Class actions are important tools for employees to fight back against employers who don’t pay wages properly. They can be used to sue for unpaid minimum wages for restaurant workers, unpaid overtime wages and commissions.

Many times, employees are afraid to come forward and serve as a lead representatives because they fear retaliation. If no one ever came forward, no class actions would ever be brought.

Well, there are powerful anti-retaliation laws in this country that protect those who bring lawsuits, including class action lawsuits for unpaid wages. Recently, a jury in Boston awarded $1,000,000 in damages (which could be tripled to $3,000,000) for an employee who brought a class action lawsuit against Flight Services & Systems, Inc..

“The verdict sends such a strong message to companies that you cannot fire employees who make wage complaints,” said Travers’s lawyer, Shannon Liss-Riordan, who also represented Travers in the class-action case. “This verdict is very important to ensuring that the wage laws are enforced.”

The Boston Globe ran a full article on this important ruling.

The take away is that employees who bring class action lawsuits are protected by powerful anti-retaliation laws.