|
Consumer
Law Newsletter:
Issue No. 15 |
|
August
2004 |
|
| Top
News |
|
|
|
| Introduction |
| The
Lieff Cabraser Newsletter is published quarterly by the
national law firm of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein,
LLP. With nearly 60 lawyers in five offices, Lieff Cabraser
has a comprehensive, diversified nationwide civil litigation
practice that is unique among law firms in the United States
that represent only plaintiffs. |
| We
hope you find the newsletter of interest. |
| The
newsletter is sent to all persons who have contacted our
law firm via the internet and agreed to receive the newsletter.
We do not sell to third parties or transfer in any way your
personal information, including email addresses. If you
do not wish to receive future editions of this newsletter,
there are instructions at the bottom on how to remove yourself
from our recipient list. |
| |
| Top
News |
| |
- Nonprofit
Hospitals' Practice of Charging Excessive Fees
to the Uninsured Challenged
|
| Lieff
Cabraser is playing a leading role in challenging large
nonprofit hospital systems for their practice of charging
uninsured patients prices for medical care that are far
in excess of the prices charged to insured patients. Lieff
Cabraser, along with co-counsel, has challenged these practices
in over 40 class action lawsuits nationwide. |
| The
class action lawsuits allege that nonprofit hospitals have
breached their obligations to provide healthcare at fair
and reasonable costs to uninsured patients, in violation
of the hospitals' tax-exempt charitable status. It is estimated
that tens of thousands of patients have been subjected to
unfair charges and collection practices by the defendant
hospitals, including legal actions that have resulted in
patients being forced into bankruptcy. |
| Lieff
Cabraser partner Kelly Dermody
commented that the pricing discrepancy came to the forefront
when uninsured patients were pursued by the hospitals in
court for unpaid legal bills and sought legal counsel. According
to Ms. Dermody, "Lawyers looking at the bills were
shocked to discover" how much uninsured patients were
paying for medical services. |
| In
August 2004, plaintiffs' counsel reached their first settlement
with a hospital system. The agreement with North Mississippi
Health Services requires the system to provide free and
discounted care for patients without health insurance and
halt aggressive bill-collection efforts. The settlement,
which is subject to final court approval, provides that: |
- Anyone
who is uninsured with household income of up to 200
percent of the federal poverty level (about $37,000
for a family of four) will receive free medical care.
- The
uninsured with household income of up to 400 percent
of the federal poverty level (up to about $74,000 for
a family of four) would receive discounted rates for
care.
- Overall,
uninsured people would face collections of no more than
10 percent of their income per year.
|
| We
welcome hearing from uninsured patients about their billing
experiences at not-for-profit hospitals. Please click
here to learn more about this litigation and report
your experience. |
| |
- Costco
Stores Accused of Having "Glass Ceiling" Precluding
Women From Promotion to Management Positions
|
| Costco operates approximately 320 warehouses in the
United States, employing over 78,000 workers. Only 1 in 6 Costco
managers are women, yet its workforce is nearly 50% female.
On August 17, 2004, a Costco assistant warehouse manager filed a national sex
discrimination class action lawsuit in federal court in San Francisco. |
| The
suit charges that Costco imposes a "glass ceiling" that
denies women promotions to high paying assistant and general store manager positions. |
| The
complaint charges that Costco has no job posting or application
procedure for assistant manager and general manager positions, nor any written
promotion standards or criteria for these jobs, in contrast to lower level jobs.
The suit alleges that under this "non system," discriminatory
conduct is allowed to flourish. Higher level management
at Costco is virtually all male -- all of Costco's operations vice presidents
are male, and only 2 of its 30 executive and senior officers are female. |
| "The best paying jobs at Costco are for general managers,
who are typically paid $100,000 or more in salary and
bonuses and are eligible for stock options worth many
times this amount," explained a Lieff Cabraser partner. "Even
though women hold nearly half of the lower level jobs at Costco, women hold only
about one in six of the senior manager positions." |
| Current
and former Costco employees who wish to learn more about
the lawsuit, or to report their work experiences at Costco,
should visit www.genderclassactionagainstcostco.com
or call class counsel toll-free at 1-866-501-2300. |
| |
- National
Tragedy of 15-Passenger Van Rollover Accidents Continues
|
| Fifteen-passenger vans are widely used by
churches and community organizations to take members on short trips and outings.
