Human Rights, Public Health & Environment

Human Right Cases

• Does I v. The Gap, Inc., Case No. 01 0031 (D. N. Mariana Islands). In this groundbreaking case, Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP attorneys represented a class of 30,000 garment workers who alleged that they had worked under sweatshop conditions in garment factories in Saipan that produced clothing for top United States retailers such as The Gap, Target and J.C. Penney. In the first action of its kind, Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP attorneys pursued claims against the factories and the retailers alleging violations of RICO, the Alien Tort Claims Act and the Law of Nations based on the alleged systemic labor and human rights abuses occurring in Saipan. This case was a companion to two other actions: Does I v. Advance Textile Corp., Case No. 99 0002 (D. N. Mariana Islands), which alleged overtime violations by the garment factories under the Fair Labor Standards Act and local labor law, and UNITE v. The Gap, Inc., Case No. 300474 (Cal. Super. Ct., San Francisco County), which alleged violations of California’s Unfair Practices Law by the United States retailers. These actions resulted in a settlement of approximately $20 million that included a comprehensive monitoring program to address past violations by the factories and prevent future ones. The members of the litigation team were honored as Trial Lawyers of the Year by the Trial Lawyers for Public Justice in recognition of the team’s efforts at bringing about the precedent-setting settlement of the actions.
• Kasky v. Nike, Inc., 27 Cal. 4th 939 (2002). The California Supreme Court upheld claims that an apparel manufacturer misled the public regarding its exploitative labor practices, thereby violating California statutes prohibiting unfair competition and false advertising. The Court rejected defense contentions that any misconduct was protected by the First Amendment, finding the heightened constitutional protection afforded to noncommercial speech inappropriate in such a circumstance.
• World War II-Era Slave Labor. Against steep odds, the Firm’s lawyers took up the claims of people forced to work as slave labor for Japanese corporations during the Second World War. Their human rights case ran into trouble when the Ninth Circuit agreed with the Bush administration that any claims against Japanese corporations and their subsidiaries were preempted by the federal government’s foreign-affairs power. See Deutsch v. Turner, 324 F.3d 692 (9th Cir. 2003). The case nonetheless demonstrates the lawyers’ dedication to prosecuting human-rights violations against the challenge of formidable political opposition.
• The Cintas Litigation. Brought against one of the nation’s largest commercial laundries for violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act for misclassifying truck drivers as salesmen to avoid payment of overtime.
• Taco Bell workers. Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP attorneys represented over 2,300 Taco Bell workers who were denied thousands of hours of overtime pay because, among other reasons, they were improperly classified as overtime-exempt employees.

Anti-Union Cases

• Southern Pacific/Overnite. A shareholder action stemming from several hundred million dollars in loss of value in the company due to systematic violations by Overnite of United States labor laws.
• Massey Energy. A shareholder action against an anti-union employer for flagrant violations of environmental laws resulting in multi-million dollar penalties.
• Crown Petroleum. A shareholder action against a Texas-based oil company for self-dealing and breach of fiduciary duty while also involved in a union lockout.

Significant Environmental Cases

• Public Citizen v. U.S. D.O.T. Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP attorneys represented a coalition of labor, environmental, industry, and public health organizations including Public Citizen, The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, California AFL-CIO and California Trucking Industry in a challenge to a decision by the Bush Administration to lift a congressionally imposed “moratorium” on cross-border trucking from Mexico on the basis that such trucks do not conform to emission controls under the Clean Air Act, and further, that the Administration did not first complete a comprehensive environmental impact analysis as required by the National Environmental Policy Act. The suit was dismissed by the Supreme Court, the Court holding that because the D.O.T. lacked discretion to prevent cross-border trucking, an environmental assessment was not required.
• Sierra Club v. AK Steel. Brought on behalf of the Sierra Club for massive emissions of air and water pollution by a steel mill, including homes of workers living in the adjacent communities, in violation of the Federal Clean Air Act, Resource Conservation Recovery Act and the Clean Water Act.
• MTBE Litigation. Brought on behalf of various water districts for befouling public drinking water with MTBE, a gasoline additive linked to cancer.
• Exxon Valdez. Brought on behalf of fisherman and Alaska residents for billions of dollars in damages resulting from the greatest oil spill in United States history.
• Avila Beach. A citizens’ suit against UNOCAL for leakage from the oil company pipeline so severe it literally destroyed the town of Avila Beach, California.