Legal News

Unfair representation claim not compelling enough to remove Thelen case from federal court

By Richard Binder

The lawsuit filed against Thelen by former employees seeking unpaid wages and vacation time will remain in federal court under a May 11 ruling.

Todd Bennett and Matthew Troup sued the defunct firm in San Francisco Superior Court on behalf of a class of California workers.  They then filed a motion to intervene in a related federal lawsuit, which makes similar claims on behalf of the firm's former employees in New York, Connecticut and California. The duo claimed that the federal lawsuit would unfairly represent the California class members and argued that the state's Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act excludes an exception in the federal WARN Act that permits companies to forgo giving 60 days of notice and pay before a mass layoff if they are seeking capital at the time.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth D. Laporte of the Northern District of California agreed with the plaintiffs that the claims in both cases were essentially the same. Furthermore, even if the state plaintiffs were successful under California's Private Attorney General Act, she said, 75% of the penalties obtained would go to the state, not the plaintiffs.

The judge noted that the two plaintiffs could file their claims following the resolution of the federal case or opt out of the current class.

Full story at NLJ.com.

Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on May 13, 2009 (boomark / email).