Seyfarth Synopsis: As reported by Seyfarth, the Fifth Circuit’s January 2021 decision in Swales v. KLLM Transport Services, LLC and the Sixth Circuit’s May 2023 decision in Clark v. A&L Homecare and Training Center, et al. represent significant shifts in the standard for court-authorized notice in Fair Labor Standards Act collective actions. Last week, the Eastern District of Wisconsin followed
Continue Reading From Leniency to Scrutiny: The New FLSA Certification LandscapeBy: Kevin Young and Noah Finkel
Seyfarth Synopsis. Businesses familiar with FLSA litigation are aware of the frustrating ease with which some courts have turned single-plaintiff cases into large-scale collective action proceedings. But the tides are shifting, as the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has joined the Fifth Circuit in rejecting the “lenient standard” for collective action certification and demanding
Continue Reading A “Strong Likelihood” of Change: Sixth Circuit Joins the Fifth in Raising the FLSA Certification BarBy: Tim Watson, Brian Wadsworth, and John Phillips
Seyfarth Synopsis: In an important decision for employers, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the all-too lenient but commonly accepted Lusardi standard for conditional certification under the FLSA. In its place, the court adopted a more practical, common sense approach in deciding whether trial courts should send notice to
Continue Reading No More Two-Step in Texas (and Beyond): the Fifth Circuit Rejects the Two-Stage Lusardi Approach to Conditional Certification in Favor of Employer-Friendly Standard
By: Robert S. Whitman and Howard M. Wexler
Seyfarth Synopsis: A New York federal court once again denied a motion for conditional certification of a nationwide collective action against Barnes & Noble. The ruling highlights that, even though the burden for “first stage” certification is modest, courts are willing to apply a “modest plus” approach after discovery relevant to
Continue Reading Don’t Judge a Conditional Certification Motion By Its Cover
Co-authored by Robert S. Whitman and Howard M. Wexler
Seyfarth Synopsis: A New York federal court denied a motion for conditional certification of a nationwide collective action against Barnes & Noble. The ruling highlights that, even though the burden for “first stage” certification is modest, courts may not approve such motions without evidence that the named plaintiffs are similarly
Continue Reading Don’t Judge a Conditional Certification Motion by Its Cover
Co-authored by Gerald L. Maatman, Jr., Gina Merrill, Brendan Sweeney, and Mark W. Wallin
Seyfarth Synopsis: A New York federal court in Durling, et al. v. Papa John’s International, Inc., Case No. 7:16-CV-03592 (CS) (JCM) (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 29, 2017), recently denied Plaintiffs’ motion for conditional certification of a nationwide collective action in an FLSA minimum wage action
Continue Reading New York Court Delivers Denial Of Certification In Papa John’s Drivers’ Class Action
Authored by Gerald Maatman, Jr.
Seyfarth Synopsis: Workplace class action filings were flat overall and even decreased as compared to levels in 2015. However, that is apt to change in 2017. In the 4th in a series of blog postings on workplace class action trends, we examine what employers are likely to see in 2017.
Introduction
Overall complex employment-related litigation
Continue Reading What 2016 Workplace Class Actions Filings Suggest Employers Are Apt To Face In 2017
Authored by Christopher Kelleher and Noah Finkel
Seyfarth Synopsis: Federal court denies motion for conditional certification for a proposed class of employees working at separate Subway franchises.
Earlier this year, the DOL’s Wage-Hour Division issued a much-publicized Administrator Interpretation on what employers constitute joint employers, including an explanation of how two or more employers under common ownership can constitute
Continue Reading A Fresh Take on the Horizontal Joint Employment Theory: Conditional Certification for Subway Employees Denied
Authored by Hillary J. Massey
Employers have a new tool for opposing conditional and class certification of overtime claims by financial advisors and other exempt employees—last week, a judge in the District of New Jersey denied conditional and class certification of such claims because the plaintiffs failed to show that common issues predominated. The court, pointing to other decisions denying
Continue Reading Advising On Their Own: Financial Advisors’ Class Claims Defeated
Co-authored by Robert S. Whitman and Howard M. Wexler
Plaintiffs’ counsel frequently speak of the “low” burden necessary at first stage for conditional certification under the FLSA. However, a recent decision from the Eastern District of New York highlights that plaintiffs may win the battle over conditional certification but still lose the war for final certification at second stage.
In
Continue Reading Doing the “Two Step”: Court Denies Second Stage Certification of FLSA Claims