Law and the Workplace

Category Archives: Class/Collective Action

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Massachusetts SJC Weighs in on Wage Act Class Actions and Offers of Judgment

By Mark W. Batten, Samantha Regenbogen and Thomas B. Fiascone on Posted in Class/Collective Action, Wage and Hour
On Friday April 12, 2019, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court confirmed that plaintiffs seeking to bring class actions asserting Massachusetts Wage Act (“Wage Act”) violations must meet the certification standards set by Massachusetts Rule of Civil Procedure 23 (“Rule 23”), and cannot avail themselves of a lower bar to class certification. In Gammella v. P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, … Continue Reading

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court OK’s Attorneys’ Fees for Wage Act Settlements

By Mark W. Batten, Samantha Regenbogen and Thomas B. Fiascone on Posted in Class/Collective Action, Wage and Hour
As has been long anticipated, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court recently gave a green light to plaintiffs’ attorneys seeking a fee award under the Commonwealth’s Payment of Wages Act, even where an action ends in settlement.  The Wage Act (Mass. General Laws ch. 149 §§ 148, 150) awards costs and fees when an employee “prevails” … Continue Reading

Proskauer Delivers Webinar on Settling Employment Claims

By Allan Bloom, Elise M. Bloom, Harris Mufson and Hayley H. Fritchie on Posted in Class/Collective Action, Discrimination, Harassment and Retaliation, Wage and Hour, Whistleblower
On December 12, Proskauer partners Allan Bloom, Elise Bloom, and Harris Mufson delivered a webinar focused on how recent developments in the law impact the ground rules and key strategies for settlement in four distinct areas of employment litigation. Wage and Hour. Mr. Bloom explained that, in most jurisdictions, settlements of Fair Labor Standards Act … Continue Reading

Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Employers in Upholding Arbitration Agreements Containing Class Action Waivers

By Mark W. Batten, Allan Bloom and Travis Hall on Posted in Class/Collective Action, Litigation and Arbitration
On May 21, 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis that employers can require employees to arbitrate disputes with the employer individually and waive their right to pursue or participate in class or collective actions against their employer. Ruling 5-4 in favor of an employer’s right to … Continue Reading

SDNY Denies Approval in FLSA Settlement Based In Part on Overly Broad Non-Disparagement Clause

By Allan Bloom on Posted in Class/Collective Action, Wage and Hour
In its November 17, 2017 opinion in Galindo v. East County Louth, Inc. (No. 16 Civ. 9149), the Southern District of New York denied a motion to approve an individual FLSA settlement, including on the ground that the settlement agreement contained what the Court deemed to be an overly broad non-disparagement provision. In the settlement … Continue Reading

Seventh Circuit Limits Ability to Moot Claims of Class Representative in the Wake of Campbell-Ewald

By Steven J. Pearlman and Edward Young on Posted in Class/Collective Action
On June 20, 2017, the Seventh Circuit ruled that a defendant cannot moot the individual claims of a putative class representative by depositing an unaccepted settlement offer with the court covering all relief purportedly owed to that representative. Fulton Dental, LLC, v. Bisco, Inc., No. 16-cv-3574 (7th Cir.). Plaintiff brought a putative class action lawsuit … Continue Reading

Trump DOL Presses Pause Button on Appeal of Overtime Rule Injunction

By Allan Bloom on Posted in Class/Collective Action, Wage and Hour
Remember the new federal overtime rule that was going to double the minimum salary for the “white collar” exemptions?  In November, a Texas district court issued a nationwide injunction preventing the rule from taking effect.  The DOL successfully petitioned the Fifth Circuit for an expedited appeal of the injunction in December, and briefing was to … Continue Reading

