Co-authored by Robert S. Whitman and Howard M. Wexler

Expert witness fees are not recoverable under the FLSA. So held the Second Circuit in a decision that highlights a strategy we have previously discussed for employers to fend off class/collective actions.

In Gortat v. Capala Brothers, Inc., the plaintiffs alleged that they were denied wages, including overtime compensation, throughout
Continue Reading No Fees For You: Second Circuit Holds Expert Fees Are Not Recoverable Under FLSA

Authored by Kara Goodwin

Last week, a federal district court decertified a Rule 23 class of more than 1,000 insurance agents who claimed that Bankers Life and Casualty Co. misclassified them as independent contractors, and, as a result, they were entitled $16.9 million in overtime damages under the Washington Minimum Wage Act. In decertifying the class, the court held that
Continue Reading Agents Can’t Insure Class Treatment – Varied Experiences Require Decertification

Co-authored by Catherine M. Dacre, Tamara Fisher, and Simon L. Yang

When an employer has a denial of class certification remanded by an appellate court, it has a reason to worry. And while the employer might breathe a sigh of relief when the district court on remand again denies class certification, nothing is certain when that decision also
Continue Reading Appellate Court Delivers for FedEx—Second Class Cert Denial Affirmed by Ninth Circuit

Co-authored by Richard Alfred, Patrick Bannon and Esther Slater McDonald

Tyson Foods, Inc. v. Bouaphakeo

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed yesterday to hear an appeal challenging a nearly $6.0 million judgment in a collective and class action case against Tyson Foods, Inc. In Tyson Foods, Inc. v. Bouaphakeo, a wage and hour collective and class action regarding the
Continue Reading Game Changer? The Supreme Court Agrees to Consider Standards for Certifying FLSA Collective Actions and State Law Class Actions

Co-authored by Coby M. Turner and Adam J. Vergne

In the Central District of California—often known as a magical kingdom for plaintiffs in wage-hour lawsuits—Judge Fernando Olguin brought everyone back to reality by denying class certification. Plaintiff Aladdin Zackaria alleged Wal-Mart incorrectly classified its Asset Protection Coordinators (“APC”) as exempt and moved to certify a class of all APCs that
Continue Reading No Wishes Granted for Aladdin—Class Cert Denied

Authored by Steve Shardonofsky

In the beginning, the U.S. Supreme Court decided in Genesis Healthcare that an FLSA case is moot when the plaintiff accepts an offer of full relief. As we noted in our previous blog, the decision left open, however, the question of what happens when the plaintiff affirmatively declines the offer or when the offer expires,
Continue Reading Genesis Healthcare May Be Merely the First Book in Bible on Mooting Class/Collective Actions

Leading employment law firm Seyfarth Shaw has updated its definitive guide to the litigation of wage and hour lawsuits. Co-authored by three Seyfarth partners and edited by the chair of the firm’s national wage-hour practice, Wage & Hour Collective and Class Litigation is an essential resource for practitioners. The unique treatise provides insight into litigation strategy through all phases
Continue Reading Seyfarth Shaw Attorneys Author the 2015 Update to the Definitive Guide to Litigating Wage & Hour Lawsuits

Authored by Gena D. Usenheimer

Hourly pharmacists for CVS in California were forced to swallow a bitter pill late last year when Judge S. James Otero of the Central District or California denied their motion for class certification on claims for unpaid off-the-clock and overtime work.

The plaintiffs alleged that they were forced to work additional hours without pay in
Continue Reading Bad Medicine: California Pharmacists Lose Bid For Class Certification

Co-authored by Steve Shardonofsky and Rebecca DeGroff

Last week, in Sirko v. IBM, a federal district court in California rejected the plaintiffs’ efforts to use a rudimentary survey to establish Rule 23 class certification because the survey — designed and administered by plaintiffs’ counsel — “lack[ed] basic indicators of reliability.”  The case is yet another example of the trend
Continue Reading Unreliable Survey Dooms IBM Workers’ Bid for Class Certification

Authored by Michael W. Kopp

Ordonez v. RadioShack, Part II is the end-of-summer sequel you do not want to miss. It features our protagonist, the “uniform rest break policy,” a sinister cast of declarations of similar treatment, a harrowing finding of unlawfulness, a dramatic second run by plaintiff at class certification, and the court’s emphatic second opinion denying plaintiff’s
Continue Reading Uniform Break Policies Are Not Uniformly Suited for Class Treatment