A class-action lawsuit against several railway equipment suppliers has received final court approval. Agreement on a final settlement of the suit between Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corp. (Wabtec), Knorr-Bremse AG and subsidiaries and law firms Hartley LLP and Fine Kaplan and Black was achieved in February. U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania Judge Joy Flowers Conti signed off on the final settlement on Aug. 26.
Lead class counsel for the $48.9 million case was Lieff Cabraser of Hartley.
Known as the “no-poach” lawsuit, lead plaintiffs Stephen Baldassano, John Brand, David Escalera, Brian Lara, and Patricia Lonergan alleged that the railway suppliers – which included Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation (NYSE: WAB) and its subsidiaries including Wabtec Railway Electronics, Inc., Railroad Controls, L.P., and Xorail Inc.; Knorr Brake Company LLC or New York Air Brake LLC; and Faiveley Transport, S.A. or Faiveley Transport North America Inc. – reached an agreement not to hire employees from the other firms without consent in an effort to reduce wages and competition.
