A federal district court in Arizona held this week that courts are not required – or even authorized – to grant judicial approval of settlement agreements resolving individual claims brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), joining a growing number of courts calling into question the notion that private FLSA settlements require review and

David T. Wiley
David T. Wiley is the Knowledge Management (“KM”) Attorney for Jackson Lewis P.C.’s Wage and Hour Practice Group, and is based in the Birmingham, Alabama, office.
Mr. Wiley creates and manages legal and electronic resources and materials to provide innovative client services; serves as a resource for other practice group members; monitors and analyzes regulatory and case law developments; and contributes to the firm’s blogs and legal updates. In his knowledge management role, Mr. Wiley draws on more than two decades of training, advising, and representing employers nationwide in federal and state courts and before administrative agencies on a variety of employment-related issues, including collective and class actions and all manner of discrimination and retaliation claims.
Prior to obtaining his MBA and law degrees, Mr. Wiley served six distinguished years as an officer in the United States Navy Supply Corps. While attending law school, Mr. Wiley was the Senior Articles Editor for the Georgia Law Review.
Dismissal Without Prejudice of Named Plaintiff’s FLSA Claims Does Not Toll Limitations Period for Such Claims, Eleventh Circuit Holds
A named plaintiff who files a collective action for overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), and whose individual claims are dismissed without prejudice because the district court lacks jurisdiction over the plaintiff’s former employer, is not entitled to tolling of the statute of limitations of those claims. Therefore, when the plaintiff subsequently…
DOL Issues Internal Guidance on Telework Under the FLSA & FMLA
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has issued guidance on the application of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to employees who telework from home or from another location away from the employer’s facility. Field Assistance Bulletin (FAB) 2023-1, released on February 9, 2023, is directed to agency…
2022 State Elections Result in Several Minimum Wage Changes
During the November 2022 elections, voters in several locations across the country approved minimum wage increases. Most notably:
- District of Columbia voters passed the Tip Credit Elimination Act, which, by 2027, will result in the elimination of the tip credit in the District and require employers to pay tipped employees the full minimum wage.
- Voters
Pandemic-Related Wage and Hour Claims a Focus of JL’s Latest Class Action Trends Report
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, thousands of pandemic-related lawsuits, including hundreds of putative class or collective actions, have been filed — and the number continues to grow. A large percentage of those lawsuits involve wage and hour claims, centered around issues including, but not limited to, failure to pay for pre-work COVID-19 screening and testing…
Virginia’s Republican Lawmakers Seek to Reverse State’s Overtime Wage Act
In March 2021, then-Governor Ralph Northam (D), backed by a full Democratic majority in the General Assembly (Virginia’s legislative body), signed the Virginia Overtime Wage Act, greatly expanding the State’s overtime requirements effective July 1, 2021. Prior to the Act, Virginia adopted the overtime requirements of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
During the…
Ninth Circuit Tosses $102 Million Award Against Walmart Alleging California Wage Statement and Meal Break Violations
In a significant victory for California employers, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently reversed a $102 million award against Walmart, in a suit alleging that the retailer violated the California Labor Code’s wage statement and meal-break provisions. Magadia v. Wal-Mart Associates, Inc., 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 16070 (9th Cir. May…
Agricultural Exemption Does Not Apply to Activities Entirely Away from the Farm
To paraphrase the lyrics of the classic nursery song, Old MacDonald had a farm and on that farm he had a cow – and a duck, horse, and chicken (e-i-e-i-o). And, of course, to tend to that livestock Old MacDonald had to have farm workers, and those farm workers had to be paid. But were…
2020 Wage & Hour Developments: A Year in Review
The laws governing wages and hours of work affect nearly everyone. How employees are paid, whether as hourly non-exempt, salaried-exempt, tipped, or commissioned sales workers, and how much they are paid, are questions of deep interest to employees and employers alike. And because the laws regulating wages generally apply only to employees, as opposed to…
Final Piece of Chicago’s Predictive Scheduling Law Goes Into Effect on January 1, 2021
Beginning January 1, 2021, employees covered by the Chicago Fair Workweek Ordinance will have a private right of action against employers for violations of the Ordinance. Although the Ordinance took effect on July 1, 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic the City of Chicago delayed the effective date for private causes of action until…