Fashion Industry News SampleDec 27, 2005 12:00:29
RALPH LAUREN: Reaches Settlement for CA Employee Wardrobing Suit
CALIFORNIA (Sunstream News) -- Mediation is still proceeding for class action filed against Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation and its Polo Retail, LLC subsidiary in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.
On September 18, 2002, an employee at one of the Company's stores filed a lawsuit, alleging violations of California antitrust and labor laws. The plaintiff purports to represent a class of employees who have allegedly been injured by a requirement that certain retail employees purchase and wear Company apparel as a condition of their employment. The complaint, as amended, seeks an unspecified amount of actual and punitive damages, disgorgement of profits and injunctive and declaratory relief.
The Company answered the amended complaint on November 4, 2002. A hearing on cross motions for summary judgment on the issue of whether the Company's policies violated California law took place on August 14, 2003. The Court granted partial summary judgment with respect to certain of the plaintiff's claims, but concluded that more discovery was necessary before it could decide the key issue as to whether the Company had maintained for a period of time a dress code policy that violated California law. The parties are engaged in settlement discussions, and during Fiscal 2005, the Company recorded a reserve for our estimate of the settlement cost, the amount of which is not material. The Company later reached an agreement in principle on a settlement of this matter. The proposed settlement would be subject to court approval and the proposed settlement cost, of $1.5 million, does not exceed the reserve the Company established for this matter in Fiscal 2005. The state court action is covered by the proposed settlement described above and would be dismissed upon the court's final approval of the settlement.
On April 14, 2003, a second putative class action was filed in the San Francisco Superior Court in California. This suit, brought by the same attorneys, alleges near identical claims to those in the federal class action. The class representatives consist of former employees and the plaintiff in the federal court action. Defendants in this class action include the Company and its subsidiaries Polo Retail, LLC, Fashions Outlet of America, Inc., Polo Retail, Inc. and San Francisco Polo, Ltd. as well as a non-affiliated corporate defendant and two current managers. As in the federal action, the complaint seeks an unspecified amount of actual and punitive restitution of monies spent, and declaratory relief. The state court class action has been stayed pending resolution of the federal class action.
The suit is styled "Young v. Polo Retail, LLC et al., 3:02-cv- 04546-VRW," filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, under Judge Vaughn R. Walker. Lead plaintiff is Toni Young. Lawyers for the plaintiffs are:
(1) Daniel L. Feder, Law Offices of Daniel Feder, 807 Montgomery Street San Francisco, CA 94133, Phone: 415- 391-9476, Fax: 415-391-9432, E-mail: danfeder@pacbell.net
(2) Joseph Lewis Fogel, Tonita Marie Helton, Richard B. Levy, Freeborn & Peters, 311 S. Wacker Drive, Suite 3000 Chicago, IL 60606 Phone: 312-360-6568, E-mail: jfogel@freebornpeters.com or thelton@freebornpeters.com
Lawyers for the defendants are:
(i) Mary L. Guilfoyle and Joseph D. Miller, Epstein Becker & Green, P.C., One California Street, 26th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94111-5427, Phone: 415-398-3500, Fax: 415-398-0955 or E-mail: mguilfoyle@ebglaw.com or jmiller@ebglaw.com
(ii) Patrick R. Kitchin, Law Office of Patrick R. Kitchin, 807 Montgomery Street, San Francisco, CA, Phone: (415) 677-9058 E-mail: prk@investigationlogic.com
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Source: Class Action ReporterPublication Date: 2005-12-27
COY: RL
IND: FAS
GEO: n-us-ca
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