Policy Reversals Expected To Affect Class Action Litigation

Employers can expect stark reversals in policy with the administration change in Washington, which will have a “cascading impact” on private class action litigation, a report says.

The shift in administration “is likely to bring increased regulation of businesses, renewed enforcement efforts, and policy changes at the agency level that will result in efforts to abandon or overturn pro-business rules of the Trump Administration,” according to the 17th Annual Workplace Class Action Litigation Report issued by Chicago-based law firm Seyfarth Shaw LLP on Tuesday.

Other key trends in workplace class action litigation developments, according to the report, include:

-Employers’ rush to adopt safety requirements in response to COVID-19 has led to claims that they failed to pay minimum wage or overtime for compensable work hours, to properly reimburse employee expenses and provide required leave, or to go far enough in protecting workers from the virus.

“Employers are apt to see the workplace class action expand and morph as they restart operations in the wake of COVID-19,” the report says.