Monthly Archives: August 2010

Preliminary Certification Is Not The End

By Greg Mersol on August 31, 2010 Posted in Class Certification, Conditional Certification

Many courts today use the two-step procedure described in Lusardi v. Xerox Corp., 99 F.R.D. 89 (D.N.J.1983), to decide whether to certify potential classes under section 16(b) of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Under that procedure, the court the court looks at certification twice, first before much discovery is done, and again at the close … Continue Reading

The Supreme Court Should Accept Certiorari in Dukes v. Wal-Mart

By Greg Mersol on August 27, 2010 Posted in Uncategorized

The Dukes decision crossed several lines by certifying the class at the expense of the employer's defenses. The Supreme Court should accept certiorari and reverse.… Continue Reading

21 Club “Gets Served” On Overtime Class Claims

By Todd Dawson on August 23, 2010 Posted in Arbitration, Class Certification, FLSA, Overtime Claims, Tip-Pooling, Wage and Hour

“……and Please Remember to Tip Your Bartender And Waitress.” The famous 21 Club in New York was on the Curly end of a Larry-esque double-slap from the Southern District of New York last week. Alderman v. 21 Club.pdf Case No. 1:09-cv-2418 (Aug. 20, 2010). By way of background, the plaintiff employees in Alderman are seeking to … Continue Reading

Class Decertified in Case of Former Sales Representatives Asserting ERISA Claims

By Gilbert Brosky on August 12, 2010 Posted in ERISA

A federal court in New York decertified a class former sales representatives who claimed that Defendant Linvatec Corp. violated ERISA when it denied severance benefits after the division where the representatives worked was outsourced. Thompson v. Linvatec Corp., No. 6:06-CV-00404 (N.D.N.Y. 6/22/2010). After reviewing the plan documents, the court narrowed the original class definition of … Continue Reading

Seventh Circuit Finds Fluctuating Workweek Limits Overtime Liability, Sort Of…….

By Todd Dawson on August 10, 2010 Posted in FLSA, Fluctuating Workweek, Wage and Hour

“… and God So Loved Employers, He Gave Them The Fluctuating Workweek Method.” From the “don’t look a gift horse in the mouth” desk, the Seventh Circuit recently saved an employer from a holy terror of a damages award (a solemn promise: each pun in this blog will be better than the next) in Urnikis-Negro … Continue Reading

Sixth Circuit Holds Class Members’ ERISA Claims Accrued When They Knew Their Benefits Changed

By Gilbert Brosky on August 8, 2010 Posted in ERISA

The Sixth Circuit recently reversed an injunction that required Caterpillar to pay lifetime health care costs to a subclass of 275 former employees upon finding the subclass members’ ERISA claims were time-barred. Winnett v. Caterpillar, Inc., No. 06-00235 (6th Cir. 6/22/2010). The plaintiffs filed their lawsuit on March 28, 2006 and claimed Caterpillar breached a … Continue Reading

Oregon Court of Appeals Affirms Decertification of Wage Suit

By Gilbert Brosky on August 5, 2010 Posted in Wage and Hour

After nearly 8 years of litigation, the Court of Appeals of Oregon recently affirmed the decertification of a class of between 600 to 1900 former U.S. Bank employees who claimed they were not timely paid after their termination. Belknap v. U.S. Bank Nat’l Ass’n, 235 Ore. App. 658 (2010). Following extensive discovery, the court found … Continue Reading