Does a plaintiff’s allegation that he was about to join a pending Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) collective (class) action against his former employer, combined with the employer’s knowledge that he was a potential class member, sufficiently constitute being “about to testify” in an FLSA proceeding, such that the former employer’s actions in prohibiting the
Justin R. Barnes
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Has Lynn’s Food Grown Stale? Courts Increasingly Question Obligation to Review FLSA Settlements
For 40 years, the majority of federal courts have followed the holding of Lynn’s Food Stores, Inc. v. U.S., 679 F.2d 1350 (11th Cir. 1982), that FLSA claims may be settled only through approval by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) or through a lawsuit filed by the individual, in which a court of…
Supreme Court to Review Fifth Circuit’s Oil Rig “Day Rate” Case
Posted in Case Law Update, Fair Labor Standards Act
In April 2020, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that paying an employee a set amount for each day that he works (i.e., on a “day rate” basis) does not satisfy the “salary basis” component required to qualify as overtime-exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA),
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2020 Wage & Hour Developments: A Year in Review
The laws governing wages and hours of work affect nearly everyone—and have a significant affect on class and collective actions. How employees are paid, whether as hourly non-exempt, salaried-exempt, tipped, or commissioned sales workers, and how much they are paid, are questions of deep interest to employees and employers alike. And because the laws regulating…