Colleges use them to drive sports teams to games. Over 500,000 such vans are
in use in the U.S. On June 1, 2004, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
issued its third consumer advisory on large vans in four years. |
| The
new warning shows far greater risks than previous government
research suggested. When filled with passengers or driven
above 50 miles an hour, 15-passenger vans become substantially
more unstable than SUVs or pickup trucks. |
| The
greater passenger weight in a fully loaded van raises
the van's center of gravity and shifts it rearward. As
a result, the van has less resistance to rolling over
in an accident or emergency situation. Placing any load
on the roof also raises the center of gravity and increases
the likelihood of a rollover. |
| Federal
law prohibits the sale of 15-passenger vans for the transport
of students in high school or younger. There is no prohibition
for college-age students or other passengers. |
| Lieff
Cabraser represents injured persons and families of loved
ones who have died in rollover accidents involving 15-passenger
vans and SUVs. To learn more about the safety risks of these
vehicles and this litigation, please visit www.vehicle-injuries.com. |
| |
- Update
on September 11th Victim Compensation Fund Litigation
|
| Lieff Cabraser represented pro bono seven victims
and their decedents in hearings before the September 11th
Victim Compensation Fund. The Fund was established by Congress
as an alternative to traditional state and federal court
remedies. Its aim was to compensate individuals who were
physically injured or who lost their loved ones during the
terrorist activities of September 11, 2001 in New York,
Washington, D.C., and Shanksville, Pennsylvania. We were
proud to obtain compensatory awards totaling over $5 million
from the Fund for victims of the terrorist attacks. |
| Lieff
Cabraser's clients included the family of an employee at
Marsh & McLennan who was working on the 93rd Floor of
Tower One of the World Trade Center when the first plane
struck; the husband of a passenger on Flight 93 that crashed
in Shanksville; a New York City firefighter who spent more
than three months at the World Trade Center site tagging
body parts and who suffered extreme pulmonary injuries;
a volunteer NYC firefighter who assisted and directed victims
at Ground Zero to ambulances before he, himself, was enveloped
in the debris from the First Tower's collapse; a hotel worker
at the downtown Marriott who was injured after staying in
the building to warn his co-workers of the danger; an injured
passerby; and an undocumented Brazilian worker who escaped
just before the tower in which he worked fell. |
| "In
the aftermath of the attacks, each one of us searched for
ways to lend a hand. We were honored to use our legal skills
to help secure awards for these individuals who had been
through so much," commented Lieff Cabraser partner
Paulina do Amaral. Lieff Cabraser
represented clients independently and through the auspices
of Trial Lawyers Care, a non-profit corporation set up by
volunteer trial lawyers and the Association of Trial Lawyers
of America to provide free legal services to the victims
of the 9/11 attacks. |
| |
- California
Adecco Workers File Suit For Denial of Vacation Pay
|
| Adecco USA, Inc. ("Adecco") is one of the nation's
largest employment staffing agencies. Adecco provides its
employees (including temporary workers), identified as "colleagues"
by Adecco, with vacation time in the form of "personal
time off" or "PTO". |
| Earlier
this year, Lieff Cabraser filed a suit against Adecco for
depriving its workers of vacation pay. The complaint alleges
that employees of Adecco must use their PTO by the end of
each calendar year or else forfeit accrued PTO, in violation
of the California Labor Code. There is no carryover of unused
PTO from one year to the next. |
| Employees of Adecco (both permanent and temporary) in
California are welcome to submit their complaints concerning the company's
vacation pay policies by clicking
here. |
| |
- Settlement
Approved in Poz-Lok Fire Sprinkler Piping Case
|
| In June 2004, the federal court in San Jose, California,
approved the creation of a settlement fund of up to $14.5 million for property
owners nationwide with Poz-Lok fire sprinkler piping that fails. Since 1990,
Poz-Lok pipes and pipe fittings were sold in the U.S. as part of fire suppression
systems for use in residential and commercial buildings. Poz-Lok is no longer
on the market. The pipe is steel, bearing the Poz-Lok name in red or black stenciled
ink. |
| After
leaks in Poz-Lok pipes caused damage to its DeAnza Campus
Center building, Foothill/DeAnza Community College District
in California retained Lieff Cabraser to file a class action
lawsuit against the manufacturers of Poz-Lok. The college
district charged that Poz-Lok pipe had manufacturing and
design defects that resulted in the premature corrosion
and failure of the product. The defendants denied the charge.
