Starting a Class Action Lawsuit

A class action case is one that is intended to resolve an issue of liability that is shared or that is intended to address damages that a large group of people were affected by. If it’s impractical to bring the suits individually, a class action suit may be in order. Class actions are challenging legal matters, and if you’re ready to file a class action lawsuit, the most important first step you can take is reaching out for the skilled legal guidance of an experienced California class action employment law attorney. 

Common Class Action Cases

Common class actions cases as they relate to employment law include all the following:

• Wage and hour cases
• Equal pay cases
• Employment discrimination cases
• Housing discrimination cases
• Cases related to false advertising and misrepresentation

Determining if You Have a Viable Class Action Case

In California, class action cases are designed to address legal questions that are of common or general interest, that affect many people, or that include multiple plaintiffs, and as a result, bringing each individual case before the court doesn’t make financial sense. Class action suits allow a few plaintiffs to sue for the benefit of all those affected, and they are generally reserved for those instances when each claimant experienced relatively small damages, which makes pursuing individual cases cost-prohibitive.

Filing a Lawsuit and Moving for Certification

To initiate a class action lawsuit in California, you’ll need to file a lawsuit and move for certification. At this point, the court will determine if your class action proposal meets the requirements set forth for certification. It’s not the judge’s role to determine the merits of the case. Instead, the judge must determine whether the claim should proceed as a class action case – in accordance with the law. 

Certification Criteria

To obtain certification in the State of California, you must be able to demonstrate that there is a class of plaintiffs as well as a well-defined community of interest in the matter. To prove that a well-defined community of interest applies, the following three elements must be present:

• There is a predominant common question of law or fact involved.
• The class representatives who bring the claim represent all the proposed-class members.
• The class representatives are capable of adequately representing all class members.

You’ll also need to demonstrate that resolving the claim via class action will provide substantial benefits to the litigants and the court, which means demonstrating that the class action approach is superior to implementing an alternative legal method of resolving the dispute at hand, which includes ruling out each claimant pursuing personal litigation.  

Next Up

After the procedure is certified, the court notifies potential class members by sending them legal notice of the claim. If the class action proves successful, the court lets members know how to make a claim for relief.    

Speak to an Experienced California Class Action Employment Law Attorney Today

The trusted California class action employment law attorneys at Olivier & Schreiber LLP are committed to maximizing the potential of class action suits like yours and are standing by to help. For more information, contact us today.