On September 21, 2016, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California granted preliminary approval of a $5 million, non-reversionary settlement in Lindell v. Synthes USA, et al., a class action alleging that Defendants failed to compensate certain California-based commission-only sales consultants for expenses and took unlawful deductions from pay for sales consultants, both commission-only and salaried, in California.

The two classes—one for expenses, one for deductions—had previously been certified in 2014, but the class definitions have been amended to include an end date of July 14, 2016. Pursuant to the terms of the settlement and the order granting preliminary approval, class notice will be mailed within 20 days of September 21, 2016. Sales consultants who worked for Synthes in California between December 13, 2007 and July 14, 2016 may be eligible for a distribution under the settlement. For more information, or to provide updated contact information, please contact Darin Ranahan or Catha Worthman. To view the court decision, as well as related settlement documents, please visit our settlements page.

On August 1, in a summary order, the 10^th Circuit denied Defendant Great-West’s request to appeal the lower court’s order certifying the case as a class action.  As class counsel, FJWW opposed Great-West’s petition because there were no errors in the district court’s decision and there were no other reasons why immediate appellate review was warranted.  We look forward to continuing to litigate the case in district court.

On July 5, 2016, the Alameda County Superior Court granted preliminary approval of a $2.465 million settlement in Rogers, et al. v. Kindred Healthcare, Inc., et al., a class action alleging that Defendants failed to pay Personal Care Attendants the required minimum and straight time wages and overtime premiums, did not provide them with required meal and rest breaks when they worked in licensed healthcare facilities, and failed to issue legally compliant paystubs.

On June 22, 2016, the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado certified a class of more than 270,000 retirement plan participants who invested in the Great-West Key Guaranteed Portfolio Fund between 2008 and the present.

On April 26, 2016, U.S. District Judge Sandra F. Feuerstein granted class certification to more than 300 former employees of Atrium Management Services, Inc. in the case of Kindle v. Dejana, No. 2:14-cv-00678 (E.D.N.Y.). The plaintiff, a participant in Atrium’s employee stock ownership plan (ESOP), contends that Atrium’s $4 million sale of its stock to President and CEO Peter Dejana, overseen by John Sipala, shorted them on the fair market value of their stock and that all defendants engaged in a prohibited transaction in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

On Monday, April 11, 2016, Catha Worthman, alongside co-counsel Miranda Galindo from MALDEF and Abbi Coursolle from NHeLP, as well as Dr. Janet Coffman, Associate Professor at the UCSF School of Medicine, and Christina Romero, Legislative Director for Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, will participate in a policy briefing co-sponsored by the California Latino Legislative Caucus and SEIU-UHW. Panelists will discuss the civil rights violations raised by the federal complaint against California’s Medi-Cal program filed with the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights. The event will take place from 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm at State Capitol, Room 444 in Sacramento, California..

For Philadelphia magazine’s coverage of Pfeifer v. Wawa, Inc., please visit http://www.phillymag.com/business/2016/02/18/wawa-sued-retirement/.

Feinberg, Jackson, Worthman & Wasow attorneys and co-counsel filed a class action Complaint in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on February 1, 2016, alleging that Wawa, Inc. violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act by forcing former employees to sell Wawa stock held in their Wawa, Inc. Employee Stock Ownership Plan (Wawa ESOP) accounts on August 30, 2015.

On January 6, 2016, the Eastern District of California ruled on the parties’ motions for summary judgment and Defendant Synthes’ motion to decertify the class in the matter of Lindell v. Synthes USA, No. 1:11-cv-02053 LJO BAM (E.D. Cal.), holding that the plaintiff classes–represented by Catha Worthman, Todd Jackson, and Darin Ranahan from Feinberg, Jackson, Worthman & Wasow LLP as well as attorneys from Lang, Richert & Patch LLP–could proceed to trial on their claim that Synthes unlawfully maintained a policy of refusing to reimburse its sales consultant employees for expenses incurred in the course of business, and that Synthes’ deductions policy was unlawful on its face.

Links to selected coverage of the firm’s favorable decision in Schuett v. FedEx.