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On October 7, 2003, the court rejected the parties' proposed settlement of a class action against Mueller Refrigeration Products Company of Hartsville, Tennessee, on behalf of African-Americans who applied for employment with Mueller at any time since October 25, 1998, and were not hired. The court held a fairness hearing on July 31 but did not announce its decision until October 7.

A chemical company worker has filed a class-action lawsuit, arguing that he and thousands of fellow employees should be tested for brain tumors because of a cluster of deadly cases. The lawsuit alleges that Rohm and Haas failed to warn employees about potential toxins and carcinogens or train them in their proper handling.

The class has been certified in an action filed against Kmart Corporation board members and executives on behalf of current and former Kmart employees who had more than $100 million of the discount chain's stock in their 401(k) retirement plans when the company went bankrupt. The action alleges that the defendants violated the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act by abrogating their fiduciary duties to plan participants. Persons eligible to take part in the action should contact attorneys for the class.

The federal Fair Standards Labor Act requires that most hourly employees be paid overtime wages if they work more than 40 hours in a normal workweek. A nationwide class action has been filed against Bank One, N.A., on behalf of all non-supervisory Group Bankers employed by Bank One since September 29, 2000, who allege that the company has not paid them overtime for hours they work in excess of their normal 40 hour workweek, in violation of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. Qualified employees should join the action as soon as possible to prevent forfeiture of benefits because of the operation of federal statutory deadlines.

Federal law protects persons from discrimination based on their race, color, and ethnicity. The class has been certified in a class action filed against International Truck and Engine Corporation on behalf of all current and former African American employees of the company or its predecessor, Navistar International Corporation, who allege that they were subjected to racial harassment on the job. Persons eligible to take part in the action should contact attorneys for the class.

Southern California class action attorneys recently settled overtime claims against the San Diego Padres Baseball Club on behalf of numerous sales employees. In their class action complaint, the Padres' sales employees claimed that they were misclassified as exempt from California's overtime and meal break/rest period requirements, as well as other wage requirements under the California Labor Code. These sales employees, who worked significant overtime hours during the baseball season, were responsible for selling various ticket and entertainment packages, including group sales, season ticket sales, premium seating sales and luxury skybox sales.