Public Justice

July 18, 2014 In Blog

Can “Pregnancy Blind” Company Policies Constitute Pregnancy Discrimination? U.S. Supreme Court to Decide.

Image via Tuckner Sipser By Adrian Alvarez Goldberg-Robb Attorney Does United Parcel Services discriminate against a pregnant worker when it refuses to assign her to “light duty” while she’s pregnant, but assigns light duty to a worker who breaks his arm on the job? This…

July 17, 2014 In Blog

American Apparel Hides Sexual Harassment and More through Mandatory Arbitration

American Apparel arbitration clause via Jezebel. By Arthur Bryant Chairman An eye-opening piece by Stephen Davidoff Solomon in The New York Times highlights a huge, unappreciated danger of corporations requiring employees to sign mandatory arbitration “agreements” to get or keep their jobs – hiding outrageous…

July 11, 2014 In Blog

Coal Mining Industry Is Having a Bummer of a Summer in the Federal Courts

This summer’s developments have rebuked the industry’s “Yes, Coal” message. By Jim Hecker Director, Environmental Enforcement Project Rather than clean up the pollution caused by mining and burning coal, the coal industry has long denied that any serious environmental harm is occurring. It has also…

July 10, 2014 In Blog

Pac 9 Port Truck Drivers Defeat Arbitration Agreement, Will Have Wage Claims Heard

Image via Teamster.org. By Victoria W. Ni Senior Attorney It’s day four of the strike by more than 120 port truck drivers in L.A. and Long Beach, who have vowed to stop work until they are reclassified as employees. It takes courage to strike when…

July 7, 2014 In Updates

Fight Against Deceptive Lending in Michigan To Continue

Motion for arbitration denied; Plaintiffs paid exorbitant interest due to hidden provision Thomas Hawk via photopin cc By Aidan O’Shea Communications Specialist When Eboree Larkin, a 25-year-old single mother, accepted a 25 percent Annual Percentage Rate on her used-car payments, she expected the APR to be just that:…

July 7, 2014 In Blog

Pelican Bay Prisoners’ Class Certification Offers Hope on Solitary Confinement

photo credit: citymaus via photopin cc By Adrian Alvarez Goldberg-Robb Attorney Is holding a prisoner in solitary confinement for more than a decade cruel and unusual punishment? That’s the question that a federal judge in Ashker v. Brown is set to decide. Recently, the judge said…

July 3, 2014 In Blog

POM Wonderful Victory for Consumers

photo credit: Fruitnet.com via photopin cc By Leslie A. Brueckner, Senior Attorney Leah Nicholls, Kazan-Budd Attorney It’s clear that the U.S. Supreme Court is about as pro-business as one can imagine. But something strange happened recently: The Court issued a unanimous ruling that will actually…

July 2, 2014 In Blog

“Natural” Food: Take That With A Grain of Salt

Image via foodnavigator-usa. By Leslie Brueckner Senior Attorney What do you think when you see the word “natural” prominently displayed on a package of chicken breasts? If you are like me, you assume it means that the hen was raised without antibiotics, artificial growth hormones,…

July 1, 2014 In Blog

Terrible North Carolina Supreme Court Decision Underscores Need For CFPB Action On Forced Arbitration

photo credit: afagen via photopin cc By Paul BlandExecutive Director Yesterday, Public Justice responded to a request from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for input on a survey it wants to send consumers, by basically telling the Bureau your survey will help bolster the case…

June 25, 2014 In Updates

Arbitrator Must Decide Whether Workplace Racial Discrimination Case Should Proceed as Class Action, Court of Appeal Rules

photo credit: Malingering via photopin cc By Aidan O’Shea Communications Specialist The California Court of Appeal today decided to allow an arbitrator to decide whether employees at John Elway Manhattan Beach Toyota can proceed as a class action in their dispute over their racist treatment at…