Tagged: settlement

“If the Friedman-Ravelo chatter doomed the AmEx pact, the objecting giant retail chains argued, it ought to have the same effect on the MasterCard/Visa settlement. In trying to salvage the latter deal, Willkie and MasterCard’s other lead law firm, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, have tried to play down Ravelo’s role. The law firms have said in court filings that while Ravelo led Willkie’s MasterCard team, Paul Weiss attorneys set overall strategy and argued key motions in court. ‘That is ridiculous,’ Ravelo says. ‘I was in every meeting, I was on every conference call, and I sat at counsel table in court.’ What’s more, Ravelo says that while helping craft MasterCard’s strategy, she relied on Friedman’s revelations of confidential plaintiffs’ information. ‘When advising MasterCard and communicating with co-counsel … including regarding the negotiation and finalization of the settlement and in connection with mediation sessions, I drew upon all the information in my possession that affected MasterCard’s interests, including the information I was provided by Gary Friedman,’ Ravelo said in a sworn declaration dated Sept. 1. In other words, she claims she used confidences revealed to her by Friedman to try to get a better deal for MasterCard.”

Clear collusion throughout a decade long case…SMDH!

Source: Paul Barrett. “Inside a $5.7 Billion Antitrust Trainwreck.” Bloomberg BusinessWeek. November 11, 2015. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-11-11/inside-a-5-7-billion-antitrust-trainwreck.

Washington Post: “U.S. to pay Navajo Nation $554 million in largest settlement with single Indian tribe.”

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-to-pay-navajo-nation-554-million-in-largest-settlement-with-single-indian-tribe/2014/09/24/4dc02cc6-434e-11e4-9a15-137aa0153527_story.html.

Wet Seal settles with EEOC for $7.5 million in racial discrimination suit.

wetsealracist

Teen clothing brand Wet Seal has reached a $7.5 million settlement over allegations that it horrendously discriminated against employees of color, because they didn’t have the “white,” “blue eye,” “thin and blond” look the brand wanted, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Three former managers filed the lawsuit last year, accusing the nationwide retail chain of actively firing and denying raises and promotions to black workers. One plaintiff, former manager Kai Hawkins, said that her boss threatened to fire her unless she hired more white employees. Another, Nicole Codgell, claimed that she was fired the day after the company’s senior vice president for store operations toured several outlets and sent an email to lower managers, “African American dominate — huge issue.”

The lawsuit also accused senior vice president Barbara Bachman of commanding managers to “lighten up” the staff in stores serving mainly white customers, and telling one regional manager that she must have “lost her mind” to put a black person in charge of a certain store.

Wet Seal had denied the allegations. The company, calling the settlement a “no-fault resolution of the case,” agreed to pay at least $5.58 million in damages to current and former African American managers, according to the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, which was co-counsel in the suit. As part of the settlement, Wet Seal, which has over 7,000 employees, must also track applications to ensure diversity in hiring, expand its human resources department, post management openings, and regularly report on the hiring, promotions and firings of minority employees.

“Being targeted for termination from a job I loved because of my race was a nightmare,” Cogdell said in a statement. “… Wet Seal has now committed to strong, fair policies because we took a stand. I hope these changes will create opportunities for all deserving employees, regardless of their race.”

This isn’t an isolated case in the retail industry, where the pursuit of a specific “brand image” can end up leaving many out. “There’s sort of an assumption about what the employees who interact with the customers have to look like,” ReNika Moore, director of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund’s economic justice group, told AOL Jobs. “And there’s a bias and prejudice that’s filtering into these workspaces, and it’s really acting as a barrier for workers of color to advance.”

African Americans and people of color should boycott this tacky and cheap clothing retailer. Their revenues are already sinking. Taking our dollars away from their business (and others) will be the nail in the coffin in this poor economy. They need to get the message.

Source: http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2013/05/11/wet-seal-settles-race-bias-suit/#ixzz2T1w0aoQ8