US District Court Grants Class Certification In Chinese Daily News Case

In a significant ruling earlier today, United States District Court Judge Consuelo B. Marshall granted HSRR’s request for certification of a class for a class action lawsuit against the Chinese Daily News. (Wang v. Chinese Daily News, 04-01498). The lawsuit was originally certified as a class action in 2005 and the case was subsequently tried by Randy Renick and Cornelia Dai of HSRR. The trial resulted in a judgment on behalf of the class for more than $8,000,000 for numerous labor violations under the Fair Labor Standards Act, including failure to pay overtime, failure to give required meal and rest breaks. However, after a the United States Supreme Court’s 2011 ruling in WalMart v. Dukes, the case was sent back to the District Court for reconsideration. In today’s ruling, the District Court reevaluated the evidence based on the changes in law and once again ruled that the case was properly resolved as a class action.