supreme court.jpgCo authored by Steve Shardonofsky and Noah Finkel

Earlier this week, the U.S. Supreme Court announced its decision to deny certiorari in Martin et al. v. Spring Break ’83 Productions, L.L.C. et al.  This decision leaves in place the Fifth Circuit’s ruling enforcing a private FLSA settlement—a first for any federal appellate court.

In Martin, four union-represented plaintiffs

Continue Reading Could The Tide Be Turning On The Enforceability of Private FLSA Settlements?

supreme court.jpgAuthored by Steve Shardonofsky

As we blogged here earlier this year, the Fifth Circuit in Martin et al. v. Spring Break ’83 Productions, L.L.C. et al.; No. 11-30671 (July 24, 2012) became the first federal appellate court to enforce a private FLSA settlement.  Now, the United States Supreme Court may get a chance to weigh in on this issue

Continue Reading High Court Asked To Review Private FLSA Settlements And Standard For Individual Liability Under The FLSA

Seventh Circuit.jpgBy:  Louisa Johnson

It is common for one or more named plaintiffs to bring a wage and hour lawsuit as a putative class or collective action but then settle with the defendant-employer on an individual basis.  This may happen because the named plaintiffs and defendant settle before a class certification motion is brought.  It may also happen because the named

Continue Reading If You Want Finality, Be Careful In Constructing Your Wage and Hour Settlement: Seventh Circuit Finds that Plaintiffs’ Reserved Right To Seek Incentive Rewards Permits Post-Settlement Appeal Of Class Decertification

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

USDCSDNY.jpgCo-authored by Robert S. Whitman and Robert T. Szyba

Experienced practitioners have long understood that very few wage-hour class or collective actions go all the way to trial.  Nearly all cases that are not decided by a dispositive motion are resolved by a settlement.  In a noteworthy recent decision, Wolinsky v Scholastic Inc., Judge Jesse M. Furman of the

Continue Reading Only One Way Out of This Mess: Settlement of FLSA Lawsuit May Need to Be Public to Receive Court’s Approval

Blog-DispAttFees.bmpAuthored by Noah Finkel and Abad Lopez

Last month, a federal district court in Maryland rejected a proposed FLSA settlement as unreasonable based on the amount of the proposed attorney’s fees.  In Gionfriddo v. Zinc, et al., the Court compared the amount the individual plaintiffs were to recover ($15,000.18) to the proposed attorney’s fees ($100,000), and found the disproportionate

Continue Reading Should Disproportionate Attorney’s Fees Doom Proposed FLSA Settlements?

Authored by Laura Reasons

Unknown.jpegRecent Trends in Wage and Hour Litigation, a report recently released by NERA Economic Consulting, analyzes trends across 187 reported settlements of wage and hour cases from 2007 to 2010.  What is clear is that wage and hour class litigation is here to stay, and in a big way.

The study reports:

  • While the


Continue Reading Recent Trends in Wage and Hour Settlements: Big Money For Plaintiffs; Big Cost for Companies