Proskauer’s Value Insights Survey is Now Live

By Elise M. Bloom on Posted in Accessibility & Accommodation, Class/Collective Action, Discrimination, Harassment and Retaliation, Hiring/Background Checks, Independent Contractor, Leaves of Absences, Litigation and Arbitration, Performance Management, Discipline & Termination, Strategic Corporate Planning, Vacation policy, Wage and Hour, Workplace Policies and Procedures, Workplace Restructuring and WARN
Proskauer’s second Value Insights: Delivering Value in Labor and Employment Law survey is now live and we want to hear from you. Value Insights explores how in-house counsel can maximize the value they provide to their business partners and correspondingly, how they can most effectively partner with outside counsel on managing labor and employment work. … Continue Reading

Recovery of Liquidated Damages Under Both FLSA and State Law Improper, Says Second Circuit

By Allan Bloom on Posted in Class/Collective Action, Litigation and Arbitration, Wage and Hour
In a summary order issued on December 7, the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit–in Chowdhury v. Hamza Express Food Corp., No. 15‐3142‐cv–held that an award of liquidated damages under both the Fair Labor Standards Act and the New  York Labor Law with respect to the same violation was improper: [The Labor Law] does … Continue Reading

Participate in Proskauer’s Value Insights Survey

By Elise M. Bloom on Posted in Accessibility & Accommodation, Class/Collective Action, Discrimination, Harassment and Retaliation, Hiring/Background Checks, Leaves of Absences, Litigation and Arbitration, Performance Management, Discipline & Termination, Vacation policy, Wage and Hour, Workplace Policies and Procedures, Workplace Restructuring and WARN
Last year, Proskauer’s Labor and Employment Law Department conducted its inaugural Value Insights: Delivering Value in Labor and Employment Law survey, a resource that includes input from in-house decision makers on labor and employment matters and provides in-house counsel with tools to both more effectively help their business partners achieve their objectives and to work with … Continue Reading

Fifth Circuit Instructs that, When Raised, Arbitrability is a Gateway Issue that Must Be Considered Prior to Conditional Certification in FLSA Collective Actions

By Nicole Eichberger and Minia Bremenstul on Posted in Class/Collective Action, Litigation and Arbitration, Wage and Hour
On October 4, 2016, the Fifth Circuit in Reyna v. International Bank of Commerce instructed district courts that when the issue of arbitrability is raised in a prompt motion to compel, it should be decided at the outset of the litigation—even prior to deciding conditional certification in FLSA collective actions. Reyna builds upon the Fifth … Continue Reading

Proskauer Releases Survey Results on Value Insights: Delivering Value in Labor and Employment Law

By Katharine Parker on Posted in Accessibility & Accommodation, Class/Collective Action, Discrimination, Harassment and Retaliation, Hiring/Background Checks, Immigration, Independent Contractor, Leaves of Absences, Litigation and Arbitration, National Labor Relations Board, Non-Competes and Protection of Corporate Assets, Performance Management, Discipline & Termination, Strategic Corporate Planning, Vacation policy, Wage and Hour, Whistleblower, Workplace Policies and Procedures, Workplace Restructuring and WARN
Proskauer’s Labor and Employment Law Department is pleased to announce the release of its inaugural Value Insights: Delivering Value in Labor and Employment Law survey, a resource that includes input from in-house decision makers on labor and employment matters and provides in-house counsel with tools to both more effectively help their business partners achieve their objectives … Continue Reading

College Athletes Not University Employees, Says Federal District Court

By Allan Bloom and Samantha Regenbogen on Posted in Class/Collective Action, Wage and Hour
On February 16, 2016, a federal district court in Indiana held that former athletes at the University of Pennsylvania were not university employees entitled to the protections of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).  The plaintiffs—former track and field athletes at Penn—brought collective action claims against Penn, the NCAA, and more than 100 other colleges … Continue Reading

Second Circuit Revives Putative Collective Action

By Mark W. Batten, Elise M. Bloom, Allan Bloom and Rebecca Sivitz on Posted in Class/Collective Action
On July 23, 2015, the Second Circuit, in Lola v. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, Tower Legal Staffing, Inc., revived a putative collective action brought by David Lola, a contract attorney, against Skadden and Tower Legal Staffing, Inc., alleging violations of the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.  The Second Circuit … Continue Reading
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