News in Brief July 8 – McDonald's, Snapchat and More

McDonald’s Workers Get Class Certification in Wage and Hour Suit

McDonald’s workers scored a win this week when a California federal judge announced that he would be granting class certification in their case. Although the workers previously settled their claims against the franchise owner late last year, their case against McDonald’s itself is now certified as a class action and moving forward under the theory that the fast-food chain was also their employer. The workers claim that they weren’t paid overtime, weren’t reimbursed for uniform maintenance and had their wages miscalculated.

T-Mobile Sales Reps Say They Worked Without Pay, Breaks

A T-Mobile retailer in Illinois was hit with a proposed class action lawsuit that says sales representatives worked without pay and weren’t given breaks. The workers, who are bringing their claims against three store owners, say that they had to perform tasks before clocking in and after clocking out. These include, according to the suit, entering sales data, collecting supplies, going to meetings, cleaning and going to the bank. They also claim that they weren’t given breaks as required by law.

Snapchat Hit with Suit Over Explicit Content

Snapchat was hit with a lawsuit in California federal court alleging that children are being exposed to sexually explicit and offensive content through app’s “Discover” feature. (This feature provides content from Buzzfeed, MTV, Cosmopolitan and other media outlets.) The suit claims that parents and minors were never given any warning that users would be exposed to such content and that the app doesn’t distinguish between minors, some as young as 13, and adults when choosing what articles to show.

Pampers Baby Wipes Under Fire for “Natural” Claims

Procter & Gamble was hit with a suit on Thursday over the “natural” claims on its Pampers baby wipes. The suit says the claims are “false, deceptive and likely to mislead a reasonable person” because the wipes contain synthetic chemicals, including dimethicone, phenoxyethanol, and ethyhexyl glycerin, that can cause skin irritation and other problems. The suit, which was filed in Florida, wants to help consumers get back the money they spent on the products.