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Traber & Voorhees is a private, plaintiff-side law firm dedicated to upholding and advancing the civil and human rights of all people. We litigate a range of cases from simple to complex and from individual and multi-plaintiff lawsuits to class actions. We have successfully litigated ground-breaking employment and housing discrimination cases, as well as other significant cases involving sexual harassment, unfair or unlawful business practices, claims of wage and overtime law violations, international human rights, consumer rights, constitutional violations and educational rights. In fighting for and extending the rights of people everywhere to be free from discrimination, we have brought cases against individuals, companies and public entities and sought to protect people from discrimination and harassment based on race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, familial status, disability and age. We have successfully sued local, county, state and federal government agencies. |
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On March 15, 2012, employees filed a class action lawsuit against warehouse operator Schneider Logistics Transloading & Distribution, Inc., which operates three warehouses in the Inland Empire on behalf of retailer giant Wal-Mart. The suit alleges that Schneider implemented a complicated scheme beginning in 2008 to steal thousands of dollars in overtime wages from its employees. The suit also alleges that Schneider failed to provide proper rest breaks under California law. To read the press release describing the case click here. To review a copy of the complaint click here.
COURT THROWS OUT L. A. COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT'S DECISION TO DEBAR FTR INTERNATIONAL, INC. FROM CONTRACTING AND WORKING ON DISTRICT PROJECTS.
In a ruling issued on March 13, 2012, L.A. Superior Court Judge Jane L. Johnson issued a detailed 17-page order directing the Board of Trustees of the Los Angeles Community College District to throw out its February 8, 2012 order debarring FTR International, Inc. and its President, Nizar Katbi, from "bidding, contracting, subcontracting, or performing work on any District project for a period of five (5) years." Judge Johnson found that the Board abused its discretion in debarring FTR and Katbi because the evidence did not support the charges against them, also finding that the Board violated the constitutional rights of FTR and Katbi by refusing to rule on any of their defenses, and by rejecting FTR and Katbi's request that the debarment hearing be held before a neutral arbitrator, rather than a committee of the Board. In so ruling, Judge Johnson specifically found that the Board harbored an "unacceptable probability of actual bias" against FTR and Katbi. To read the complete order click here.
COURT ENTERS TRO WEEKS AFTER FILING OF CARRILLO COMPLAINT.
LESS THAN TWO MONTHS LATER, ON DECEMBER 7, 2011, THE COURT ENTERS A PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION AGAINST ALL CARRILLO DEFENDANTS.
ON JANUARY 31, 2012, CARRILLO COURT ENTERS ADDITIONAL PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION BLOCKING RETALIATORY MASS TERMINATIONS AND ORDERING CLASS NOTICE.
On October 17, 2011, Traber & Voorhees, Change To Win, and Altshuler Berzon filed a complaint on behalf of six warehouse workers and a class of similarly-situated workers asserting claims for various wage and hour violations, including failures to pay minimum wage and overtime, to issue proper wage statements, or maintain accurate time and pay records, and to allow workers to take mandatory meal and rest breaks. These claims were brought on behalf of workers at three warehouses located in Mira Loma and operated primarily for the benefit of Walmart by defendants Schneider, Premier Warehousing Ventures, Rogers-Premier Unloading Services, and Impact Logistics. Just two weeks later, on October 31, 2011, the Court issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) requiring three of the defendants to immediately begin electronically recording the actual hours that warehouse workers were working and to issue itemized wage statements that accurately reported all of the information required under the California Labor Code. In addition, the Court ordered the Schneider defendant to properly identify the Schneider-related entity that operates the relevant Mira Loma warehouse. To read the complete TRO order click here.
After additional briefing, on December 7, 2011, the Court issued a Preliminary Injunction requiring all defendants to electronically record the actual hours worked by each worker and to issue each worker itemized wage statements as required by the California Labor Code. In addition, defendants must record all dates on which a worker reports to work but is not put to work, or is furnished less than half of that worker's usual or scheduled day's work. To the extent workers are paid on a piece rate basis, defendants must list the piece rate formula, including all information necessary to calculate that worker's pay. With respect to such piece rate workers, defendants must identify on a daily basis all hours any worker spent performing duties other than loading or unloading truck containers, along with any hours that worker spent loading or unloading which did not result in a fully loaded or unloaded truck container during that worker's shift. To read the complete Preliminary Injunction order click here.
On January 31, 2012, the Court issued an additional preliminary injunction, protecting more than a hundred of the plaintiff warehouse workers from a mass termination on the ground that the planned termination was retaliatory in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act and the California Labor Code. Just four days after these workers filed their lawsuit on October 17th, and only nine days after the same workers cooperated with the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement during its on-site investigation of the warehouse employers' wage and hour practices, the owners of Rogers-Premier and Premier notified Schneider Logistics that they would be terminating their contract at the Mira Loma warehouses and firing all of their direct employees working in the warehouses, effective February 24, 2012. Rather than seeking to renegotiate the service contract or otherwise preserve the jobs of these warehouse workers -- as they had regularly done when other contractors gave notice of termination -- Schneider Logistics accepted the contract termination without response and took steps to force the Premier companies and their direct employees out before the February 24th projected termination date.
Ruling on the plaintiff workers' motion to avert the termination as a retaliatory response to the workers' lawsuit and other protected acts, the Court found it likely that the workers would prevail on their claims that the termination by Rogers-Premier, Premier, and Schneider Logistics violated state and federal prohibitions on retaliating against workers for exercising their legal rights, and provisionally certified all workers who received the mass discharge notice as an appropriate class for purposes of this anti-retaliation injunction. The Court also concluded that the workers are "likely to prevail on their assertions that Schneider is a joint employer with Premier and that each is jointly and severally liable for the actions of the other." In its order, the Court also granted plaintiffs' request to issue notice to all current and former workers in these Walmart warehouses, both through workplace and community postings, as well as the request that defendants bear the cost of mailing notice to members of the prospective class. To read the complete order click here.
ACLU AND TRABER & VOORHEES FILE LAWSUIT OVER POLICE ROUNDUP OF LATINO STUDENTS AT HOOVER HIGH SCHOOL.
To read the press release describing the case click here.
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