Wage Law

The Supreme Court will hear oral argument in Pioneer Electronics v. Superior Court (Olmstead) on December 5, 2006, at 9:00 a.m. in Los Angeles. The case includes the following issue:

In a putative class action, would the privacy rights of potential class members be violated by a pre-certification letter to be sent to those potential class members who had complained to defendant regarding the alleged defect upon which the action is based, when the letter states that failure to respond to the letter will be treated as consent to disclose the identity of the potential class member to plaintiffs' counsel for the purpose of this action?

Though not a wage and hour matter, this case will have a significant effect upon wage and hour class actions, because those cases are often particularly suited for pre-certification notices, in that employers usually have access to at least the currently employed putative class members, and class representatives usually have very limited access to those witnesses.