A federal judge has ruled that Taco Bell California violated federal and state disability discrimination laws by failing to remove barriers that violate the Americans with Disabilities Act. The judge will now rule on what kind of improvements the company needs to make to its 220 stores in California in order to comply with the Act. The judge will also decide how much the company will pay the thousands of customers who are included in the disability rights class action lawsuit.

The disability rights lawsuit had claimed that Taco Bell stores in California failed to provide disabled-friendly features including wheelchair accessible tables, and adequate handicapped parking. The lawsuit also alleged failure to provide wheelchair-accessible restrooms and other accommodations as required by both federal and California laws. Taco Bell argued that it has fixed several of the violations, but the judge found that the company was still not compliant in many areas.

Workplaces, businesses, commercial spaces and all kinds of public properties are required to facilitate access for persons with disabilities under the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Persons whose access to commercial and business public spaces may be limited include persons with learning disability, hearing impairment, vision impairment and mobility impairment.

The Americans with Disabilities Act prevents discrimination in public accommodations on the basis of disability. The Act also requires that places of public accommodation and commercial facilities be designed, built and modified to comply with the standards established by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Often, California disability rights lawyers find that employers, business owners and owners of properties fail to comply with laws requiring accessibility to the disabled because they are unaware of these laws, or have been poorly advised.

Los Angeles employment lawyers can add a class-action employment complaint to the current litigious climate surrounding solar energy company, Solyndra. A former employee of the company has filed a class-action complaint, alleging that the company did not provide employees notice that it was shutting down operations.

Earlier this month, the company, which had been touted as a shining example of the future of the solar energy industry the United States, announced that it was ceasing operations and filing for bankruptcy. That decision came as a shock to its employees. Last week, the company officially filed for bankruptcy. According to the company, it is $784 million in debt.

When the company filed for bankruptcy, 1,100 people at the company lost their jobs. An engineer at the company, who lost his job when Solyndra filed for bankruptcy, has now filed a class-action complaint in the U.S. District Court in Northern California.

The plaintiff had worked for the company for 4 ½ years as an engineer in the product development group. According to the complaint, the company should have given its employees 60 days notice before giving them their walking papers. It failed to do that. Instead, it let its employees go immediately, with no advance warning. While employees say that they had been aware of the troubles at the company, the decision to file for bankruptcy was immediate and shocking.

The complaint currently involves more than 100 former Solyndra employees. The lawsuit demands that the company pay its former employees 60 days of wages and benefits. His lawsuit also alleges that the company withheld hundreds of hours worth of vacation pay that he had accumulated over the years.

Four U.S. Open tennis umpires, who allege that the United States Tennis Association has underpaid them for many years, have filed an unpaid wages lawsuit against the organization. According to the lawsuit, the United States Tennis Association underpaid them by classifying them as independent contractors.

The complaint was filed in federal court in Manhattan. The umpires allege that they were paid based upon a schedule that was set by the association. They were frequently made to work more than forty hours per week, but were never paid overtime. The lawsuit alleges that the United States Tennis Association paid umpires between $150 and $200 a day.

The lawsuit is seeking class-action status for hundreds of umpires who have worked for the United States Tennis Association over the years. It claims that hundreds of tennis umpires who officiated at U.S. Open matches, including main draws and qualifying matches over the past six years, have not been paid fair wages. The lawsuit seeks overtime and unpaid wages, as well as attorney fees.

The United States Tennis Association has responded to the lawsuit, saying that it is disappointed that the umpires have decided to exploit the organization. The organization says that the umpires only work for the U.S. Open for a few days in any given year, and are paid according to applicable employment laws.

Los Angeles class action employment lawyers often find that employers use misclassification of workers in order to avoid paying certain wages. For instance, classifying a worker as a subcontractor may make the worker ineligible overtime and other wages, and employers very often use these loopholes to save on payroll expenses.

Investigation has found that non-M&T Bank customers who withdraw cash from M&T Bank ATM machines may be assessed fees by M&T, despite M&T Bank ATM machines’ representations that cash withdrawals are “surcharge free.” According to M&T Bank’s website, M&T ATM machines are located at Sheetz convenience stores, NOCO, Rutter’s, many Wawa stores throughout Maryland, Thurgood Marshal BWI Airport, several General Growth Malls in Maryland, Virginia and Delaware, and participating HESS locations in Pennsylvania. If you or someone you know has withdrawn cash from an M&T ATM machine and was assessed a fee from M&T Bank, please contact us to discuss your legal options.

