Navient, a well known manufacturer of lower back braces has recently faced a class action lawsuit brought by one of their own sales representatives. This is not your typical case where a middle man is throwing his weight behind a company. Navient was the target of such a lawsuit due to their unsympathetic and unskilled behavior. In this situation, we will examine what Navient’s policies are, how they can be used against them, and what the class action lawyers will receive if they are successful in their suit.
Navient did not retain any sales representatives to direct clients to the insurance companies they represented.
Each sales representative was an independent contractor. The company’s policy, which governed their relationship with their sales representatives, states that any representation by a Navient sales representative was voluntary. The policy further stated that if a Navient sales representative engaged in behavior that violated the terms of the policy, then they must inform the company immediately. Navient failed to train their representatives to adhere to these standards and even had a formal code of conduct that they violated constantly.
When a Navient sales representative became injured as a result of the poor working conditions at their facility, they went on a strike, effectively breaking the union.
This created a staffing crisis at Navient with increased unqualified claims and more defective products being sold. At one point during the strike, Navient had to turn down a customer because the quality of her product was so poor it could not even be used by her. Navient eventually settled the lawsuits of the employees who had been wrongfully terminated from their jobs.
In the Navient lawsuit, they were found to have violated the FDCPA (Federal Employers Disciplinary Regulations). Basically, the employees filed a lawsuit against the company for injuries, stress, and mental health.
They were also owed compensation for wages lost, medical bills, pain and suffering, and even loss of income. All of the claims ultimately settled. In addition, Navient was ordered to pay damages to the four named employees who had filed the original complaint against them.
The company finally settled the lawsuit out of court.
This was actually surprising because in the beginning, Navient had indicated they would go to court to pursue the case. However, it seems that they had little hope of winning such a lawsuit. They settled because they obviously did not want to have to go through a prolonged legal battle. According to the Wall Street Journal, Navient now plans to settle all claims within thirty days.
The ultimate question is, does this mean that Navient will be able to operate if it cannot hire anyone who has had any type of accidents while on the job?
The answer is no. Navient has to abide by whatever regulations are in place, and they do have them, but it does not mean that they can hire anyone who has caused an accident. They can only hire individuals who have been trained under federal guidelines. In order for the OSHA standards to be satisfied, they must use a person’s knowledge and experience, not just some generic training provided through some book or seminar. Navient has changed their business practices, and hopefully they will follow the same standard when hiring their contractors.
