The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to settle the circuit split on whether its 2017 decision in Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. v. Superior Court of Cal. applies to collective actions brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act. In Bristol-Myers, a mass tort action, the justices held that a federal court could not exercise specific personal jurisdiction over nonresident plaintiffs’ claims against a nonresident company. Federal courts have split over whether this precedent applies to collective actions under FLSA Sec. 216(b). The majority of circuit courts to address the issue have ..read more

In our latest issue of the Jackson Lewis Class Action Trends Report, we look back at the most significant developments affecting employment class and collective action litigation in 2022. We also look ahead at potential new challenges in store for employers in 2023. Read the Winter 2023 Class Action Trends Report. With this issue, we wrap up our quarterly newsletter format. Watch this space for timely insights on the latest important developments in employment class and collective actions ..read more

In our latest issue of the Class Action Trends Report, Jackson Lewis attorneys look at the current state of COVID-19-related litigation at this late stage of the global pandemic. Employers have faced more than 5,000 COVID-19-related lawsuits — hundreds of which were brought as putative class or collective actions — and new lawsuits continue to be filed every day. In fact, September 2022 saw the highest number yet of new complaints challenging employer vaccine mandates. Wage and hour suits raising a variety of legal claims continue to dot the class action landscape. COVID-19-rela ..read more

A jury in federal court in Chicago has returned a verdict for the plaintiff class in the first trial of a case involving claims under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). Rogers v. BNSF Railway Co., No. 1:19-cv-03083 (N.D. Ill. Oct. 12, 2022). After deliberating for approximately an hour, the jury returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiff and the class. It found that BNSF recklessly or intentionally violated the BIPA 45,600 times, or one time for each member of the class. The verdict form presented to the jury did not ask the jury to calculate damages, askin ..read more

Does a plaintiff’s allegation that he was about to join a pending Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) collective (class) action against his former employer, combined with the employer’s knowledge that he was a potential class member, sufficiently constitute being “about to testify” in an FLSA proceeding, such that the former employer’s actions in prohibiting the plaintiff from working for its subsidiary might constitute unlawful retaliation under the Act? Yes, according to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in a September 14, 2022 decision.  Read more here ..read more

For 40 years, the majority of federal courts have followed the holding of Lynn’s Food Stores, Inc. v. U.S., 679 F.2d 1350 (11th Cir. 1982), that FLSA claims may be settled only through approval by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) or through a lawsuit filed by the individual, in which a court of competent jurisdiction enters a stipulated judgment, after reviewing the proposed settlement for fairness. Some other courts of appeals, either directly or indirectly, have reached the same conclusion. Increasingly, however, courts are questioning whether these holdings are sound law. In thi ..read more

Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2017 decision in Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. v. Superior Court of Cal., 137 S. Ct. 1773, limiting the scope of a court’s jurisdiction over out-of-state claims, federal courts have grappled with whether the landmark opinion applies to collective actions brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), 29 U.S.C. § 216(b). Joining two other circuits, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has held that Bristol-Myers does apply to FLSA collective actions, and therefore, federal courts may not exercise jurisdiction over claims of out-of-state op ..read more

In this issue of the Class Action Trends Report, Jackson Lewis attorneys discuss recent developments in arbitration and their impact on employment class actions. These include the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021, several impactful U.S. Supreme Court decisions, and the emergence of mass arbitration. Access the latest Jackson Lewis Class Action Trends Report here.   ..read more

Bilateral arbitration agreements governed by the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) may require arbitration of California Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) claims on an individual basis only, the U.S. Supreme Court has held. Viking River Cruises, Inc. v. Moriana, No. 20-1573 (June 15, 2022). The Court’s decision overrules the California’s Supreme Court decision in Iskanian v. CLS Transp. Los Angeles, LLC, 59 Cal. 4th 348 (2014), to the extent Iskanian effectively required PAGA claims to be adjudicated in court on a representative basis. Court’s Decision The question before th ..read more

By Alicia M. Chiu The Third Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that as the plan fiduciary of Universal’s defined contribution plan, Universal Health Services Inc. and its plan investment committee (collectively “Universal”) must face a class action claiming its retirement plan included imprudent investment options charging excessive fees to more than 60,000 participants, even though the three named plaintiffs only invested in seven of the 37 plan investment options challenged by their lawsuit. Universal had appealed a 2021 decision certifying the Employee Retirement Income Security Act la ..read more