Monthly Archives: September 2011

Solyndra Employees Convert Layoffs Into Class-Action

A former Solyndra employee filed a class action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Northern California against the solar panel maker, claiming the company failed to comply with labor laws by not providing advance notice that it would be ceasing operations, the San Jose Mercury News reported on September 6, 2011. Peter Kohlstadt, a research and development engineer, lodged the class action on behalf of the laid-off workers demanding Solyndra pay laid-off employees 60 days of wages and benefits. Solyndra filed for a petition of relief under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code on September 6, stating it had about $784 million in debts and $859 million in assets, according to the Mercury News. The lawsuit against the company alleges Solyndra violated state and federal rules requiring companies to give 60 days’ notice before laying off more than 50 workers. Approximately 1,100 full time and temporary employees were…
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Family of Football Star Merlin Olsen Settles Mesothelioma Lawsuit

Hall of Fame football player and actor Merlin Olsen’s family settled a lawsuit with several asbestos companies that they say caused the mesothelioma cancer that he contracted later in life, the Associated Press reported on September 19, 2011. Attorneys for Olsen’s wife and three children filed a notice of settlement in Los Angeles without providing further details. According to the Contra Costa Times, many of the 25 defendants named in the original lawsuit were dropped and the settlement covers 10 companies that manufactured or used the products. The original lawsuit contended that Olsen’s mesothelioma was “caused from significant cumulative lifetime exposure to many asbestos products,” claiming companies including summer jobs in his formative years doing construction going as far back as 1951 had negligently exposed him to asbestos. Olsen played 15 seasons with the Los Angeles Rams in the National Football League and was elected to the Pro Football Hall…
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Bitter Java Drinker Files Suit Over Safeway Coffee Packaging

A California woman filed a $5 million class action lawsuit in federal court claiming Safeway Inc. “profited off the reputation of Kona coffee while selling an inferior product with very little Hawaii-grown coffee,” the Associated Press reported on September 15, 2011. The lawsuit was filed one day before the second largest supermarket chain’s letter informing the Kona Coffee Farmers Association that Safeway would change its packaging to reflect the percentage of Kona it contains. The farmers had called for a boycott of Safeway’s 1,700 stores nationwide, according to the AP. Coffee drinker Chanee Thurston, of Benicia, California, is the only plaintiff named in the lawsuit, which is also on behalf of consumers who purchased the Safeway Select Kona Blend since August 30, 2007. According to the AP, she paid more money for the Kona blend than she would have for other similar coffee products made up of a large amount…
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Costco Gender Bias Suit Lacks Class

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said a lower court applied the wrong legal standard in a case involving about 600 current and former female Costco workers claiming Costco Wholesale Corp made it harder to be promoted, Reuters reported on September 16, 2011. Writing for a unanimous three-judge panel, Judge N. Randy Smith cited the June 20 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of Wal-Mart Stores Inc now requires U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel in San Francisco to “determine whether there was significant proof that Costco operated under a general policy of discrimination.” The Costco lawsuit began in 2004, but Patel granted class-action status for the three named plaintiffs and others in 2007. According to Reuters, the case was put on hold pending the Supreme Court’s Wal-Mart Stores Inc v. Dukes ruling, which threw out a class action lawsuit on behalf of as many as…
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