Cruz et al. v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos et al. (N.D. Cal., settled 2009). Represented guest workers (braceros) against the Mexican government and three Mexican state-owned banks to recover wages withheld between 1942 and 1946. The settlement in the case entitles 6,100 U.S- resident braceros (or their surviving family members) to monetary relief. The presiding federal judge, commenting on the challenges of a case involving ancient claims against a foreign sovereign in U.S. courts, commended Mr. Karsh and his co-counsel for their persistence and accomplishment, stating:
I want to tell you I’ve never seen such litigation in 11 years on the bench that was more difficult than this one. It was enormously challenging…I actually expected, to tell you the truth, at some point that the plaintiffs would just give up because it was so hard, but they never did. They never did. And, in fact, they achieved a settlement of the case, which I find remarkable under all of these circumstances.
Hale v. Bergie of Texas (S.D. Texas, settled 2007). Defended a large retailer facing nationwide class-action consumer-fraud allegations.
Thornton Tp. High School Dist. 205 et al. v. Argo Comm. High School Dist. 217 et al. (N.D. Ill., settled 2006). Represented several majority-African-American school districts challenging the decision made by eleven predominately white, high school districts to secede from the largest high school interscholastic conference in Illinois. The new arrangement they contemplated would have effectively ended regular season competition between majority-white and majority-African-American high schools in the southwest suburbs of Chicago. This case was one of the first to use the “effects test” provisions of the Illinois Civil Rights Act of 2003 and settled on terms that assured continued regular season competition and meetings between majority-white and majority-African-American high schools.
Bell et al. v. Woodward Governor Company (N.D. Ill., settled 2006). Represented minority employees in a Title VII class action alleging race and national-origin discrimination by a large manufacturing employer, resulting in a multi-million dollar settlement. The settlement also provided comprehensive injunctive relief, including appointment of a third-party monitor and retention of workplace industrial-organizational experts to create and implement non-discriminatory, job-related best practices for compensation and promotional decisions going forward.
Trombetta v. Proviso School District 209 et al.(N.D. Ill., tried to verdict 2004).Represented a school-district employee fired after exercising his First Amendment right to support the candidate of his choice in local school board elections. The verdict in this case was one of the highest ever in a single-plaintiff civil rights action in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Chicago Teachers Union v. IELRB (Illinois Appellate Court, decided 2004).Represented the Chicago Teachers Union. Obtained a reversal of the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board’s position with respect to the scope of arbitrable grievances.
del Valle v. McGuffage et al. (N.D. Ill., settled 2003). Represented Latino and African American voters in Illinois in a class action against seven local election jurisdictions and the Illinois State Board of Election Commissioners to challenge the use of flawed systems of recording and counting votes as a violation of the Voting Rights Act and the Fourteenth Amendment. The use of these voting systems had consistently resulted in disproportionately high error rates and undercounting of votes, particularly in predominantly minority voting districts. The settlement in the case led to elimination of punch-card ballots and optical-scan voting systems that failed to provide error notification throughout Illinois.
In re Mexico Money Transfer Litig. (N.D. Ill., settled 2000). Represented two nationwide plaintiff classes, with more than a million members each, in RICO and consumer fraud suits against Western Union and MoneyGram, the largest players in the international wire transfer industry. The suits alleged fraud by each company through their concealment of the spread between the inflated currency-conversion fees they charged customers and their much lower actual transaction costs. The cases settled on terms that both mandated disclosures and offered discounts to class members worth more than $400 million.
Martin v. Heinold Commodities, Inc. (Cook County Circuit Court, settled 1995). Represented a plaintiff investor class in a suit against a commodities brokerage firm for breach of fiduciary duty and violations of the Illinois Consumer Fraud Act; $3.5 million settlement.
Lloyd’s of London v. Allstate Ins. Co. (Ct. of Common Pleas, Lucas County, Ohio, ongoing) Representing a major insurer in complex, non-Wellington asbestos coverage litigation.
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