Collective action waivers in severance agreements enforceable. Former employees who entered into severance agreements in which they agreed not to join any collective actions against the employer asserting claims under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) failed to convince the Seventh Circuit that the district court erred in denying their bid for an injunction barring the employer from enforcing the collective action waivers contained in the agreements. The employees, who were 56 or 57 years old at the time they were terminated as part of a reduction in force, agreed to the collective action waiver in exchange for a lump-sum payment, 12 months of health and life insurance, career counseling, and reimbursement for job-related skills training. Relying on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in 14 Penn Plaza LLC v. Pyett, the Seventh Circuit agreed with the district court that Section 626(f)(1) of the ADEA applied to “substantive rights.” Because a collective action is a “procedural mechanism,” not a substantive right, a collective action waiver did not trigger any “right or claim” under the ADEA.
FCRA plaintiff did not suffer concrete harm. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit held that a job applicant lacked Article III standing to bring a purported class action against her prospective employer for alleged violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The plaintiff’s job offer was revoked based on the contents of a third-party background screening...
The SEC is accusing a Florida fund manager of pocketing seven times his allowed fees and misrepresenting investment holdings to mislead investors. In a complaint filed in the Middle District of Fl...