A Jersey City man, who had been fired by Bayonne Medical Center, has been awarded more than $2.1 million after filing a lawsuit against the hospital under New Jersey’s whistleblower law. The whistleblower, Ceferino Doculan, was given $2 million in punitive damages, $80,000 in lost wages and $60,000 for pain and suffering. Doculan, who had been employed by the hospital for over 20 years, was fired after informing his superiors that his direct supervisor was not qualified and did not have the proper credentials for the position.
Doculan contended that he was fired because of his protected complaint and the hospital contended he had not been, but deserved to be fired. The jury apparently didn’t agree that the predominant reason for his discharge was his performance, and found the predominant reason was his protected conduct.
Papa John’s agreed to settle its Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) lawsuit last week. The pizza chain had been facing the largest fine ever for violations of the TCPA in history, but settled with the plaintiffs on Friday. The complaint alleged that the pizza chain sent a total of 500,000 unwanted text marketing messages without obtaining consent first, as required by the TCPA. The law allows for penalties up to $1,500 per unsolicited text message if a defendant is found to have willfully broken the law. 
In Oxford Health Plans v Sutter, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that an arbitrator has the power to interpret an arbitration clause and unless the agreement states otherwise, the arbitrator can construe the clause to permit class arbitrations. The case was brought in state court by a physician who alleged that the health plan had failed to fully and promptly pay him and other physicians. The health plan moved to compel arbitration which the state court ordered. The arbitrator then construed the arbitration clause to permit class arbitration. The health plan then filed in federal court a motion to vacate the arbitration order asserting that the arbitrator exceeded his authority. The district court denied the motion and the Third Circuit affirmed. The unanimous Supreme Court ruling holds that arbitrators have the power to construe arbitration clauses as permitting class arbitration. The decision thus clears the way for cases to proceed as class arbitrations.
Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC) avoided an imminent trial scheduled for May 21 by agreeing to pay $97.5 million to settle a class action lawsuit. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of investors who acquired Computer Sciences common stock from August 5, 2008, to December 27, 2011 alleged that CSC filed false financial statements with the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) and failed to disclose material facts including the company’s performance on a $5.4 billion electronic patient records contract with the U.K.’s National Health Service. 
Charles Schwab Corp. (SCHW) has reversed course on a requirement that customers must waive their right to participate in class action lawsuits against the company.
U.S. District Judge William Alsup reinstated on Tuesday a penalty he first imposed in August 2010, saying the fourth-largest U.S. bank violated a California law that protects consumers against fraudulent misrepresentations. 
