Class Actions - Wage & Hour

In a case for overtime compensation for time spent by workers putting on and taking off protective gear, the U.S. Supreme Court in a 6-2 ruling has upheld the use of representative sampling as evidence for common claims among the class action plaintiffs, workers killing hogs and trimming pork produc

In a case for overtime compensation for time spent by workers putting on and taking off protective gear, the U.S. Supreme Court in a 6-2 ruling has upheld the use of representative sampling as evidence for common claims among the class action plaintiffs, workers killing hogs and trimming pork produc

Executive Summary: Today, the U.S. Supreme Court held that when an employer fails to create accurate time records, courts may rely on expert time studies not only to determine unpaid hours of work, but also to determine the underlying issue of predominance necessary to certify a class. The Court's o

In concluding that the proper standard for certifying Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) collective actions is whether the plaintiffs are "similarly situated," the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled on March 2, 2016, that the Seventh Circuit's application of the stricter Federal Rule 23

On February 1st, the EEOC announced it would begin requiring employers to submit information on employee wages and work hours broken down by gender, race and EEO-1 category as part of its annual EEO-1 reporting process.

As employers prepare to turn the page on 2015, the question lurks: Will the tide of collective actions and other cases filed under the Fair Labor Standards Act show any signs of ebbing in 2016?

The Sixth Circuit recently issued a decision in Moran v. Al Basit LLC., No. 14-2335 (6th Cir. June 1, 2015), which will make it more difficult for employers to defeat even vague allegations of wage and hour violations in collective actions brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”).

In a big win for employers facing hybrid off-the-clock class actions, last week the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York denied plaintiffs’ motion to certify a class action under three different state wage laws (New York, Illinois and District of Columbia) and granted the motion

Over the last decade, employers increasingly have been bombarded with wage and hour lawsuits filed by current and former employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and various state law equivalents. Though no talisman exists, it's time for employers to re-emerge from their bunkers, put asid

Executive Summary: The Eleventh Circuit has affirmed a district court's decision denying an employer's motion to compel the arbitration of a Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) collective action, finding that the court's decision was within its authority to manage such actions. The arbitration agreement

On April 15, 2014, in Wang v. Chinese Daily News, Inc., a California federal district court re-certified a Rule 23(b)(3) California state law wage and hour action involving a class of 200 non-exempt employees who alleged their employer routinely required them to work more than 40 hours per week with

Last week, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit became the latest federal appellate court, joining the Eighth and Second Circuits, to reject the National Labor Relations Board’s analysis in D.R. Horton, Inc.

An employee may be compelled to arbitrate claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) on an individual basis, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit concluded on Friday. In Sutherland v. Ernst & Young LLP, the Second Circuit reversed the decision of the U.S. District Court for the Sou

Eight days prior to the release of the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 20, 2013 decision in American Express Co. v. Italian Colors Restaurant (“Amex”), the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”), in Feeney v. Dell, Inc., invalidated an arbitration agreement containing a class action waiver. The cour

Executive Summary: On April 16, 2013, the Supreme Court issued a decision that makes it easier for employers to limit the scope of wage and hour "collective actions." In Genesis Healthcare Corp. v. Symczyk (Apr. 16, 2013), the Court held that an employer can obtain dismissal of an FLSA collective ac