Tag Archives: FLSA

Ninth Circuit Affirms Decertification of FLSA Off-the-Clock Case

Greg MersolBy Greg Mersol on Posted in Collective Action, FLSA
No, that isn’t a typo – it was the Ninth Circuit. Those familiar with collective action litigation are already familiar with the two-step paradigm most courts use to evaluate collective action claims. In the first stage, commonly misnamed “conditional certification,” the court determines whether to authorize notice to the putative class. In doing so, most courts … Continue Reading

Supreme Court Exemption Decision Could Have Broader Repercussions

David GrantBy David Grant on Posted in FLSA
Need FLSA exemptions be narrowly construed? On April 2, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision on the issue of whether the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) exemption for those selling or servicing automobiles at car dealerships applied to service consultants. Encino Motorcars, LLC v. Navarro, Case No. 16-1362 (Apr. 2, 2018). Unless you … Continue Reading

Minnesota Court Cuts Proposed Attorney Fee Award From $3.2 Million to $600,000 in Off-the-Clock Case

Greg MersolBy Greg Mersol on Posted in Off-the-clock
In 2014, five law firms brought a claim for alleged off-the-clock work. As discovery revealed, the claims all arose out of conduct involving a single shift supervisor at a single restaurant, and the conduct was disputed at that. Although the allegations related to a low-level supervisory employee, the plaintiff firms then spent considerable time and expense … Continue Reading

Independent Contractor Trucker Dodges FAA Arbitration and Keeps His Class Action Alive

John LewisBy John Lewis on Posted in Arbitration, Independent Contractors
In Oliveira v. New Prime, Inc., No. 15-2364 (May 12, 2017), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit confronted two arbitration-related questions of first impression in that Circuit.  In the case, Dominic Oliveira had signed an Independent Contractor Operating Agreement with New Prime, Inc., which contained an arbitration provision governed by the Commercial … Continue Reading

New York District Court Grants Summary Judgment for Employer in Gawker Intern Case

Greg MersolBy Greg Mersol on Posted in Class Certification, FLSA
Litigation Over Interns Dries Up Internship Opportunities The natural and probable consequence of litigation over unpaid internships was that such opportunities would disappear because the risk of litigation for even a legitimate program would outweigh the likely benefit. The result of the much-touted Gawker intern litigation underscores that reality. We’ve blogged about the Gawker intern … Continue Reading

Tyson Foods, Inc. v. Bouaphakeo: The Supreme Court Produces a Narrow Holding Involving FLSA Precedent and Rule 23 Principles

John LewisDustin DowBy John Lewis and Dustin Dow on Posted in FLSA, Rule 23
Employees have been bringing wage-and-hour collective actions since long before class procedures were officially integrated into the Federal Rules of Civil Procedures in 1966. Section 16(b) of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) permitted collective actions when it was passed in 1938. In 1946, the Supreme Court in Anderson v. Mt. Clemens Pottery Co., 328 … Continue Reading

The Fifth Circuit Addresses an Issue That Refuses to Die: Who Determines Whether Class or Collective Arbitration Is Available?

John LewisBy John Lewis on Posted in Arbitration, FLSA
  We opined on several occasions that cases dealing with a party’s entitlement to class or collective arbitration were a dying breed because of the increased use of class action waivers. And we have been proven wrong by several subsequent decisions. (See our November 11, 2013, March 12, 2015 and September 9, 2015 blog articles … Continue Reading

Court Grants Summary Judgment for Employer in Apple Class Action Seeking Pay for Time Spent in Security Checks

Greg MersolBy Greg Mersol on Posted in FLSA
Free Choice Tanks Plaintiffs’ Claims Just last year, the Supreme Court held in Integrity Staffing Solutions, Inc. v. Busk, 135 S. Ct. 513 (2014) that employees working at an Amazon.com warehouse were not entitled to overtime pay for time they spent in exit security checks designed to ensure that they were not taking company product … Continue Reading

Justices Take On Another California Rule – When an Arbitration Agreement Is Too Flawed to Enforce

John LewisBy John Lewis on Posted in Arbitration, Independent Contractors
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review whether the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) preempts a California state court rule on unconscionable provisions that is purportedly applied more stringently to arbitration agreements than to other contracts. Under the California rule, arbitration agreements with more than one unconscionable provision may not be enforced despite an express … Continue Reading

