Duane Morris Class Action Review - 2023 - Report - Page 243
F.
Rulings Upholding Class-Wide Judgments
One of the most significant labor rulings of 2022 is 1199 SEIU United Healthcare
Workers East, et al. v. PSC Community Services, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 112233
(S.D.N.Y June 24, 2022). The plaintiffs, a group of more than 100,000 current and
former union members, filed a class action alleging that the defendant underpaid home
care staff workers in violation of the Labor Management Relations Act (LMRA). The
parties engaged in arbitration, and the arbitrator awarded $30 million to the union
members for violations of the LMRA. The plaintiffs subsequently moved to have the
arbitration award confirmed under the Federal Arbitration Act. The court granted the
plaintiffs’ motion to confirm the arbitration award, and denied a motion from 13 former
union members to intervene and vacate the award. The court agreed with the plaintiffs
that the arbitrator’s award was thorough, rational, and well-founded. The court stated
that the arbitrator ordered a per capita contribution remedy to compensate the current
and former employees for underpayment violations. The court further determined that
the arbitrator sufficiently relied on the parties’ submissions, evidence, and assertions of
law made during hearing. The court concluded that a review of the award revealed that
the arbitrator carefully balanced all considerations in making the award. The court also
opined that the proposed intervening union members failed to make any arguments that
went to the merits of the award, and that they largely recycled arguments that the Court
previously had rejected. Accordingly, the court granted the plaintiffs’ motion to confirm
the arbitration award of $30 million and denied the motion to intervene.
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Duane Morris Class Action Review – 2023
