PRACTITIONER BLOG

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Eastern District of New York Grants Class Certification to Incarcerated People Who Faced Inhumane Conditions
Class Action Cert, Prisoners' Rights Teddy Basham-Witherington Class Action Cert, Prisoners' Rights Teddy Basham-Witherington

Eastern District of New York Grants Class Certification to Incarcerated People Who Faced Inhumane Conditions

Plaintiffs also alleged that MDC staff failed to provide them adequate food and clothing and deprived them of access to hot water for cleaning, bathing, and laundry. Plaintiffs were forced to wash themselves in their cell sinks with cold water or forego washing for fear of getting sick. One resident suffering from ulcerative colitis had bloody bedding that had not been changed because of the lack of laundry services. Other incarcerated people with chronic medical conditions did not receive their medication and were unable to receive medical treatment. Class members also reported not being able to use their CPAP machines, not having access to mental health staff, and even enduring dirty bandages that had not been changed in weeks.

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Class Action Strategy and Practice Guide: A Must-Have For All Class Action Attorneys
Class Actions Teddy Basham-Witherington Class Actions Teddy Basham-Witherington

Class Action Strategy and Practice Guide: A Must-Have For All Class Action Attorneys

Class actions involve decisions on strategy at every turn.  The positions of the parties are constantly changing and counsel must always be looking ahead and, at the same time, carefully watching their flank.  This book helps all practitioners and parties identify, analyze and answer key strategy questions. Ever evolving class action tactics, case law and rule make this insightful practice guide a must read for lawyers, judges, advocates and decision makers at every level.

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Class Action Cert, Racial Discrimination Teddy Basham-Witherington Class Action Cert, Racial Discrimination Teddy Basham-Witherington

Black Workers Get Class Action Certification in Race Discrimination Case

The Western District of Washington recently certified a class of black workers asserting claims of race-based discrimination based on subjective decision-making in the hiring and firing process of workers at the Sound Transit “University Link” light-rail project. The case is Rollins v. Traylor Bros., Inc., No. C14-1414 JCC, 2016 WL 258523 (W.D. Wash. Jan. 21, 2016). After allegations of discrimination and harassment against black laborers at the Traylor Bros., Inc./Frontier-Kemper Joint Venture (“TFK”) site. Sound Transit hired an expert (Marcella Flemming Reed) to investigate...

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