September 29, 2009

Lowes Home Improvement settles overtime class action suit for nearly $30 million

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The world's second largest home improvement retailer, Lowes Home Improvement, will see “off the clock” in an entirely new light, after the recent, class action lawsuit settlement of $29.5 million. It is important to note that Lowes Home Improvement does not does not admit to any wrongdoing and believes it is in compliance with all laws and regulations.

It is hard to believe that a retailer so large would think that they could get away with all of the allegations brought against them. Some of the Plaintiff’s claims against Lowe’s Home Improvements include: making the Plaintiff’s work “off the clock” when not clocked in and requiring them to work after they clocked out, locking plaintiff's in the Lowe’s Home Improvement stores at the end of their shifts and not giving uninterrupted rest breaks and/or meal breaks as required by law. After all of these allegations, it is not hard to believe that the defendant did not pay the plaintiff’s the required overtime.

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September 15, 2009

Judge rejects SEC and BofA Settlement of $33 million for Merrill takeover

Unfortunately, yesterday was not a great day for the SEC and the Bank of America legal team. Their $33 million agreed upon settlement regarding the BofA taking over Merrill Lynch was rejected by Southern District of New York Judge Jed S. Rakoff

Judge Rakoff entered strong words towards the SEC and Bank of America settelement in his 12-page order, in Securities and Exchange Commission v. Bank of America Corp., 09 Civ. 6829. The judge stated the following: "Overall, indeed, the parties' submissions, when carefully read, leave the distinct impression that the proposed Consent Judgment was a contrivance designed to provide the SEC with the façade of enforcement and the management of the Bank with a quick resolution of an embarrassing inquiry -- all at the expense of the sole alleged victims, the shareholders."

He continues to further scold the SEC with additional statements:

"When a federal agency such as the SEC seeks to prospectively invoke the Court's own contempt power by having the court impose injunctive prohibitions against the defendant, the resolution has aspects of a judicial decree and the Court is therefore obligated to review the proposal a little more closely, to ascertain whether it is within the bounds of fairness, reasonableness, and adequacy -- and, in some certain circumstances, whether it serves the public interest."

Judge Rakoff deems the settlement "neither fair, nor reasonable, nor adequate."

Click here to read more on the SEC and BofA settlement from the New York Law Journal.