On May 13, 2009, The Honorable Julie Spector granted preliminary approval of the class action settlement agreement submitted by the parties in the matter of Barnett et al. v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.. Notice of the settlement, along with claim forms, will be mailed to the more than 80,000 class members in Washington State at the end of May. Class members will have until August 19, 2009 to submit a claim form to the claims administrator. The final approval hearing for the settlement is scheduled for July 20, 2009.

To request a notice packet, please contact the claims administrator at: 1-877-867-6208.

For more information regarding the lawsuit, including links to case documents, please visit the settlement website: www.walmartwageswa.com

On May 15, 2009, The Honorable Chris Washington granted preliminary approval of the class action settlement agreement submitted by the parties on behalf of class members in Splater, et al. v. Thermal Ease Hydronic Systems, Inc., et al. Included as class members are all individuals and entities that own or owned homes or other structures in the state of Washington in which UltraPEX Tubing is or has been installed. Notice packets explaining the settlement terms and claims process will be mailed to class members by the Independent claims administrator in June. Class members are asked to register immediately with the claims administrator, regardless of whether they intend to submit a claim at this time. If the Court grants final approval of the settlement, Class members who have already spent money to replace failed UltraPEX Tubing will be required to submit their claims for reimbursement within six months of the Court’s decision. Class members who have not yet experienced a failure will have eight years to request an inspection or submit a claim for a qualifying future failure.

The final approval hearing for the settlement is scheduled for July 31, 2009.

To request a notice packet, please contact the claims administrator at: 1-888-404-8013

On April 29, 2009, the Honorable Michael Trickey granted Plaintiffs’ motion for class certification in the case of Ramirez et al. v. Precision Drywall, Inc. et al. There are approximately 325 employees in the certified class, which includes all current and former non-managerial hangers and tapers employed by Precision Drywall, Inc. in the State of Washington since August 1, 2005. Plaintiffs allege Precision Drywall failed to pay the class members for overtime hours worked, failed to provide the class members with mandatory rest and meal periods, failed to compensate the class members for all of the piecework they produced, and made unlawful deductions to the class members’ wages. Plaintiffs anticipate that notice of the action will be mailed directly to class members in late June or early July 2009.

Beth Terrell of TMD has been elected to Chair the 2010 Pacific Coast Labor & Employment Law Conference Planning Committee. The Pacific Coast Labor & Employment Law Conference is sponsored by the King County Bar Association’s Labor & Employment Law Section. The 2009 conference will be held on June 4 and 5th.

To learn more about the conference or to register, please visit www.pacificlaborlaw.com

Click here for more details and registration form.

On March 12, 2009, the Washington State Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed a judgment against AutoNation worth $2.5 million (with interest) on behalf of a class of more than 500 employees who were wrongfully deprived of paid vacation benefits. Toby Marshall of TMD represented the Class along with Matthew Zuchetto of The Scott Law Group, P.S.

Click here for a copy of the decision by the Court of Appeals.

Beth Terrell of TMD has been appointed to the Board of Directors of the Washington Employment Lawyers Association. Ms. Terrell will be serving as the Programs Chair.

WELA’s mission is to enforce and advance employee rights. To learn more about the association, visit www.welaweb.org

On March 2, 2009, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington granted final approval of a multi-million dollar settlement obtained on behalf of 2,400 current and former employees of a major telecommunications company. The employees, who worked in Washington and Oregon, were represented by Beth Terrell, Toby Marshall and Jennifer Murray of TMD and Jon MacLeod of MacLeod LLC.

For more information click here

On February 27, 2009, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington denied Defendant Praxair’s motion to dismiss the personal injury and loss of consortium claims of Plaintiffs Owino and Nema Katanga, holding Plaintiffs can proceed against the former employer under the “deliberate intention” exception to worker’s compensation immunity. Mr. Katanga was substantially injured two years ago by an explosion that occurred in the workplace, and he alleges Praxair willfully failed to prevent that explosion. The Katangas are being represented by Toby Marshall and Beth Terrell of TMD.

In this proposed class action, Plaintiff Emma Alvarado alleges Microsoft has engaged in unfair and anti-competitive business practices by requiring consumers to purchase licenses to use Vista Business or Vista Ultimate operating systems even though the consumers have chosen to downgrade to the Windows XP Professional operating system. Ms. Alvarado alleges consumers have been forced to pay inflated prices for computers as a direct result of Microsoft’s requirement that two operating systems be purchased for the same computer, and she seeks damages and injunctive relief.

Erika is a 2008 graduate of the University of San Francisco School of Law.

Erika plans to focus on sexual abuse, personal injury, employment and consumer fraud litigation.

The settlement provides for payment of up to $35 million to the 80,000 current and former hourly Wal-Mart employees who worked for Wal-Mart in Washington state since September 10, 1997.

Plaintiffs' counsel plan to ask the court to grant preliminary approval of the settlement in early February.

Read the National Press Release.

Listen to the NPR interview with Beth Terrell.