Farmers Lawyers’ Sex Bias Case Certified

Female attorneys in Farmers Insurance Group’s claims litigation department were conditionally certified Dec. 9 to proceed as a nationwide collective action on their claim the company violated the Equal Pay Act by paying them less than their male colleagues, a federal judge in California ruled (Coates v. Farmers Grp., Inc., N.D. Cal., 5:15-cv-01913, order 12/9/15).

Judge Lucy H. Koh of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California Dec. 9 certified a class of female attorneys who worked in the department at any time since June 8, 2012. That’s about 300 women, the attorneys’ lawyer ...