Tennessee Employment Lawyer Blog

Apollo Group, Inc., the company best known for its subsidiary University of Phoenix, resolved a whistleblower lawsuit earlier this month originally filed in 2003. The online university's parent company has agreed to pay $78.5M to settle the whistleblower lawsuit.

This qui tam lawsuit is doubly unique: first, it was pursued by a private relator after the U.S. Department of Justice did not join the lawsuit and, secondly, in that the defendant was not guilty of fraudulent Medicare charges or a military contractor but, rather an institute of higher education.

Continue reading "College Settles False Claims (Qui Tam) Lawsuit " »

A $2.6-million lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday alleging a California car wash paid its employees less than minimum wage and denied overtime. The lawsuit was filed by the state’s attorney general against the Auto Spa Express, its owner, and its present incorporation as Sunset Car Wash.

This CA lawsuit is reminiscent of our reportage earlier this year in Unpaid Wages and Unrecorded Hours Subject of Local Nashville, TN Car Wash Workers… blog.

Continue reading "Car Wash Overtime Lawsuit Seeks $630K in Back Wages" »

Current and former Massachusetts Wal-Mart employees will receive $40 million in unpaid wages from the world’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. This class-action wage and hour lawsuit is the largest in the history of the Bay State.

The cause of the wage lawsuit, which appears pervasive in the company by the numerous wage and hour lawsuits settled last year in December (read the Tennessee Law Blog’s coverage of last year’s Wal-Mart wage settlement) was the company’s denial of rest and meal breaks, refusal to pay overtime, and the manipulation of time cards to lower employees’ pay.

As many as 87,500 employees will receive a payment of between $400 and $2,500, the average check being for $734. Any Wal-Mart or Sam’s Club employee paid wages between working in the period between August 1995 and December 2009 is entitled to payment.

Continue reading " $40M Returned to Hourly-Paid Wal-Mart Employees
in State’s Largest Wage and Hour Settlement" »