J. Stephen Poor Quoted and Seyfarth Shaw’s 2011 Workplace Class Action Litigation Report Featured in HR Daily Advisor
“Class Actions Threaten ‘Enormous’ Financial Risk: Seyfarth Shaw”

Seyfarth Shaw’s 2011 Workplace Class Action Litigation Report was featured February 14, 2011 in the HR Daily Advisor’s “Daily Advisor Tip.” The article provides an overview of the seventh edition of Seyfarth’s annual report, which, at 664 pages, is the most comprehensive analysis of workplace-related class actions in the United States. The report examines over 848 decisions rendered in 2010 against employers in state and federal courts, including private plaintiff and government enforcement actions.

The HR Daily Advisor article highlights some of the key developments in workplace class action cases in 2010 that it finds “particularly significant to HR managers.” Some of the trends mentioned include: an increase in the quantity of class action litigation, with wage & hour litigation constituting the majority of workplace class action suits; landmark Supreme Court decisions on the determination of class status; heightened enforcement efforts by the U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission; significant media coverage of cases; and an increase in the financial stakes of workplace class action suits.

“The stakes in this type of employment litigation can be extremely significant, as the financial risks of such cases are enormous,” remarked Managing Partner J. Stephen Poor. “More often than not, class actions adversely affect the market  share of a corporation and impact its reputation in the marketplace. It is a legal exposure which keeps corporate counsel and business executives awake at night.”