SOURCE: Nichols Kaster, PLLP
June 30, 2010 14:49 ET
Judge Permits Illinois Bell Call Center Workers Represented by Nichols Kaster, PLLP to Proceed Collectively to Trial
CHICAGO, IL--(Marketwire - June 30, 2010) - On June 28, 2010, in Russell v. Illinois Bell Telephone Co., No. 08-cv-1871, the Honorable Matthew F. Kennelly of the Northern District of Illinois issued an Order denying Defendant's Motion for Decertification of claims brought by approximately 487 current and former call center workers. The Judge declined to decertify claims for (1) pre-shift work resulting from logging into computers; (2) lunch break work used to address customer service-related tasks; and (3) post-shift overtime amounting to less than eight minutes that went uncompensated. The Court did decertify certain extraneous additional claims for such things as blowing up balloons and checking sales numbers.
Plaintiffs' counsel David E. Schlesinger stated, "We are gratified by this order. It allows the Plaintiffs to proceed to trial on the claims that have always been central to this case."
On September 15, 2008, Judge Kennelly granted Plaintiffs' motion for conditional class certification, which meant that the Plaintiffs had met their initial burden to show that they were similarly situated. The June 28 Order means that the Plaintiffs survived the even higher level of scrutiny used at the second stage of proceedings under the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA"). This Order means that the Court believes the Plaintiffs claims should proceed to trial as a group.
The Plaintiffs in Russell v. Illinois Bell Telephone Co., are represented by Jim Kaster, David Schlesinger and Megan Brennan of Nichols Kaster, PLLP, which has offices in Minneapolis and San Francisco. Nichols Kaster, PLLP also represents call center workers with similar claims against Michigan Bell Telephone Co. and AT&T Corp. Both of those cases are pending and have been conditionally certified under the FLSA. Those cases are Bishop v. AT&T Corp., No. 08-cv-468 DWA-RCM (W.D. Pa.) and Fisher v. Michigan Bell Telephone Co., No. 09-cv-10802 NGE-RSW (E.D. Mi.). Additional information about these lawsuits is located at www.nka.com or may be obtained by calling Nichols Kaster, PLLP at (877) 448-0492.