New York District Court Denies Conditional Certification of Second FLSA Collective Action

Greg MersolBy Greg Mersol on Posted in Collective Action, Conditional Certification
Because of the low standard employed by many courts, decisions denying conditional certification in FLSA cases are generally in the minority, but some careful courts will continue to make such decisions. A recent case is notable not only for the fact that the court denied conditional certification, but also that it actually examined the events … Continue Reading

DOL Memo Provides Script for FLSA Collective Actions Alleging Independent Contractor Misclassification

Todd LebowitzBy Todd Lebowitz on Posted in FLSA, Independent Contractors
The all-time best The Far Side cartoon (based on an unscientific survey, sample size of me) is the one with two deer standing in the forest, one with a red circular target imprinted on its chest. The other deer says, “Bummer of a birthmark, Hal.” Poor Hal. Blessed with the ability to walk upright, but … Continue Reading

Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Case Addressing Scope of Wage and Hour Class and Collective Actions

Greg MersolBy Greg Mersol on Posted in Collective Action, FLSA, Retail, Wage and Hour
It’s hard enough to predict what the Supreme Court will do on a given case even after it has been briefed and oral argument has been heard. It’s even harder when all we have is the decision accepting certiorari, but this one is important enough to note. The Supreme Court has now accepted certiorari in a … Continue Reading

Gawker Interns and the Use of Social Media to Notify Potential Class Members

John LewisBy John Lewis on Posted in Collective Action, Conditional Certification, FLSA
Social media has dramatically impacted many areas of law, and class and collective action litigation is no exception. Recently, a number of former interns who sued Gawker Media LLC and its owner Nick Denton (Gawker) for wage and hour claims repeatedly sought court approval to distribute court-authorized notice of the action through social media. The … Continue Reading

Opalinski v. Robert Half International, Inc. — A Footnote in a Prior Opinion Doesn’t Signal the Supreme Court’s Willingness to Resolve Who Decides the Availability of Class Arbitration

John LewisBy John Lewis on Posted in Arbitration, FLSA
After reading the Supreme Court’s opinion in Oxford Health Plans, LLC v. Sutter, 133 S. Ct. 2064 (2013), some might have concluded that the Court was ready to resolve who determines the availability of class arbitration court or arbitrator — in the right case. See 133 S. Ct. at 2068 n.2. But on March 9, … Continue Reading

Nevada Supreme Court Finds Class of Strippers Were Employees

Greg MersolBy Greg Mersol on Posted in FLSA, Independent Contractors, Wage and Hour
Given the extensive use of euphemisms in the exotic dancing trade, we’ll apologize in advance for any unintended puns. We’ve written on the issue of the classification of exotic dancers or strippers in the past [April 8, 2011, October 19, 2011, November 21, 2012], but the question continues to ripple through the courts.  While the … Continue Reading

Ohio District Judges Puts an End to Nationwide FLSA Collective Action Brought Against Lowe’s

Gilbert BroskyBy Gilbert Brosky on Posted in Collective Action, FLSA, Retail
While we have occasionally bemoaned the lenient conditional certification standard in FLSA collective actions, as the recent case of Triggs v. Lowe’s Home Centers, Inc., No. 1:13-cv-1897 (N.D. Ohio Aug. 19, 2014) shows, not all courts are willing to rubberstamp collective actions onto the second stage of litigation. The six plaintiffs in Triggs were former … Continue Reading

Another Federal Court Decertifies FLSA Collective Action of Hospital Workers Challenging Auto-Deduct Policy

Gilbert BroskyBy Gilbert Brosky on Posted in Collective Action, FLSA, Meal and Rest Periods
We have previously discussed that, while medical providers have become a common target of plaintiffs asserting wage and hour claims arising out of so-called “auto-deduct” policies, more and more courts are realizing that the inherently fact-specific nature of these lawsuits make class treatment very difficult.  See our posts from June 23, 2014, and September 17, … Continue Reading

Court Sends Plaintiffs Back to the Locker Room Unhappy When It Denies Conditional Certification

Jeffrey VlasekBy Jeffrey Vlasek on Posted in Conditional Certification, FLSA
In January 2014, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell raised eyebrows (and ire) when he announced that the league was considering eliminating the extra point after a touchdown.  As Goodell put it, “the extra point is almost automatic,” given that it is kicked from the twenty yard line, and it is exceptionally rare that a professional NFL … Continue Reading
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