PRACTITIONER BLOG

Read our analyses of developments in Impact Litigation and stay current on class action law

Impact Fund and Amici: Ninth Circuit’s New “De Minimis” Standard for Predominance Is Wrong and Disadvantages Workers
De Minimis Standard, Class Actions Teddy Basham-Witherington De Minimis Standard, Class Actions Teddy Basham-Witherington

Impact Fund and Amici: Ninth Circuit’s New “De Minimis” Standard for Predominance Is Wrong and Disadvantages Workers

Our brief argues that the panel’s decision is inconsistent with decades of Supreme Court and Ninth Circuit precedent regarding class certification and trials challenging employment discrimination and other workplace violations, such as wage theft. To require plaintiffs to demonstrate no more than a “de minimis” number of uninjured class members at the class certification stage forces district courts to engage in a full-blown inquiry into the merits of the case, an inquiry which the Supreme Court and the Ninth Circuit have repeatedly stated courts are expressly forbidden to undertake at that stage.

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Impact Fund & Amici Support State Efforts to Protect Vulnerable Workers During Deadly Pandemic
Worker Protection, COVID-19 Teddy Basham-Witherington Worker Protection, COVID-19 Teddy Basham-Witherington

Impact Fund & Amici Support State Efforts to Protect Vulnerable Workers During Deadly Pandemic

The California Department of Industrial Relations, Division of Occupational Safety and Health has a duty to keep California workers safe. Our amicus briefs make clear that the state fulfilled its duty in this instance. The Emergency Temporary Standards provide basic, necessary workplace protections for all workers and serve as an important step toward mitigating the health, income, and racial inequities caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

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