Law Commons^™

Megacases, Diversity, And The Elusive Goal Of Workplace Reform, Nancy Levit

Faculty Works

Employment discrimination class action suits are part of a new wave of structural reform litigation. Like their predecessors - the school desegregation cases in the 1950s, the housing and voting inequalities cases in the 1960s, prison conditions suits in the 1970s, and environmental lawsuits since then - these are systemic challenges to major institutions affecting large segments of the public. This article explores the effectiveness of various employment discrimination remedies in reforming workplace cultures, promoting corporate accountability, and implementing real diversity.

Reviewing the architecture and aftermath of consent decrees in five major employment discrimination cases - the cases against Shoney's, …

Hybrid Class Actions, Dual Certification, And Wage Law Enforcement In The Federal Courts, Andrew Brunsden

Articles & Chapters

Hybrid wage-and-hour class actions, which combine a Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA ') opt-in collective action and a Federal Rule of Civil Procedure Rule 23 opt-out class action in a single civil action, demonstrate the unusual interplay of opt-in and opt-out rules. The hybrid class action, and its viability as a mechanism for wage law enforcement, raises fundamental questions as to who participates in lawsuits, how we should hold employers accountable for wage-and-hour noncompliance, and the role of the federal courts in enforcing public rights. An opt-in rule tends to produce low participation rates, while an opt-out rule tends to …