In a major victory for California employees of the national retailer
of electronics, a Court of Appeal ruled that Circuit City's arbitration
agreement could not be enforced. Harris & Kaufman represents
the plaintiff against Circuit City in an overtime pay class action.
In September 2004, the court found that the terms of Circuit City's
arbitration agreement were so one-side that it "shocked the
conscience". Among the things, Circuit City's arbitration
agreement bound only the employee to arbitration, required the
employee to pay fees to Circuit City just for initiating the arbitration
(Circuit City pays no such fees), imposes a shortened statute of
limitation on the employee (and not on Circuit City), and prohibits
class actions. The court concluded that the "central purpose
of the agreement" was "tainted with illegality".
This ruling represents a major defeat for Circuit City. Click
Here to read the entire text.
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In a case with major statewide implications, Harris & Kaufman successfully represented the plaintiffs in a class action for overtime pay against U-Haul International, Inc. In Crandall v.s. U-Haul International, Inc., Harris & Kaufman, with William E. Harris & Matthew A. Kaufman acting as lead attorneys, represented 480 current and former employees, entitled "General Managers," of U-Haul rental outlets. At trial, the employees argued that the Phoenix-based company wrongly classified them as exempt from overtime requirements of California law. The plaintiffs claimed that they spent most of their work time engaged in sales and the same work as the other non-management employees at the stores. The court agreed with the plaintiffs, ruling that the evidence did not show that the employees spent over 50% of their time engaged in management work as required by state law.
U-Haul threw everything but the kitchen sink at the plaintiffs. U-Haul spent millions of dollars in its defense by hiring four law firms, an uncountable number of lawyers, and many high-priced expert witnesses. Adding to U-Haul's resources, the California Employment Law Counsel, an organization financed by big business, also appeared as a party in the case and lobbied the court of appeal and supreme court to intercede. Despite the financial mismatch, Harris & Kaufman proved their determination and that the employees were non-exempt by persuading the trial judge to disregard U-Haul's arguments and rule on behalf of the employees.
This is the first class action to go to trial on the issue of whether managers spent over half their work time engaged in exempt work under California law. The case, which was the subject of articles in Business Week, CFO Magazine, The Los Angeles Times and The Los Angeles Daily Journal, was closely followed by the employer's bar and lobby. The result implicates the common practice throughout the state of classifying as "exempt" employees who work on the sales floors and production lines.
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Harris & Kaufman is a Los Angeles area law firm that's dedicated
to representing employees in disputes against their employers to
do with arbitration in California. Our lawyers can assist
you if you believe that your employer has broken the California
Labor Laws.
Our employment attorneys are experienced and have had numerous
trials, arbitrations, and appeals and have litigated on behalf
of thousands of employees.
Harris & Kaufman has represented workers in state and federal
court and in administrative proceedings before the Labor
Commissioner. Determined and aggressive, our cases include individual
disputes and class action lawsuits.
We are aggressive
and experienced lawyers and can help enforce your rights under
California state law or state regulations. Based in Sherman Oaks,
Cal. we serve greater Los Angeles, Orange County, Ventura
County, San Diego, San Francisco, Oakland, and have cases statewide.
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you have a claim? Email
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