With the policy behind arbitration embodied in the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) reinforced by a series of Supreme Court decisions (Stolt-Nielsen (2010); Concepcion (2011) and Greenwood (2012)), employers continue to implement mandatory arbitration programs under the FAA. Among the many reasons to consider implementation of such a program is the utility of a class/collective action
collective action
Supreme Court To Decide Whether Offer of Judgment Moots Collective Action
Employers who find themselves confronted with a putative collective action lawsuit under the FLSA typically take immediate steps to limit exposure, both within and outside the litigation. One procedural tool employers seek to avail themselves of is the Offer of Judgment, authorized by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 68. Using this mechanism, an employer seeks to…
Jackson Lewis Team Defeats Conditional Certification In Store Manager Litigation
Recently, we discussed the standard applicable to collective action certification of FLSA claims at the so-called “second stage”, which occurs after factual discovery. This is a more stringent standard than that applied to cases at the initial “conditional certification” stage, where courts apply a standard that varies from circuit to circuit, but is typically lenient. However…
Federal Court Decertifies Collective Action Alleging Funeral Home Did Not Pay For All Hours Worked
While this space frequently discusses decisions adjudicating the merits of FLSA plaintiffs’ “off-the-clock” claims, allegations that employees were not compensated for all hours worked, FLSA collective action litigation often does not reach this merits stage of the proceeding. Frequently, courts first review plaintiffs’ claims in the context of determining whether FLSA plaintiffs are “similarly situated&rdquo…
Another New York Federal Court Compels Arbitration of Individual Claims
In the Second Circuit, employees generally can waive their right to bring a class or collective action as long as the cost of arbitrating the case on an individual basis is not cost-prohibitive and does not “remov[e] the plaintiff’s only reasonably feasible means of recovery.” See In Re American Express Merchants’ Litigation, 554 F.3d…