All these lawsuits are (uncompensated) work and stress in themselves. The media coverage - even the fact the legal coverage and any testimony these people give may be google-able - may endanger their for future employability.
There is always a lot of triumphalism when people stand up for their rights. Journalists work to get a named source, a human story, a picture - because they know that will be more convincing. At the end of the day the fact these brave people came forward will help move a very important cause forward.
But when this media cycle is over, who will be looking after the interests of these particular people? Their back wages (which will be diminished by taxes when they receive them) will be caught up in legal machinery for years. Meanwhile they will have to cope with explaining to interviewers who may or may not have "hidden opinions" why they were in the paper as labor "trouble makers". Or worse, they will probable get no chance to explain. They simply won't get the job because others are "better qualified". What will happen to them when their unemployment insurance runs out? As I have tried to bring to light in other posts, there is no longer a "welfare" safety net to catch them - particularly if they are single and have no kids. So ultimately these brave souls who came forward about wage theft may be rewarded with poverty and punishment the minute no one is paying attention anymore.
Sorry to be the one raining on everyone's parade in that regard.
Here are my thoughts on how to fix this:
1) Both journalists and the public should realize what this persuasive power of the "personal story" may actually cost and make an effort toward changing the conventions of persuasive stories to allow for more privacy in this age of "eternal Google memory": pseudonyms/first name only, no pictures, etc.
2) Google should at least take a cue from Europe's "right to forget" concerns to at least create gateways in front of legal documents, government testimony, old news stories, etc. "Public" documents can still be obtainable without being instantly available on Google.
3) Make sure the welfare system does exist so if you do push some poor schmucks into it in the name of "greater justice" for the cause, they won't become homeless and starve the minute the media cycle is over.
Ps. Sometimes journalists who are against "the cause" will quote out of context, dig up dirt on people, and outright make up stories. Just think of Snowden for an epic example. There should also be some somewhere people can go to get these articles addressed or pulled without actually having to sue over them.
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