Investigation has found that LG’s Home Theater System (model number LHB 975) may contain a defect in the wireless subwoofer and/or rear speakers. Many consumers have complained that their Home Theater Systems continued to have the same issues, even after sending them to LG for repair. If you or someone you know has purchased the LG LHB 975 Home Theater System and experienced similar issues, please contact us to discuss your legal options.

Investigation has found that many consumers who purchased ReplayTV with a lifetime guarantee of service for the life of the equipment have had the lifetime guarantees cancelled. If you or someone you know has purchased a ReplayTV unit with a lifetime guarantee of service, but later had it cancelled, please contact us to discuss your legal options.

California Employment attorneys have discovered that Tax Preparers, also known as Tax Professionals, employed by H&R Block, one of the nation’s largest tax preparation firms, have been working countless hours without proper compensation.  Throughout the year and especially during peak tax season, when inundated with clients, Tax Preparers are compelled to stay at work to finish their client’s taxes until the filing is complete. However, many of these Tax Preparers have had these “extra hours” of work either removed from their time records by management and/or an office leader, or are otherwise encouraged by management to not document the extra time in an effort to keep local labor costs in conformity with dictates from the H&R Block home office.  Thus, Tax Preparers are not paid the appropriate amount of overtime compensation.  Additionally, many Tax Preparers are not afforded a full 30-minute uninterrupted meal break, and when a meal break is interrupted the employees do not receive the “premium hour pay” as required for working through a meal break.

California wage and hour attorneys have since filed suit on behalf of the Tax Preparers against H&R Block. The investigation for this case is ongoing.  If you are, or have been, a Tax Preparer for H&R Block and have not been appropriately compensated for overtime work, or if you have not been afforded full 30-minute uninterrupted meal breaks, contact a California Employment Lawyer immediately to find out whether you have a claim and are entitled to compensation.

Read the Opinion:

H and R Block Opinion (2822 KB)

If you have received a Red Light Camera Violation ticket in Los Angeles prior to 2007, contact a California Class Action Attorney immediately for a free consultation.

In the end, it wasn't a verdict that California class action lawyers were entirely unprepared for.  The Supreme Court last month threw out a class-action gender discrimination lawsuit filed by female Wal-Mart workers.  The verdict wasn't so surprising because the Supreme Court has traditionally ruled against large class-action lawsuits.

The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the class-action lawsuit, which would have joined more than 1 million female employees of Wal-Mart nationwide, could not proceed.  The lawsuit had alleged that Wal-Mart engaged in rampant discrimination against women, paying female employees lower wages than their male counterparts and discriminating against women when it came to promotions. 

If the class action had been allowed to proceed, it would have brought together employees from more than 3,400 Wal-Mart stores across the country.  However the Supreme Court seems to have bought into Wal-Mart’s argument that grouping diverse women from a large number of stores around the country into a single lawsuit was not fair to the retailer.  Not surprisingly, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has come out in support of the ruling.

If the class-action lawsuit had been allowed to proceed, it would have been the largest such lawsuit ever.  However, the Supreme Court ruling does not prevent the three plaintiffs who were initially part of the lawsuit, from proceeding with their individual claims against Wal-Mart.  Betty Dukes, one of the plaintiffs, is likely to go ahead with her individual claim against Wal-Mart, and is confident of prevailing.  Moreover, lawyers for the plaintiffs say that they're considering other options, including filing smaller class-action lawsuits that have fewer members. 

The Wal-Mart decision is bound to impact class-action lawsuits in the future.  California employment lawyers will be closely monitoring the results of pending class actions like the one against the tobacco industry, to gauge the extent of this impact.

A new study released in the Canadian Medical Association Journal indicates that Chantix, Pfizer's popular drug used to eliminate cigarette use, increases the risk of heart attack or other serious heart conditions by 72 percent in normally healthy, middle-aged smokers. 

Johns Hopkins researchers evaluated 14 clinical trials and took data from 8,200 healthy individuals taking Chantix or a placebo in attempts to quit smoking.  After compiling all of the data the researchers discovered the staggering numbers: otherwise healthy smokers taking Chantix were 72 percent more likely to experience a cardiac event than their counterparts taking the placebo.  Lead researcher Dr. Sonal Singh estimates that approximately 62,000 serious cardiac events have occurred in the United States as a result of the drug.

When interviewed, a doctor who had success herself in quitting smoking after using this drug, noted she has stopped recommending Chantix for all of her cardiac patients, and questions whether she would have used the drug herself if warnings were properly disclosed.

Attorneys have previously filed numerous lawsuits against Chantix on behalf of individuals who have reported serious injuries due to other side effects of the drug.  Now, California defective drug attorneys are evaluating the possibility of filing Chantix lawsuits related to serious heart conditions.