In our latest issue of the Class Action Trends Report, Jackson Lewis attorneys discuss how employers can undertake Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives without risking class action discrimination suits; wage and hour compliance issues arising from the COVID-19-induced work-from-home surge; and a landmark Fifth Circuit decision rejecting the common two-stage framework for conditional certification

Virginia employers are at increased risk of class action wage litigation following passage of the Virginia Overtime Wage Act.

“Previously, Virginia had been content to rely on the overtime pay requirements of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA),” note Kristina H. Vaquera and Shaun M. Bennett in a recent Jackson Lewis legal alert

Last year presented many challenges, and 2021 offers a fresh start. In this issue of the Class Actions Trends Report we review the most significant developments of 2020 and look ahead to what a new year and a new presidential administration may mean for employers.

Topics addressed in this issue include:

  • Top 10 class action

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has just issued an important decision addressing “how stringently, and how soon, district courts should enforce Section 216(b)’s ‘similarly situated’ mandate” when considering motions for certification of collective actions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The appeals court rejected the familiar two-step, conditional certification-followed-by-decertification approach

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to alter work lives in profound ways, employers are confronted with additional liability risks. The pandemic has created a wave of litigation that is unlikely to ebb until well after the unprecedented public health crisis recedes. In this issue, Jackson Lewis attorneys discuss the risks of WARN Act litigation

As federal and state safety and health guidelines in response to the COVID-19 pandemic call for extensive use of personal protective equipment (PPE) in the workplace, employers should give their policies on “donning and doffing” a fresh look. Pandemic-related reopening orders issued by state and local governments may include requirements that will require employers to

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

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

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

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