There was no ruling by the court on the merits of the case
prior to approval of the settlement. |
| "Building owners should have confidence that their
fire suppression systems will work immediately in an emergency,"
commented Lieff Cabraser partner Michael
Sobol. "The settlement permits owners whose Poz-Lok
pipes are leaking today, or over the next 15 years, to file
a claim for compensation." |
| To
learn more about the settlement, including how to submit
a claim, please visit www.poz-lok.com. |
| |
- Hundreds
of Millions of Dollars in Class Action Settlement Funds
Still Available for Homeowners with Defective Hardboard
Siding
|
| Lieff Cabraser has obtained compensation
for homeowners across America from manufacturers of home building products
such as hardboard siding and roof shingles that failed
to perform as promised. Hundreds of millions of dollars in
settlement funds are currently available to qualified class
members. In particular, homeowners should be aware of two class action settlements
involving allegedly defective hardboard siding. |
| The
first settlement covers owners of structures on which Weyerhaeuser-brand
exterior hardboard siding was applied at any time from January
1, 1981, through December 31, 1999. Weyerhaeuser will pay
all timely and qualified claims for qualifying damage associated
with its siding. There is no limit on the total monetary
damages to be paid. |
| Under the Weyerhaeuser settlement, three different deadlines
govern the submission of claims. The more recently your home's siding was installed,
the longer you will have to file your claim. Property owners whose home siding
was installed between January 1, 1988, and December 31, 1993, have until
December 2006 to submit their claims. For siding that was
installed between January 1, 1994, and December 31, 1999, the claims deadline
is December 2009. |
| For complete information on the Weyerhaeuser
settlement, and to request claim forms, please visit www.weyerclaims.com.
Note: For property owners whose siding was installed January
1, 1981, through December 31, 1987, the deadline to submit
claims expired in December 2003. |
| The
second nationwide class action settlement, approved in 1998,
compensates homeowners for the cost of repairing and replacing
failing Masonite hardboard siding installed on homes and
other structures with qualifying damage between January
1, 1980, and January 1, 1998. To date, the settlement, valued
at up to $1 billion, has paid out over five hundred million
dollars to homeowners. |
| Like the Weyerhaeuser settlement, the Masonite settlement
also has staggered deadlines for submitting claims. If you own Masonite hardboard
siding installed on your home between January 1, 1980, and December 31, 1989,
you must file your claim by January 2005. Persons with Masonite hardboard siding
installed between January 1, 1990, and January 15, 1998, have until January 2008
to file a claim. |
| To learn more about the Masonite settlement,
please visit
www.masoniteclaims.com
or call the claims administrator toll-free at 1-800-330-2722. |
| |
- Appellate
Court Permits Cipro Antitrust Litigation to Proceed
as Class Action
|
| On July 21, 2004, the California Court of
Appeal upheld in main part the trial court's grant of class certification
of an antitrust and unfair competition action against Bayer
Corporation, Barr Laboratories, two other generic drug companies, and other defendants
involving Cipro, the top selling antibiotic in the world. Plaintiffs, all purchasers
of Cipro, assert that Bayer, the maker of Cipro, and the other defendants
colluded to block access to adequate supplies of Cipro
and prevent the bringing of cheaper, generic versions of the
drug to the market. |
| The
Court of Appeal held that the damages suffered by the class
were subject to class-wide proof by an expert, without regard
to the particular circumstances of each individual class
member. |
| Lieff Cabraser is also at the forefront of litigation
challenging the high prices of dozens of other prescription drugs, alleging
that the manufacturers engaged in anticompetitive practices
designed to artificially inflate the drug prices. To learn more about this litigation,
please visit www.prescription-drugs-lawsuits.com. |
| |
- Supreme
Court Issues Ruling in Human Rights Case
|
| In February 2004, Lieff Cabraser, with co-counsel,
filed an amicus curiae brief in the case Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain
on behalf of the World Jewish Congress ("WJC")
and the American Jewish Committee ("AJC") in a
case addressing whether foreign victims of human rights
abuses can file suit in U.S. courts under the Alien Tort
Statute. |
| Lieff
Cabraser served as Lead Counsel in several of the world-wide
class action lawsuits that were prosecuted and favorably
resolved on behalf of Holocaust victims and survivors. The
Alien Tort Statute functioned as a jurisdictional basis
for these cases filed in U.S. courts against Swiss, German
and Austrian banks, insurers, manufacturers, and other institutions
accused of converting Holocaust victim assets and participating
in Nazi slave and forced labor programs. |
| The WJC and the AJC, concerned that all victims of human
rights abuse have every avenue of redress available to them, filed the brief
to preserve the rights of victims under the Alien Tort Statute. Supported by
many multinational corporations, the Bush Administration urged the Supreme
Court to deny the rights of non-citizens to sue for human
rights violations in U.S. federal courts. |
| In July 2004, the Supreme Court rejected
the Bush Administration’s
position and held that Alien Tort Statute would be available
in the future to victims of genocide, slave labor, and other
clear violations of international human rights to file suit
in U.S. federal courts. |
| Lieff
Cabraser maintains the privacy of persons who communicate
with the firm. We do not distribute or sell email addresses
provided by persons who have contacted our firm to any third
party or business. This newsletter is published quarterly.
If you do not wish to receive future editions, please send
a message to mailto:nolist@lchb.com. |