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U.S. Master™ Wage-Hour Guide, 2009 Edition 
Presents a first approach to the broad and complex controls under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and other statutes regulating employee wages and hours.
US District Court Judge Gerald E. Lynch of the Southern District of New York has preliminarily approved an $8.5 million settlement of a sex discrimination class action against insurance brokerage firm the Willis Group. The preliminary settlement entered into October 22, 2007 covers a class of approximately 180 female current and former senior executives who alleged that Willis engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination based on their sex with respect to compensation, promotions and bonuses in violation of Title VII as well as state and local law. The parties which reached an agreement to settle the case just before trial was scheduled to begin. The final fairness hearing will be held on November 19, 2007 (Hnot v Willis Group Holdings Ltd, SDNY, No 02cv6558, Settlement preliminary approved October 22, 2007).
Under the consent decree, the two class representatives, Shelley Hnot and Heidi Scheller, will receive $60,000 for those services in addition to their percentage of the settlement fund the average of which will be approximately $50,000 per person. Willis will separately pay for attorneys' fees and expenses. The company, which expressly denied any wrongdoing or liability, will also make changes in its compensation practices and performance evaluation system for the next three years. A monitor will be appointed by the court, and during the three years of the consent decree, the monitor will review compensation decisions made by Willis to ensure that there are no inappropriate disparities in compensation related to sex. "The class includes approximately 180 women who held 'officer level positions' at. . .three Willis offices from October 30, 1998 through December 31, 2001. Many job titles can be considered within the 'officer level' rank."
"We think that changing Willis' practices to prevent discrimination in the future is equally important. The relief set forth in this consent decree is an important step for women employees at Willis. They have been doing the same work as their male peers, and they deserve to receive the same rewards for their efforts. More remains to be done," said plaintiffs' attorney Christine Webber who is with Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll. "The class we represented extended only through December 2001, but other litigation is pending which seeks redress for the same practices from 2002 to the present. We hope that litigation is equally successful."
"We're pleased that through this class action, members of the class were able to obtain relief for disparities in pay that may have eluded them if they had pursued their claims individually, as a result of the recent Supreme Court decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Inc.," said co-lead counsel Joseph M. Sellers, also a partner with Cohen Milstein.
For more information on this and other topics, consult CCH Employment Practices Guide or CCH Labor Relations.
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