Initiative Legal Group | Tenants File Class Action Lawsuit In Wake Of Massive Fire At Edgewater, NJ Apartment Complex

Initiative Legal Group is a law firm based in Los Angeles. ILG prosecutes class actions on behalf of employees, consumers, and others who have had their rights violated. 

The first part of the article below is by newyork.cbslocal.com. It reads...

EDGEWATER, N.J. (CBSNewYork) – Two tenants of an apartment complex in Edgewater, New Jersey that was mostly destroyed in a fire have filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of all residents.

The suit, filed this week in Bergen County Superior Court, seeks damages for economic and property losses from the massive fire at the Avalon at Edgewater complex last week.

The five-alarm blaze destroyed 240 units, permanently displacing 500 residents and temporarily displacing another 520 residents from surrounding buildings.

“Our clients have been displaced, many of them from their homes. Many of them have lost everything that was in their homes,” attorney Bruce Greenberg, with the firm Lite DePalma Greenberg, told 1010 WINS. “The lawsuit includes not only people who lived at the Avalon but people who live in the neighborhood and were damaged by the fire as well.”

The suit alleges that Avalon’s property managers initially told residents there was a “minor fire” in the complex nearly two hours after the fire first started.

EXTRA: Click Here For The Full Complaint

“For a short time, building employees were telling residents at the time that the fire didn’t seem serious,” Greenberg said. “Two hours after the fire was first reported, Avalon sent an email to tenants saying that there was, what Avalon called, a ‘minor fire’ in the complex. In fact, of course, it was a fire that was visible across the river in New York.”

While no people died in the blaze, the suit says the fire claimed the lives of many pets and destroyed other irreplaceable items.

It was filed by Robert Loposky and Richard Kemp, who were both residents at the complex, according to the suit. It says Loposky lost all of his personal belongings, including his dogs. It says Kemp also lost all of his personal belongings.

The suit names Maryland-based AvalonBay Communities Inc. as the defendant as well as unknown entities and individuals that “may be responsible for and/or may have participated in the improper activities of defendant AvalonBay.”

Police said the blaze was sparked by workers using a blow-torch to make repairs to a leak.

“A plumbing repair ignited a fire in the wall which then spread through the building,” Edgewater Police Chief William Skidmore said last week. “It was accidental, there was nothing suspicious about it, and we have complete verification and there’s no doubt about it.”

source: here

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Initiative Legal Group | Class action filed over Chrysler Pacifica rust issue

Below is the first part of an article by Locallabs News Service from legalnewsline.com. It reads...

COLUMBUS, Ohio (Legal Newsline) – A class action lawsuit is alleging the parameters of a recall of Chrysler Pacificas that prematurely rust in the engine cradles, which could cause the engines to fall out while on the road, were fraudulently limited.

John Dell, Brenda Baldwin, Anthony Soto, Darrell Holland and James Morales all joined in the lawsuit against Chrysler owner Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA). The suit alleges 2004-2008 Pacificas' engine cradles "rust, corrode or perforate" prematurely.

The company extended the warranty for 2004 and 2005 Pacificas due to a report of vibrations and shaking in the engines from the rust. A service bulletin was issued in October 2010 that said the problem applied to vehicles purchased on the Canadian market and in 19 U.S. states, mainly in the Midwest and Northeast, referred to as “salt belt states.”

The lawsuit alleges Chrysler only applied the extended warranty to about 7,000 Pacificas that were manufactured between Feb. 23, 2004, and March 31, 2004. However, about 322,000 Pacifica vehicles were sold between 2004 and 2008 that had similar problems, the lawsuit said.

Approximately 300 complaints have been filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration over the engine cradles in the Pacifica vehicles.

“Despite acknowledgment of the defect, and actual or constructive knowledge of these complaints, FCA has fraudulently withheld information about the defect, has fraudulently denied the existence of the defect, and it has failed to adequately address the engine-cradle defect,” the lawsuit said.

The plaintiffs are represented by D. Andrew List of Clark Perdue & List Co., L.P.A.

United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio-Eastern Division case number 2:15-cv-00103.

Source: here

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Initiative Legal Group | Class action filed over U of Ottawa hockey team suspension

The aritcle below is by the Associated Press from Northcountrypublicradio.com. It reads...

The University of Ottawa and its president are facing a class action lawsuit over the suspension of the school's men's hockey team.

The team was suspended in connection with a sexual assault investigation.

The suit was launched yesterday by lawyer Lawrence Greenspon on behalf of student Andrew Creppin and 21 other members of the varsity team.

Two students on the team were charged last summer with sexually assaulting a female student at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay in February, and are not part of the class action. (The Canadian Press)

Source: Here

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U.S. Department of Labor sues hotel owner | Initiative Legal Group

Initiative Legal Group stays up to date with Class Action news from around the globe.

Below is the first part of an article by AGLAS from jamestownsun.com. It reads...

