On Friday, February 20, 2015, a federal judge issued an unusual order in Fujiwara, et al. v. Sushi Yasuda, LTD, et al, 12-cv-8742(WHP) (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 20, 2015).  After receiving an anonymous letter in an FLSA lawsuit, United States District Judge William H. Pauley directed counsel for the parties to conduct an investigation into the circumstances concerning the allegations asserted in the anonymous letter and to submit a joint report by next Monday, March 2, 2015 on the status of the investigation.

The lawsuit claimed that a sushi restaurant, Sushi Yasuda, improperly withheld gratuities from employees, and violated the minimum wage and overtime requirements of the FLSA and New York Labor Law (NYLL).  After taking initial discovery, Plaintiffs moved for class certification of their NYLL claims.  However, before Sushi Yasuda filed any opposition, the parties entered into a settlement agreement on a class-wide basis, which the court eventually approved in January 2015.  Thus, the lawsuit had been settled before the anonymous letter was sent to the court.   However, the letter, purportedly sent by an unknown chef at the restaurant, indicated that class members were being pressured by unnamed managers not to cash their settlement checks under the threat of losing their job and work visa.

Certainly, the anonymous letter would trigger concerns of prohibited retaliation under the FLSA, see 29 USC § 215, which explains why Judge Pauley took the unusual step of having counsel for the parties investigate the circumstances surrounding the letter.  Indeed, the court’s reaction to the letter demonstrates that retaliation can occur even after a settlement has been reached between the parties and approved by the court.

However, the letter does raise additional questions.  Because the letter is anonymous there is no way to know whether the author was a named plaintiff, an opt-in plaintiff, or a class member that never affirmatively joined the litigation.  The FLSA anti-retaliation provision, however, prohibits any retaliatory conduct “against any employee because such employee has filed any complaint or instituted or caused to be instituted any proceeding under or related to [the FLSA] or has testified or is about to testify in any such proceeding …” Id. at §215(a)(3).   Thus, one question is presented as to whether a claim of FLSA retaliation can involve an individual who engaged in no protected activity.  Additionally, in this case there was no determination on the class certification under Rule 23 or under state law.  Thus, there could not be retaliation based on the unknown author’s standing as a class member involved in the litigation.  Because the FLSA relies on an “opt-in” procedure, as opposed to Rule 23 class certification, an individual who does not opt-in to the litigation, is not presenting any FLSA claim or bound by any determination concerning such claims in that litigation.  See, e.g., Guzman v. VLM, Inc., 07-cv-1126 (JG), 2008 WL 597186 at *10 (E.D.N.Y. Mar. 2, 2008); Butler v. American Cable & Tel, LLC, 09-cv-5336, 2011 WL 4729789, at *12 (N.D.Ill. Oct. 6, 2011).

Of course, the argument can be made that, by virtue of sending the letter, the anonymous-chef author has engaged in some type of protected activity, even if he/she is not a named Plaintiff or opt in Plaintiff.  Thus raising the question as to whether such activity, merely sending a letter to the judge, actually satisfies the requirements of Section 215.

Putting those questions aside, there is no question that the court, by virtue of its inherent authority to supervise the settlement and ensure that the settlement is fairly effectuated, would have jurisdiction to address the possibility of any conduct which could impact the settlement and to punish anyone who threatens the fair and efficient resolution of the settlement.  Exercising such jurisdiction inevitably requires a determination as to whether any threat was actually made, and if so, what exactly was stated or threatened.

Whatever the answer to the questions posed above, it is important for any employer to impress on its managers that they may not threaten any employee for asserting an FLSA claim.  Certainly, any such threats could result in additional claims of retaliation, which will inevitably cost the employer more to defend.  Indeed, in order to truly realize the benefit of the settlement agreement and finally resolve these wage and hour claims, the employer should want the settlement payment to be fulfilled so that the employer can move on and return to business without further issues.