Total Articles: 10
Court Limits Scope of FLSA Collective Action to Single Hospital in Nationwide Healthcare System
Although the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois conditionally certified a class of Utilization Review Case Managers who claimed they were misclassified as exempt employees, the court in Babych v. Psychiatric Solutions, Inc. et al. limited the class to employees at a single facility in Streamwood, Illinois where the two named plaintiffs worked. The ruling was particularly significant, as later court filings indicated that there are only four additional potential plaintiffs.
Maybe Not So Ho Hum at the Supreme Court: FLSA and Wal-Mart v. Dukes
In addition to denying cert on the USERRA hostile environment case (see yesterday's post), the Supreme Court yesterday also reversed an FLSA case from the 9th Circuit:
First Circuit Clears the Way for Skycaps to Pursue Nationwide Class Action Alleging Common Law Claims Involving Baggage Fees
In a three-judge panel decision issued on September 6, 2011 in Overka v. American Airlines, No. 10-8004, the First Circuit Court of Appeals let stand the expansive February 4, 2010 decision issued by U.S. District Court Judge William G. Young certifying a nationwide class of skycaps who claim that a $2 per bag service fee imposed by American Airlines unlawfully deprived them of tips. Judge Young’s 2010 class certification decision clears the way for skycaps at airports across the county to challenge American Airlines’ service fee practice on a class-wide basis on theories of unjust enrichment and tortious interference with contractual or advantageous relationship under the common law of 34 different jurisdictions from coast to coast.
Class Certification on Overtime Claim Denied to Accountants Subject to California Administrative Exemption
Affirming the denial of class certification in an action for unpaid overtime brought by former accounting associates, the California Court of Appeal has held that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate a predominance of common questions of law or fact. Soderstedt v. CBIZ Southern California, LLC, No. B224349 (Cal. Ct. App. July 7, 2011). The Court found that applying the administrative exemption (set forth in Wage Order 4-2001) in a blanket manner to the accountants “defeated any finding of predominance of common issues” because of the individualized inquiries needed to determine whether the exemption applied.
What Wal-Mart v. Dukes Means for Wage & Hour Law, Employers
By now most of you who follow developments in employment law have likely heard about and possibly read the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Wal-Mart v. Dukes, overturning certification of a class action sex discrimination case brought on behalf of 1.5 million current and former female Wal-Mart employees. (If not, our recent FR Alert on this case will get you up to speed.) While Dukes is a sex discrimination case, it is likely to have a major impact upon class actions in other areas of the law, including wage and hour lawsuits.
Recent Trends in FLSA Hybrid Collective/Class Actions
In 2008, 5,302 suits were filed under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) in the nation’s federal courts. Statistics Div., Admin. Office of the U.S. Courts, Federal Judicial Caseload Statistics. By 2010, that number had jumped to 6,081. One source of the uptick appears to be the flood of “hybrid” actions, in which plaintiffs assert violations of state wage and hour laws, styled as purported Rule 23 class actions, and FLSA claims, which must be brought as a collective action.
EMPLOYERS BANE: Wage Hour Class Suits Lead the Field With No End in Sight.
Class and collective action lawsuits asserting wage and hour claims continue to outpace all other types of employment litigation in the federal courts. The volume of such cases increases year after year, and there is nothing to suggest that the trend will reverse itself anytime soon. The plaintiffs' bar that specializes in this area of employment law continues to grow, and with each passing year gets more expert, creative and aggressive in pursuing class and collective action lawsuits under federal and state wage and hour laws.
Class Claims of Pay Discrimination After Ledbetter.
The Supreme Courts Ledbetter decision invalidates traditional class claims of pay discrimination and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs' (OFCCP) pay discrimination standards.
Explosion in Class Action and Collective Action Wage and Hour Lawsuits Continues (pdf).
The number of class action and collective action
lawsuits fi led under the wage and hour laws continues to
mushroom. These cases now outnumber employment
discrimination class actionsa fact that would have
seemed highly improbable just a few years ago. In
Cook County, Illinois, alone, new wage and hour class
actions are fi led every day. There are several reasons
why wage and hour claims have become so popular.
Class Action Update: $22.4 Million Flsa Settlement For Contract Janitors (pdf).
A recent $22.4 million tentative settlement entered into
by three California grocery chains and 2,100 illegal alien
contract janitors is another example of the success
plaintiffs are having with the record number of Fair Labor
Standards Act (FLSA) collective actions being filed
against employers.
