DC Seal.bmpAuthored by Alex Passantino

Take a step with us into the way-back machine.  In 2006, the Wage & Hour Division issued an opinion letter approving the mortgage industry practice of classifying mortgage loan officers as exempt from the FLSA’s minimum wage and overtime requirements under the administrative exemption.  In 2010, WHD flip-flopped.  It issued the first-ever Administrator Interpretation

Continue Reading Change Don’t Come Easy: DOL’s Switch in Interpretation Requires Full-Blown Rulemaking

WD Pa.jpgCo-authored by Abad Lopez and Noah Finkel

Despite the lenient standard employed by many courts on motions for conditional certification, a federal judge in Pennsylvania recently denied conditional certification of an FLSA collective action based on scant factual support.  In Moore v. PNC Bank, N.A. [here], the court concluded that the plaintiff could not bring her claim as a

Continue Reading Don’t Take it to the Bank: Judge Denies Conditional Certification of PNC Assistant Branch Managers

Second Circuit Seal.jpgCo-authored by Timothy F. Haley and Noah A. Finkel

We’ve known since the Supreme Court’s 1982 decision in General Telephone Company of Southwest v. Falcon that in determining whether the prerequisites for class certification have been satisfied, a court must engage in a “rigorous analysis.”  But what does that mean?  According to the Second Circuit, at a minimum it means

Continue Reading SECOND CIRCUIT PUTS TEETH INTO CLASS-ACTION “RIGOROUS ANALYSIS” REQUIREMENT

N.D. Ind. Seal.jpgCo-authored by Arthur J. Rooney and Jeremy W. Stewart

When should a tipped employee no longer be treated as a tipped employee?  Plaintiffs’ lawyers argue that restaurants cannot utilize the tip credit, or pay tipped employees a sub-minimum wage, if tipped employees perform any “non-tipped” duties, such as washing dishes or taking out the trash.  Earlier this week, a District

Continue Reading District Court “Tips” The Scale In Favor Of Restaurants On Server’s Tip Credit Class Claim

In connection with the launch of our new Wage & Hour Audit Task Force, we are offering clients and friends of the firm free access to up-to-the-minute information and thought leadership on wage & hour audits and assessments.

To join the initial webinar, scheduled for May 16, please click here.

To receive weekly practical tips on compliance issues that

Continue Reading Seyfarth Shaw Launches a New Wage & Hour Audit Task Force with a Webinar and Weekly Tips

Ninth Circuit.jpgBy Noah Finkel and Richard Alfred

We have long argued that the best path for defeating a hybrid state law wage and hour claim is not through a motion to dismiss but by making a strong lack of superiority argument to defeat class certification.

It is therefore not surprising to us that the Ninth Circuit joined several other Circuits last

Continue Reading Saving The Anti-Hybrid Arguments For the Certification Stage May Be The “Superior” Way To Defeat A State Law Wage-Hour Claim

Second Circuit Seal.jpgAuthored by Loren Gesinsky

Employers can benefit from calling out plaintiffs who hide the ball and assert unpaid “gap time” wages in complaints under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

That’s the primary message from the Second Circuit’s opinion in Lundy v. Catholic Health Sys. of Long Island, which affirmed the dismissal of a putative FLSA collective action brought by

Continue Reading Gaps In Time and Pleading Doom FLSA Claims In Second Circuit

11th circ.gifAuthored by Jeffrey Glaser

The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision last week that could substantially reduce the amount of damages available for FLSA retaliation claims.  In Moore, et al. v. Pak, an Eleventh Circuit panel held that district courts in that circuit (Alabama, Florida and Georgia) have the discretion to deny liquidated damage awards to plaintiffs

Continue Reading Eleventh Circuit Upholds District Court’s Discretion To Deny Liquidated Damages In FLSA Retaliation Claims

Move and Popcorn.jpgBy: Steve Shardonofsky

Federal district and appellate courts historically have refused to enforce settlements and/or waivers of FLSA rights without Department of Labor or court approval.  We recently blogged here, for example, about a recent ruling from the Southern District of New York that rejected a proposed settlement of overtime claims because the proposed agreement contained a confidentiality clause.  In Martin

Continue Reading Fifth Circuit Enforces Private FLSA Settlement And Makes Its Own Summer Blockbuster

statue_liberty.jpgCo-authored by Ariel Cudkowicz and Jessica Schauer

On March 23, 2011, a federal court in Massachusetts held that an employer was not entitled to information about the named plaintiffs’ immigration status in a putative collective action alleging minimum wage violations.  In Lin v. Chinatown Restaurant Corp., No. 09-11510, Judge George A. O’Toole, Jr. rejected the defendants’ argument that the

Continue Reading I Lift My Lamp Beside the Minimum Wage Claim*: District Court Finds Immigration Status “Irrelevant” to FLSA Case