Class/Collective Actions

Class actions, collective actions, and multi-plaintiff lawsuits continue to be a regular challenge for employers across the United States. In recent years, these complex cases have seen a resurgence, driven by increased attention and evolving strategies from plaintiffs’ attorneys and enforcement entities.

Large, complex class actions can quickly become “bet-the-company” scenarios. While the costs alone can be staggering, high-profile cases can also have a significant impact on a company’s reputation, morale and operations. When your company’s life may be on the line, Constangy offers a team of attorneys that understands the potential legal and unique business ramifications you face – and one that can develop and execute an effective defense strategy to protect your interests. We are elite strategists, adept practitioners, and down-to-earth partners in working through competing priorities necessary to resolve complex matters.

What Sets Us Apart

Constangy's Class Action practice group brings to the defense of complex, multi-plaintiff lawsuits an unparalleled depth of experience and sensitivity to workplace issues gleaned from representing employers exclusively for more than 75 years. Our particular strengths in defending these types of cases include the following:

• Containing the impact of high-profile, multi-plaintiff litigation;
• Designing and implementing creative defense strategies to defeat the class aspects of the case;
• Incorporating key defense experts (statisticians, labor market economists, industrial psychologists, selection tool validation experts and the like) into the defense plan;
• Structuring the litigation with an eye toward maximizing success on appeal where issues of first impression are critical and the client’s long-term strategic interests make seeking to establish or change controlling law a cost-effective tactic;
• Exploring suitable means for resolving complex cases on terms acceptable to our clients through the use of mediation and other forms of alternative dispute resolution; and
• Planning and operating within a litigation budget.

What We Do

Constangy's Class Action practice group is experienced in all forms of multi-plaintiff and other representational employment claims including class and collective actions. We regularly defend clients in class and collective actions brought under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII); the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA); the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA); the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA); the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA); the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN); the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO); the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA); and related state laws.