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 … Continue Reading
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 among the … Continue Reading
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 … Continue Reading
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 hundreds of … Continue Reading
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 hundreds of … Continue Reading
The District Court for the Southern District of New York refused to conditionally certify a collective action under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) acknowledging that although the bar for conditional certification of a FLSA collective action is low, “it is not this low.” Sanchez v. JMP Ventures, LLC, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14980 (S.D.N.Y. … Continue Reading
On February 26, 2014, Jackson Lewis will host its California Employment Class Action Summit at The Pacific Club in Newport Beach, CA. Experienced Jackson Lewis class action litigators will present on a variety of topics including: Developing the Initial Defense Strategy Reviewing the Complaint Early Strategic Considerations Key Strategies in Defeating Class & Collective Certification in Employment Litigation Viability and … Continue Reading
On November 8, 2013, Jackson Lewis held its Employment Class Action Summit: Key Strategies for Defending Class Actions at the Grand Hyatt in New York City. The purpose of the event was to inform attendees of the significant trends in employment class action litigation and offer key pre- and post-litigation defense strategies. Experienced Jackson Lewis class action litigators … Continue Reading
Plaintiffs seeking to certify a California class of current and former assistant stores managers and other differently titled managers and associates were denied class certification of their state law claims under Rule 23. Saks, Inc., the operator of high-end retail department stores across the United States, also convinced the district court to grant its preemptive cross-motion seeking to … Continue Reading
Given the lenient standard of proof required of plaintiffs, experienced wage and hour attorneys agree that employers, in most jurisdictions, fight an uphill battle when trying to defeat conditional certification of a collective action under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). When an employer cannot completely defeat a motion for conditional certification, the next best option is to … Continue Reading
In the spring of 2010, Nancy Leppink, then-acting administrator of the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division sent shock waves throughout the employer community and inspired the plaintiff’s wage and hour bar when she told the New York Times “[i]f you’re a for-profit employer or you want to pursue an internship with a for-profit employer, there aren’t going to … Continue Reading
Supermarket clerk asserting that she and others similarly situated had been denied overtime pay as a result of a time-shaving policy wherein her employer allegedly deducted one hour per day for lunch breaks while she and others were only provided 30 minutes for such breaks was denied conditional certification of her wage and hour claim under the Fair Labor … Continue Reading
Generally speaking, certifying an off-the-clock wage and hour class action is quite difficult as the following two consolidated cases in the District Court of the Southern District of New York illustrate. Personal bankers who sought to bring such an action against Wells Fargo and Wachovia Bank (acquired by Wells Fargo in 2008) were unable to show that they were subjected to … Continue Reading
Because of a lenient standard of proof imposed on plaintiffs by most courts, employers rarely are successful at defeating motions for conditional certification, the first step of the two-step opt-in class certification process for collective allegations of wage and hour violations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). So when an employer does defeat such a motion, it is newsworthy and must be … Continue Reading
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas (Judge Susan Webber Wright) denied a FLSA 216(b) motion for conditional certification by seven former employees of a strip club in Jacksonville, Arkansas who filed a putative class and collective action against the club’s owners and managers alleging that they had been improperly classified as independent contractors … Continue Reading
