York and other states ensures not only that employers pay what they promise to applicants as wages, but that they pay certain minimum amounts, at certain times, with certain mandated benefits and so on.  In federal court, workers can band together in a collective where one or a few workers who claims deductions from pay, not enough pay or overtime, or late payment or wrong pay statements can represent other workers who do not name themselves.  The court, if certain requirements are met, may offer the other workers the opportunity to participate in the case and potentially receive a claim form and a settlement check or part of a jury verdict or judge-made order of repayment.  Under state law, these wage and hour cases may be treated as class actions more similar to discrimination cases. 

Products Liability Class Actions

Thousands of products liability lawsuits are filed every year in federal court, approximately twice as many in 2022 as in 2015.  Some of the largest ones concern medical, drug store, or safety products like 3M earplugs, Johnson & Johnson talcum powder, Purdue Pharma opioids, and pelvic mesh implants.

In New York, some products-related class actions are filed under General Business Law section 349 and section 350.  These laws protect consumers from deceptive businesses or services, and false claims in the advertising of any product or service in New York.  While the business or advertising has to be notified what they are being sued over, the requirements for filing such a lawsuit are not strict.  For example, the product does not have to be totally non-functional, and the claim does not have to be literally false.  It may be enough that the claim leaves out important information, or ‘spins’ the product’s or service’s nature in misleading ways.  The victim also does not have to lose all benefits of the product or service, but simply has to have suffered an injury as a result of the false claims or deception.  New York also recognizes products liability violations known in other states, such as design defect, negligence, failure to warn of known risks, and others.

Contact a New York Employment and Consumer Lawyer Today

Leeds Brown Law, P.C. is one of America’s leading employment discrimination law firms.  The employment discrimination, wage and hour, and consumer law attorneys at Leeds Brown Law, P.C. would be happy to discuss your case in confidence.  Contact a New York lawyer at Leeds Brown Law for a free consultation to answer your questions and evaluate your potential claim. Call Leeds Brown Law, P.C., at (516) 873-9550, or send an email to jbrown@leedsbrownlaw.com.   

Our efforts have resulted in millions of dollars in monetary and non-monetary compensation for employees and consumers across the United States.