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Plaintiffs File Brief in Big 4 Overtime Lawsuit

Last summer we initiated our coverage on the wage and hour lawsuits against the Big 4 and other firms that have been filed in California. As you may remember, the case that is currently before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, Campbell v. PricewaterhouseCoopers, is the key case as it may decide how the rest of the cases proceed.

Just a quick refresheramicus (i.e. friend of court) briefs following in early November.


The plaintiffs’ amicus briefs are scheduled to be filed tomorrow and while Mr. Kershaw would not share any names with us, he did inform us that there were some notable supporters that will be filing briefs. Parties claiming support via web (though it is not clear whether they are expected to file as amicus) include among others, labor union UNITE HERE.

The briefs are under seal at the request of the defendants who are claiming proprietary privilege.

In the past, the 9th Circuit has been accused of having a liberal bias which could be perceived as an advantage to the plaintiffs. While Mr. Kershaw agreed that the 9th Circuit was more “worker friendly” in the past, he told us, “After eight years under the Bush administration, the court has considerably more conservative justices.”

According to the 9th Circuit’s website, former President George W. Bush appointed seven justices while in office. Of the 47 justices currently serving, 21 were appointed by Republican Presidents and 26 by Democratic Presidents.

Despite the political makeup, Mr. Kershaw believes, as he did when we last spoke with him on the matter, that the evolution of the law of the exemptions (i.e. who, among other things, is and is not eligible for overtime) will demonstrate that the plaintiffs were not “learned professionals,” and will prevail in case.

Lead counsel for PricewaterhouseCoopers, Norman Hile of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP did not respond to our request for an interview.

We reached out to all the firms; receiving responses from only BDO, who provide the following statement: “We believe that the employee in this case was properly classified as exempt. This case has been stayed pending resolution of the PwC appeal. As is our policy on matters of litigation, BDO does not intend to comment further until this case is resolved.” We were also informed that in the BDO case that the class certification was denied by the trial court and the appeal was also denied.

In the case of Hood & Strong, LLP, we were referred to their attorney, Jonathan R. Bass of Coblentz, Patch, Duffy & Bass, who we spoke with briefly about his case, Kathleen McFarland v. Hood & Strong LLP.

Mr. Bass indicated to us that the lawsuit against his client is only one of four that is being tried in state court and would not necessarily be affected by the ruling in Campbell. He further indicated that these lawsuits are something that his client, and most likely all the defendants, did not anticipate, “it is not likely that any of these firms considered the possibility of their employees being treated as anything other than exempt.”

No other firms listed as defendants responded to our request to comment.

Ultimately a decision in Campbell may not be known until 2011 at which point the litigation could actually proceed or be settled. We’ll continue to follow these cases as they progress.

Happy 100th Birthday PwC Los Angeles!

Things sure have changed quite a bit since 1911 when it was just Price Waterhouse (what do we think the logo looked like?) and no one gave a shit whether working moms had a great place to work. Possibly in an effort to make up for those less diverse-sensitive years, the firm is celebrating their century in L.A. with “100 Years of Service, 100 Ways of Giving Back.”


P. Dubbersteins will spend a few hours sitting in god-awful traffic on their way to two dozen community organizations to do various nice things. And in case you feel compelled to share your story, the firm will let you do that too.

PwC has also built an intranet site with the theme, “What’s your LA story?” to generate excitement and internal buzz about the anniversary. It provides a centralized resource of information about the campaign and serves as another vehicle for the firm’s LA partners and staff to review and sign up for projects. A unique feature of the site is a page allowing people to share personal stories of how they have helped in the community, fostering a feeling of shared commitment and inspiring others to participate.

Sharing stories about how you’ve made a difference in your community is cool and all but I’m sure many current and former PwC L.A. employees have tales from the last 100 years that are just as interesting but fall within a different narrative. Maybe there was a partner at the Oscars who somehow ended up in the arms of Sophia Loren or maybe he got bombed with Jack Nicholson at the Vanity Fair party only to be found later, naked and passed out on the side of Mulholland Drive.

Or maybe you just recall some inter-office exploits that were especially memorable. The point is, PwC L.A., this is a time for reflection. So if you got memories (fond or not so much) about your time there, feel free to share them below.