Class Action

Littler is highly experienced in employment class actions, defending clients in hundreds of wage and hour, discrimination and other workplace-related disputes. Our remarkable record is due to our vast experience and comprehensive understanding of substantive employment laws, procedure, and statistical analysis – crucial elements in these complex cases.

In the past five years alone, Littler has defended clients in more than 1,700 employment-related class and collective actions, experience that few firms can match. Among other things, Littler is a recognized leader in understanding how federal and state arbitration statutes interface with class action procedures, and our lawyers have succeeded in enforcing and defending arbitration policies to help clients pre-empt or obtain dismissal of class actions.

At Littler, we also partner with our clients and provide access to a wealth of resources and timely information that enables them to stay abreast of case developments and monitor costs throughout the litigation. Over the years, Littler has developed successful class action strategies that have also provided cost-savings to clients. Our e-discovery team is at the forefront of developing effective tools to minimize the burden and cost of discovery while simultaneously ferreting out key information and data to challenge plaintiffs’ theories. A number of our class action attorneys also have significant statistical knowledge they have used to rebut and discredit the expert testimony and statistical evidence plaintiffs rely on to support their cases. As a result, Littler has a solid track record of successful challenges to prominent plaintiffs’ experts, undermining their evidentiary basis for class certification.

Because experts play such a prominent role in class action litigation, we also work with top experts in the fields that are key to the issues in class cases. For example, Littler has developed strong relationships with leading academicians at major universities and law schools, such as the University of Chicago, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Virginia School of Law.

Littler has also had the distinction of winning a number of cases before the United States Supreme Court. Most recently, in Integrity Staffing Solutions, Inc. v. Busk, Littler obtained a significant victory on behalf of our client that has benefited numerous employers across the country. In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court reversed the Ninth Circuit and held that time spent in post-shift security screening, often called “bag checks,” was not compensable under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Because of successes like this, Littler has also been called upon and submitted amicus briefs in class actions impacting important policies for employers across the country, such as Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court, the seminal decision on meal and rest break policies under California law, in which Littler submitted a brief to the California Supreme Court on behalf of the National Retail Federation, the National Council of Chain Restaurants and others.