A class action lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court with the Eastern District of North Carolina against Pyxus International, Inc. (“Pyxus”). The lawsuit focuses on those persons who acquired shares in Pyxus between June 7, 2018 and November 8, 2018, a period which coincides with steep drops in the company’s share price. Class action lawsuits are common shareholder litigation, but what exactly is a class action lawsuit? State or Federal Court? Class action lawsuits are available in state court – including North Carolina state court – as well as in federal court. Since its effective date, the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (the “Act”)…
-
-
A Beginners Guide to Arbitration – Part 1
Chipotle is currently embroiled in a multi-year wage theft lawsuit. In 2014, approximately 10,000 current and former Chipotle employees filed a class action lawsuit alleging the company failed to compensate employees for work they performed “off the clock”. The employees further claim these off the clock hours are required by Chipotle to meet company-wide labor and payroll budgets. Chipotle responded that 2,814 of the workers should be dismissed from the lawsuit because their employment contracts include a waiver or their right to join class action lawsuits and an agreement to resolve all disputes via arbitration. The United States Supreme Court issued a ruling last month which lends support to…
-
The Right To Teach The Law
Charlotte’s only law school, Charlotte School of Law, closed in August 2017. The news followed multiple years of low bar passage rates and prior disciplinary actions from regulatory authorities, such as probation from the American Bar Association (“ABA”) and revocation of federally funded student loans. Even after closing its doors, Charlotte School of Law remains in the headlines in 2018. Charlotte School of Law is entangled in a number of class action lawsuits with former students who allege the school misrepresented its ABA accreditation status and bar passage rates. Additionally, former faculty members filed a lawsuit against the school for purportedly defrauding taxpayers by manipulating records to increase enrollment and…
-
North Carolina Business Court Weights in on Attorneys’ Fees in Class Action Settlements
Recent decisions by the North Carolina Court of Appeals and North Carolina Business Court (NCBC) shed light on a previously unsettled question of law: when can a North Carolina trial court award attorney’s fees as part of a class-action settlement in the absence of additional statutory authority? Long-standing precedent is that a court can award attorneys’ fees to a prevailing party when statutorily authorized to do so.[1] This practice is known as the “American Rule.” The intended purpose of the American Rule is to encourage the conservation of judicial resources by promoting settlement and discouraging unnecessarily prolonged litigation.[2] Regarding…
