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INDEPENDENT ROOFING CONTRACTORS
OF CALIFORNIA, INC.
7041 KOLL CENTER PARKWAY - SUITE 265
PLEASANTON, CA 94566
PAGE 8
IRCC QUARTERLY UPDATE- AUGUST SEPTEMBER 2009
VOLUME 22, NUMBER 2
Class Action Law Suits Made Easier - CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
cases, the originating ‘plantiffs” who
provided the basis for the lawsuit, have
walked away empty handed, even in the
rare cases where the employer actually
owed them back-wages or unpaid over-
time. (Note here: The veracity of the em-
ployee in these cases is seldom an issue in
the filing of such lawsuits, seeing as in most
instances it’s the employee’s word against
the employer’s. Judges are loath to dismiss
worker complaints unless the employer can
provide indisputable evidence in advance
that such errors or violations did not or could
not have occurred. )
The court’s recent action has
curtailed this approach to oraganizing by
unions by removing their ‘standing’ to
file class action suits under the Business
and Professions Code, UCL provisions.
The court held, that only par-
ties or individuals actually injured by the
specific labor code violations have the
right to file on behalf of a class.
While that sounds like good
news, it really isn’t to any great degree.
This is because the same law firms paid
by the labor unions, or not, are now em-
powered by the less stringent require-
ments for filing a class action suits for
individual workers.
The same scenario discussed
earlier is allowed to proliferate with fewer
legal hoops for the individual ’aggrieved’
workers; yet the suit is now filed in the
name of the plantif’s as individuals and
not as a local union on behalf of the indi-
viduals; which does not preclude the
union’s financial participation in the suit,
and making an arrangement for legal fee
recovery through the plaintif’s as lawsuit
‘frontmen.”
If there’s any upside, it does
make the extortion aspect of a union’s
organizing efforts via litigation a bit more
difficult to camoflauge.
In such a hostile environment
contractors are advised to tighten up
their policies on clerical oversight, and
make sure communication with employ-
ees is clear and pro-active when it
comes to making sure all regular and
overtime; meals and rest periods, sub-
sistence and travel pay are accurate and
well documented. In particular, make
sure that you provide written (both
posted and as payroll stuffers) notices on
how to file a complaint about possible
under-paid hours or other potential wage
errors so that you can properly defend
yourself in the case of bogus compaints
from current or former employees.
Only diligence and discipline in
doing it right can protect an employer
from the onslaught of destructive law-
suits which are sure to come as a result
of the State Supreme Court’s recent de-
cisions which put them front and center
in te cross-hairs of plantif attorney’s
whose only goal is to separate you from
your company’s financial well-being.
(See article Page 2, of this
newsletter on protecting your employees
from union fishing expeditions)