In a significant case of first impression, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit just held it to be in error for a district court to order notice be sent to employees as part of a certification who, by a preponderance of the evidence, entered into a valid arbitration agreement. If the employer
Collective Action
Jackson Lewis Class Action Trends Report Fall 2018
Below is a link to the latest issue of the Jackson Lewis Class Action Trends Report. This report is published on a quarterly basis by our firm’s class action practice group in conjunction with Wolters Kluwer. We hope you will find this issue to be informative and insightful. Using our considerable experience in defending…
Department of Labor Nullifies “80/20” Tip Credit Rule
The Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor (“DOL”) today rescinded Obama-era enforcement guidance that had made the tip credit unavailable to tipped employees who spend more than 20% of their time performing allegedly non-tip generating duties. The so-called “80/20” Rule has spawned a number of lawsuits, many of them collective actions, claiming…
The FLSA Does Not Prohibit Collective Action Waivers in Arbitration Agreements, Sixth Circuit Holds
Extending the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Epic Systems Corporation v. Lewis, 138 S. Ct. 1612 (2018), the Sixth Circuit has held that, just as with the NLRA, the FLSA does not preclude the use of class or collective action waivers in employment-related arbitration agreements. Gaffers v. Kelly Services, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS…
Defining Who Is Part of the FLSA Collective Action Party
It is a party that most employers don’t believe is a lot of fun: a FLSA collective action party. In a case of first impression, the Eleventh Circuit addressed the question of whether an opt-in plaintiff is required to do anything beyond filing a written consent to become a party plaintiff in a collective action …
Jackson Lewis Class Action Trends Report Fall 2017 Now Available
Below is a link to the latest issue of the Jackson Lewis Class Action Trends Report. This report is published on a quarterly basis by our firm’s class action practice group in conjunction with Wolters Kluwer. We hope you will find this issue to be informative and insightful. Using our considerable experience in defending…
Class Action Filed Against NCAA and 20 Universities Alleging Student-Athletes with Scholarships Are Employees
In the latest effort to argue that student athletes qualify as employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), a class action lawsuit was filed last week in a federal court in Pennsylvania against the National Collegiate Athletic Association (“NCAA”) and 20 universities.
Last year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed…
Department of Justice Changes Stance on Class Action Waivers in Favor of Employers
In a fascinating turn of events, the United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”) switched sides in a critical pending Supreme Court case last Friday. The three consolidated cases—National Labor Relations Board v. Murphy Oil USA, Case No. 16-307, Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, Case No. 16-285 and Ernst & Young LLP v.
Judge Decertifies Class Based on Plaintiffs’ Differing Accounts of Their Responsibilities
Those who follow developments in wage and hour class actions know that challenges to the exempt status of assistant managers are quite common. Such cases often hinge on a detailed analysis of the actual job duties performed—with the plaintiffs claiming that the entire class performed little or no managerial work and the employer claiming that…
How Does the Supreme Court’s Remand of the Transgender Discrimination Case Impact Wage-and-Hour Class Actions?
On March 6, 2017, the Supreme Court, in a one-sentence summary disposition, remanded the case of Gloucester County Sch. Bd. v. G.G. to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit “for further consideration in light of the guidance document issued by the Department of Education and Department of Justice on February 22, 2017.” …