It is a lawsuit by a small group of people (called Plaintiffs/Class Representatives) on behalf of a larger group of people. In an employment class action, you are trying to prove that the actions of the employer in discriminating against the smaller group is typical of the discrimination faced by the larger group of people, due to a common factor such as their race, age, sex, national origin, ethnicity, etc. Class actions are essential to the enforcement of our nation's civil rights laws, since they are often the only way that individual employees can challenge discrimination. With a class action, one lawsuit can vindicate the rights of a larger group of people where no individuals or their attorneys will otherwise have enough of an economic incentive to bring suit on their own. This ensures that anti-discrimination and civil rights laws are adequately enforced. Because class action lawsuits have been so successful at protecting the interests of employees and consumers, businesses and employers have been fighting back to restrict the ways in which class actions have been brought, resulting in the 2005 passage of the so-called "Class Action Fairness Act." This law moved many class actions from state to federal court, where it has historically been more difficult for workers to prevail.