This is an interesting case and a (possible) double victory for the employer. A rarity. An employer-defendant, Dynamex, Inc. has filed a motion to eliminate more than 30 opt-ins from a conditionally certified collective action under the FLSA seeking back due wages for overtime violations. On that very day, the employer won the right to
Independent Contractor
Parties In FLSA Collective Action Stay Discovery and Will Mediate—The Smart Thing To Do (For Both Sides)
By Mark Tabakman on
One thing about FLSA collective actions—right or wrong, win or lose, the legal fees for both sides mount up quickly and almost relentlessly. I often counsel clients to try to get out early of such a case (especially if I perceive there to be a problem, where there usually is). Well, the parties in a…
Golf Course Class Action Held In Abeyance Pending Settlement Talks—The Right Thing To Do
By Mark Tabakman on
Posted in Class Actions, Independent Contractor
I blogged about this case a few weeks ago and opined that the employer would have an uphill fight. Maybe they heard me. The case has now been put in abeyance as the parties seek to work out a settlement. This initiative follows my thinking in many of these cases—try to get out early and…
Big Time Sand Trap: Golf Course Hit With Misclassification FLSA Collective Action
By Mark Tabakman on
Posted in Independent Contractor
No industry or business is immune to FLSA collective actions. What better proof of this than the fact that a Florida resort and golf course management company were sued in a proposed collective action in federal court. The theory is that the caddies were really employees, not independent contractors and that the employers deprived the…
USDOL Issues Joint Employer Guidance: More Enforcement Coming Down The Pike!
By Mark Tabakman on
Posted in Independent Contractor
There exists already a doctrine of joint employer law under the Fair Labor Standards Act, Now, the USDOL wants to make it easier for two (or more) entities to be found as joint employers. The head of the Wage Hour Division, David Weil, stated that the new policy is required because of increasingly varied employment…
It’s Playoff Time For the Buffalo Jills: Cheerleaders Claim They Are Not Independent Contractors
By Mark Tabakman on
There is, as we all know, an insane amount of litigation on independent contractor issues. These controversies can emanate from any industry and there is no business that is immune to these allegations. Case in point. A judge in New York State has just granted class certification to a class of cheerleaders for the…
Ho, Hum: The Number of Wage Suits Rises Again.
By Mark Tabakman on
Guess what? Wage suits are increasing. Hardly a surprise. A recent study shows that wage-hour lawsuits were up about 8 percent over last year, which may stem (in part) from the recent USDOL initiatives on revising the FLSA exemption regulations and its “white paper” on independent contractor issues. There is also the problem with applying…
USDOL Hit for Attorney Fees by Fifth Circuit for Improper Litigation Tactics
By Mark Tabakman on
Posted in Independent Contractor
I recently read a posting by Julie Badel on the Wage & Hour Defense Blog and felt so moved that I am compelled to comment on it. She wrote about a Fifth Circuit case in which the USDOL was sanctioned because “the government here chose to defend the indefensible in an indefensible manner.” The employer…
Goin’ Hollywood: Independent Contractor Lawsuit Targets Freelance Producers
By Mark Tabakman on
Posted in Class Actions, Independent Contractor
No industry or business is immune from the threat of a FLSA class action. Proof of this premise is found in the certification of a class of dozens of freelance content producers who allege that the parent entity of the Hollywood Reporter denied them overtime by misclassifying the workers as independent contractors. The primary allegation…
Another Uber Independent Contractor Class Action—Reaching Critical Mass?
By Mark Tabakman on
Posted in Independent Contractor
I posted recently about a lawsuit involving Uber and independent contractors. Well, it’s happened again. The company was hit with a proposed class action suit in Pennsylvania state court with a central allegation being the drivers’ claim that they were misclassified as independent contractors. The case is entitled DiNofa v. Uber Technologies Inc. et…