Authored by Patrick Bannon
Can an arbitration agreement preclude an FLSA collective action? To the chagrin of many plaintiffs’ lawyers — and the National Labor Relations Board — a growing consensus says, “Yes.” Last week, a President Obama-appointed federal judge in New York joined the chorus in Ryan v. JPMorgan Chase & Co., et al.
Tiffany Ryan, a former
Co-authored by Benjamin Briggs, Heather Havette, and Patrick Ryan
A federal judge in Georgia recently denied conditional collective-action certification for a proposed class of more than 65,000 hourly employees of the national restaurant chain Steak ‘n Shake. While the court’s opinion is notable in several respects, its most striking feature is the court’s apparent receptiveness to evidence that
Continue Reading Burger Chain Flips Plaintiffs’ Attempt for National Conditional Certification
Co-authored by Richard Alfred and Kevin Young
As readers of our blog know from prior posts, we have argued successfully before several courts that the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Wal-Mart Stores v. Dukes has an important impact on collective and class actions brought under the FLSA and state wage and hour laws. With its July 29th ruling in
Continue Reading Federal Court Takes Scalpel to Hospital Workers’ Proposed Meal Break Collective
Co-authored by David Kadue and Abad Lopez
For janitors cleaning Wal-Mart stores after business hours, the differences among members of the proposed class doomed their FLSA collective action. Although the janitors worked for Wal-Mart’s cleaning contractors, the janitors claimed that they were also employees of Wal-Mart and sued for unpaid wages. Zavala v. Wal Mart Stores, Inc. The Third Circuit’s
Co-authored by Richard Alfred, Lorie Almon, Andrew Paley, Noah Finkel and Brett Bartlett
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its long-awaited decision in Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. This opinion will transform Rule 23 law and dramatically change how workplace class actions are structured and defended and, in doing so, will also assist employers in defeating
Authored by Mary Ahrens
In Omiatek v. Big Lots Inc., No. 09-CV-0352 (W.D.N.Y., January 20, 2011), a magistrate judge recommended that the district court deny the plaintiff’s motion for conditional certification under the Fair Labor Standards Act and for certification of the New York state claims under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 23. In this misclassification/unpaid
Continue Reading Assistant Store Managers’ Job Duties Differ Too Much for Collective/Class Treatment