Supreme Court Says Plaintiffs in Class and Collective Actions Can Sometimes Use Averages and Representative Samples to Prove Elements of Their Case
The Supreme Court decided yesterday, in Tyson Foods, Inc. v. Bouaphakeo, No. 14-1146, 2016 WL 1092414 (U.S. Mar. 22, 2016), that the named plaintiffs in a wage-and-hours case could use an expert’s calculation of the average time a representative sample of workers took to put… Read More
Supreme Court Will Hear Case Where Defendant Says Lax Class Certification Standards Allowed the Use of Averages and an Improper “Trial by Formula”
The Supreme Court granted cert. yesterday in Tyson Foods, Inc. v. Bouaphakeo, No. 14-1146 (U.S. June 8, 2015), a case that raises important issues on how class and collective actions are certified and adjudicated—and may allow the Court to provide further guidance on questions it… Read More
Is Your Industry Ripe for Noncompliance Under the Fair Labor Standards Act?
Recently, the U.S. Department of Labor found that Marcellus Shale oil and gas contractors violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which resulted in the contractors agreeing to pay nearly $4.5 million in back wages to approximately 5,000 employees. According to the Labor Department, most… Read More
Time Spent Going Through Security Screenings Is Not Compensable Under Fair Labor Standards Act
The Supreme Court decided on Tuesday of this week that the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) does not require an employer to compensate employees for time spent waiting in line and then going through security screenings at the end of their work shift each… Read More
SCOTUS Hears Arguments on Compensability of Required Security Screenings Under FLSA
The Supreme Court heard oral argument yesterday in an important Fair Labor Standards Act case that asks whether an employer who requires hourly employees to go through a security screening at the end of their shift – as a way to prevent employee theft –… Read More
Third Circuit Rules That Whether a Contract Permits Classwide Arbitration is for the District Court, not the Arbitrator, to Decide
In a case of first impression, the Third Circuit has ruled that the district court, not an arbitrator, should decide whether classwide arbitration is available under a contract with an arbitration clause. Opalinski v. Robert Half International Inc., No. 12-4444, 2014 WL 3733685 (3d Cir.… Read More
Third Circuit Rules that Plaintiff Cannot Obtain Review of FLSA Decertification Order by Voluntarily Dismissing Case
In a case of first impression, the Third Circuit has ruled that plaintiffs in Fair Labor Standards Act collective actions may not, after a district court decertifies a collective-action class, obtain appellate review of the decertification order by voluntarily dismissing their claims with prejudice and… Read More