Litigation

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As the volume of FLSA litigation remains high, an impediment to resolving such cases (even where the underlying claimant’s wage claim already has been resolved) is the issue of the appropriate fee to be paid to counsel representing the worker pursuant to the fee shifting provision of the FLSA and/or applicable state labor law. …

The Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has joined the Second Circuit’s recent opinions requiring plaintiffs in FLSA cases to provide more than generalized allegations regarding hours worked in order to satisfy the the Supreme Court’s Iqbal/Twombly standard (all arising in the medical setting).   Davis v. Abington Mem. Hosp., 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS…

The high volume of FLSA litigation, particularly in jurisdictions such as New York and Florida, has in recent years forced many small businesses truly outside the scope of FLSA coverage to defend lawsuits brought pursuant to its minimum wage and overtime provisions.  Typically, these smaller employers attempt to address the issue of coverage early…

Employees may have an understanding of their own “work week” for various employment purposes based on different business practices or employer scheduling.  However, with respect to calculating hours worked for purposes of determining overtime pay under the FLSA, DOL regulations simply require that an employer designate and use a standard work week for a given…

On March 22, 2014, Maryland’s highest court issued a new ruling regarding the scope of an employee’s right to file a lawsuit for unpaid wages under the Maryland Wage Payment and Collection Law (the “MWPCL”), Maryland’s principal wage payment statute.  In Marshall v. Safeway, the Maryland Court of Appeals held that an employee may…

Reviewing a district court’s dismissal of FLSA claims which were not timely filed within the FLSA’s two-year limitations period for non-willful violations, the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit found no error in the lower court’s two findings that: 1) plaintiff failed to create a question of fact as to willfulness in order to…

Florida has maintained a separate minimum wage requirement since the 2005 passage of the Florida Minimum Wage Act (“Act”), which was authorized by the Minimum Wage Amendment (“Amendment”) to Article X of the Florida Constitution.  Since then, courts have disagreed as to whether the Amendment provides the right to a separate cause of action…

Uncertainty and litigation have ensued in the wake of the Department of Labor’s May 5, 2011 Final Rule regarding application of the fluctuating workweek method of overtime compensation (FWW) authorized by 29 CFR § 778.114, specifically the Rule’s commentary on the payment of incentive compensation to employees compensated via FWW.  In a thorough recent decision,…

"As the season for sweet onions ends, another onion farm labor dispute begins," observes Judge B. Avant Edenfield of the Southern District of Georgia in a new opinion, commenting upon the flurry of FLSA lawsuits filed in recent years in the American Southeast arising out of labor conditions at large farming concerns utilizing immigrant workers. Judge…

In the still unresolved FLSA litigation concerning alleged unpaid overtime brought by a former personal assistant to entertainer Stefani Germanotta a/k/a Lady Gaga, Judge Paul Gardephe of the Southern District of New York has issued a lengthy ruling addressing some of the asserted claims and defenses. The Court concluded that plaintiff’s New York state law claims …