Employees who experience discrimination because they are in a protected class, such as race, sex, age etc., often see other similarly situated employees in the same class also being discriminated against by their employer. This may lead them to wonder if they want to file a lawsuit with their co-workers who are similarly harmed by the discrimination, and if so, if it should be a class action lawsuit.
If you are experiencing despicable discrimination because you are a member of a protected class, such as race, age, sex, etc., you should contact this office immediately for a free consultation. I am an experienced and successful employment discrimination attorney who can advise you as to your options and the best course of action for you. Don’t sit on your rights! If you are being discriminated against, you may call this office today for a free consultation.
Persons sometimes think it will be more powerful and advantageous for them to file a race claim in a class action but this is not necessarily true and many workers who experience discrimination may not even qualify as a “class” under the statute. In many situations, in any type of a class action, it would not be worth the plaintiffs’ time and litigation expenses to each file an individual lawsuit, so filing collectively in a class action makes sense. You may read about race-based pay discrimination in the blog African Americans and Unequal Pay: NJ Governor Signs Most Aggressive Equal Pay Act in the Country.
In a class action lawsuit, one or more named plaintiffs represent all in the group. The workers who are the named plaintiffs file the class action and are actively involved in legal proceedings. The unnamed plaintiffs (the larger group) must have shared legal claims with the rest. The workers can choose to be a part of the class and have their claims resolved within the class action, or they can choose to opt out. If they opt out, they may pursue their own individual lawsuits, either alone or with other workers being named as co-plaintiffs.
While there is no set number of plaintiffs who must be suing in a class action, it is generally considered that there must be at least 40 members to make up the class, provided that potential class members have similar facts, suffered similar harms, have the same legal issues and it’s the same defendant employer.
Class actions can provide an effective litigation process for seeking justice when individual claims might be too small to pursue independently, such as consumers being billed $25 a month in bogus service fees on utilities’ bills. The small monetary amount in dispute does not make it economically sensible or judiciously time wise for one person to pursue an individual action in court. However, if thousands of persons suffered such small overpayment, a class action would make sense.
Class actions provide an effective litigation process when there is such a numerosity of plaintiffs, that it would make it unwieldy to litigate many separate claims individually throughout the courts. It is a requisite to have a significant number of potential class members who share common legal issues and similar facts to have the most efficient way to address the claims collectively.
A Lawsuit with Multiple Plaintiffs That Is Not a Class Action.
In a non-class action lawsuit, multiple workers who suffered discrimination can file as individual plaintiffs within the same discrimination lawsuit. In a non-class action lawsuit, but a lawsuit with an individual plaintiff, or even multiple individually-named plaintiffs, the plaintiffs have more control over the process than do the “unnamed” plaintiffs in a class action.
A disadvantage for the unnamed plaintiffs in a class action who have not chosen to opt out, is the class action unnamed plaintiffs have no control of the outcome of the case and the remedies available to them.
Don’t Sit on Your Rights!
I am an aggressive and compassionate employment law attorney who is experienced in successfully representing employees who suffered illegal employment discrimination. If you find yourself in a situation where your employer is discriminating against you or inadequate job security because of the aforementioned issues, you should contact this office today for a free consultation.
If You Quit Your Job, You May Lose Right to Prevail in a Lawsuit
In many instances of discrimination or a hostile work environment, if you quit your job, you may lose right to prevail in a lawsuit unless you first take certain legally required measures to preserve your job while you are still employed. If you are thinking of resigning, or think you will be fired, or have already been terminated, you should contact this office immediately for a free consultation to discuss your options in the safest way for you.
Contact Hope A. Lang, Attorney at Law today for a free consultation. I accept discrimination cases from all over New Jersey and have locations in Southern, Central and Northern NJ to meet with clients.
Hope A. Lang, Attorney at Law represents workers throughout the entire state, including Hackensack, Jersey City, Newark, Irvington, Orange, East Orange, Trenton, Paterson, Montclair, Elizabeth, North Brunswick, Cherry Hill, Vineland, Union, Plainfield, Hamilton Township, Lakewood, Edison, Parsippany-Troy Hills, Franklin, Lakewood, and in every NJ County, including Bergen, Hudson, Middlesex, Essex, Monmouth, Somerset, Ocean, Union, Camden, Passaic, Morris, Gloucester, Atlantic, Burlington, Camden Counties.