FARGO — The U.S. Department of Labor is suing a Fargo-based owner of multiple hotels, arguing he owes $200,000 in back pay and damages for depriving almost 200 employees of fair wages over a two-year period.

Fargo-based businessman Bharat I. Patel is accused of improperly compensating 192 employees at 13 hotels in North Dakota and Montana in violation of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.

Patel's accounting practices resulted in some employees receiving less than the federal minimum wage and no additional pay for overtime work, according to the civil complaint filed Monday in U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota.

The Department of Labor alleges that Patel was well aware of labor laws and intentionally violated them. According to the complaint, Patel has been investigated multiple times by the North Dakota Wage and Hour Division, an agency under the state's Department of Labor and Human Rights that enforces wage and hour laws.

Charles Frasier, district director for the U.S. Labor Department's Wage and Hour Division in Denver, said in a statement about the lawsuit that "the hospitality industry is staffed by hard-working, low paid employees who deserve fair compensation for their hours" and that "the Wage and Hour Division will use every tool available to ensure workers receive the wages they earned.

Source: here

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Federal lawsuit against Fargo hotel owner for wage violations | Initiative Legal Group

Initiative Legal Group stays up to date with Class Action news from around the globe.

Below is the first part of an article by Forum Staff Repots from wday.com. It reads...

FARGO – A new federal lawsuit alleges that a Fargo-based owner of 13 hotels in North Dakota and Montana owes nearly 200 employees about $100,000 in back pay and $100,000 in damages. 

The lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Labor in U.S. District Court in Fargo on Monday claims Bharat I. Patel illegally classified 192 workers – including front-desk clerks and housekeeping staff – as salaried workers who are exempt from overtime and minimum wage laws.

“The hospitality industry is staffed by hard-working, low-paid employees who deserve fair compensation for long hours,” said Charles Frasier, district director for the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division in Denver. “To obtain compliance in the hotel/motel industry, the Wage and Hour Division will use every tool available to ensure workers receive the wages they earned.”

The Patel-owned hotels involved in Fargo include Econo Lodge East, Econo Lodge West, Fargo Quality Inn, Super 8 Fargo and Quality Suites in Fargo.

Source: here

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Former employee of Hammond Water Works files discrimination lawsuit | Initiative Legal Group

Initiative Legal Group stays up to date with Class Action news from around the globe.

Below is the first part of an article by Ed Bierschenk Nwitimes.com. It reads...

HAMMOND | A former employee of Hammond Water Works said she was discriminated against because of her race while employed at the department.

Hazell Ridgell, an African-American, complained in a federal lawsuit filed on her behalf last week by attorney Bryan K. Bullock, that she was treated differently than her white co-workers.

For instance, she contends at one point when the building where she and others worked was being rehabilitated, employees were moved to the basement. Later, during this period, Ridgell said all of her white co-workers were given a desk upstairs, while she was left in the basement.

She also complained that she was not treated equally when it came to pay or work hours.

Ridgell contends that when she was transferred to the inventory clerk position in the water works department, her pay was never increased to the salary level of the white incumbent who previously held the job.

Ridgell said she complained to her immediate supervisor, the human resources department, and to Edward Krusa, the water works chief executive officer, about the pay disparity. According to the lawsuit, Krusa offered to give her an additional $3,000 rather than to equalize her pay and/or pay her the money she lost for not being paid at the same rate as her predecessor for five years.

source: here

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Jon Fitch, Nate Quarry and Cung Le file class-action lawsuit against UFC | Initiative Legal Group

Initiative Legal Group stays up to date with Class Action news from around the globe.

The first part of the article below is by MMA Fighting Newswire from MMAFighting.com. It reads...

Former UFC fighters Jon Fitch and Nate Quarry along with Cung Le, who is still under contract with the UFC, have filed a class-action antitrust lawsuit against the UFC and its parent company, Zuffa. Bloody Elbow was the first to report the news of the lawsuit's existence.

"It's been definitely a tough road. I'm just honored to be part of this lawsuit against UFC for all the past UFC fighters, like Carlos Newton, and Nate [Quarry] and so many names I'd need a list here," Le said at Tuesday's press conference. "For all the future fighters and potentially one day, if my kids want to pursue the same path as I do, they would have a better situation to be in. I'm just very excited to get this going."

All three fighters have served in main events in the UFC. Two fought for titles in the organization.

Among other allegations, the antitrust suit alleges UFC has violated the Sherman Antitrust Act by illegally scheming to create a non-competitive marketplace restricting the earning capabilities of fighters to a fraction of what would be available in a competitive market. The suit also alleges UFC coerces fighters to give up rights to their names and likeness in perpetuity.

"This lawsuit really is about fairness," said Quarry. "It's about a fair market value for the athletes. Over and over again, we've seen that's just not been the case. The UFC has taken over the entire industry and dictated its terms upon the fighters without any say. We don't have any rights. It's the word that comes down.

Source: here

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