By: Ariel D. Fenster & Rashal G. Baz
Seyfarth Synopsis: In a first impression case, the Eleventh Circuit held that an “opt-in” plaintiff is only required to file a written consent to become a party-plaintiff in a collective action under the FLSA, and that the lack of conditional certification does not affect that status.
At or within a few weeks
Continue Reading Party On! The 11th Circuit Holds Filing a Written Consent is Enough For Opt-in Plaintiffs To Achieve Party Status
Co-authored by Robert S. Whitman and Needhy Shah
Seyfarth Synopsis: A judge in the Southern District of New York held that FLSA off-the-clock claims could not proceed collectively because the employer’s policy enforcement and approval of overtime compensation varied by supervisor.
In Lynch v. City of New York, Judge Katherine Forrest rejected an attempt to prosecute a single collective
Continue Reading “Similarly Situated” Seriously Scrutinized by Southern District
Co-authored by Christopher M. Cascino and Jennifer A. Riley
Seyfarth Synopsis: A federal district court last week decertified and effectively grounded a collective action of O’Hare Airport janitorial staff who claimed that their employer forced them to work off-the-clock without compensation. This decision, Solsol v. Scrub, Inc., stands out as a significant victory for employers because, even though all of
Continue Reading Court Grounds O’Hare Janitors’ Collective Action For Off-the-Clock Work
Authored by Michael Kopp
With all the drama of a get-away chase, the Third Circuit recently brought to a screeching halt plaintiffs’ counsel’s elaborate maneuvers to end run repeated decertification of their FLSA actions, and held as a matter of first impression in Halle v. West Penn Allegheny Health System, Inc. that opt-in plaintiffs have no right to appeal decertification.
Continue Reading Opt Ins are Out (of Luck) Appealing Decertification
Authored by Eric Lloyd
Seyfarth Synopsis: Minor league baseball players took a swing at class certification, and they missed—badly.
In Senne v. Kansas City Royals Baseball Corp., et al., minor league baseball players across the country asserted wage and hour claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and various state laws against Major League Baseball (“MLB”), the Commissioner
Continue Reading Northern District of California “Shuts Out” Minor League Ballplayers’ Experts
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
Co-authored by Robert Whitman, Cameron Smith, and Meredith-Anne Berger
Former brokers of Fordham Financial Management will have to put this one in the “loss” column. Judge Paul Crotty of the Southern District of New York granted Fordham’s motion to decertify the FLSA collective in their lawsuit alleging they were misclassified as independent contractors.
The brokers initially succeeded in
Continue Reading Brokers Take a Bath in FLSA Collective Action
Authored by Alex Passantino
‘Twas the week before Christmas, 2-0-1-5
When the poetry elves on the blog came alive.
Crafting their rhymes with a purpose so clear:
Presenting the wage-hour gems of the year.
In January, for new regs in this year our breath bated.
Then for six painful months, we speculated and waited.
And just as
Continue Reading I’m Dreaming of a White Collar: 2015 Year in Review
Co-authored by Abad Lopez and Noah Finkel
The two-step “send notice now/worry later” approach to FLSA collective actions — in which courts approve notice to potential collective action members under the lenient standard but comfort defendant-employers with the bromide of “don’t worry, we can revisit the issue at the decertification stage under a more rigorous standard” — continues to leave
Continue Reading Out of the Pizza Oven, Into the Fire: Any Way You Slice It, Lenient Standard at Conditional Certification Stage Doesn’t Cut It
Authored by Alex Passantino
It’s the week before Christmas, and we’ve accepted our mission,
The annual wage hour “sum-up” composition.
And to start it all off, we’ve got something nice,
‘Cause the Supreme Court addressed wage and hour stuff twice.
The year started out with the first one of those;
As Justice Scalia answered “What counts as clothes?”
With
Continue Reading Integral Clothes and Mistletoes: 2014 Year in Review