FLSA Settlement Upheld for 81-Percent Recovery

School Bus Driver’s FLSA Retaliation Claim Fails

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 8, 2013
Tags: Judge James R. Spencer, Labor, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

The Richmond U.S. District Court says a school bus driver who alleges she was fired in retaliation for filing a claim for overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act may not amend her complaint because her additional allegations still do not show a causal connection between her protected activity and her later termination for [...]

Court Won’t Seal FLSA Settlement

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 8, 2013
Tags: Judge Rebecca Beach Smith, Judge Tommy E. Miller, Labor, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A Norfolk U.S. District Court accepts a magistrate judge’s recommendations to approve a class action settlement in this Fair Labor Standards Act case filed against a Norfolk call center, and to deny the call center’s motion to seal the settlement. The complaint alleged that customer service representatives in Ryla Teleservices’ call center were not paid [...]

Union Member’s Complaint Not ‘Free Speech’

By Deborah Elkins
Published: March 29, 2013
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, Labor

A union member who alleged she was fired in retaliation for reporting to the regional union that she had seen the union local’s president and vice president viewing pornography on a union computer does not have a claim for violation of her free-speech rights under the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act; the 4th Circuit says [...]

No Interlocutory Appeal for Overtime-Pay Class

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 29, 2013
Tags: Judge Raymond A. Jackson, Labor, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

In this suit by plaintiff discount store employees for overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act, a Norfolk U.S. District Court denies defendants’ motion to certify for interlocutory appeal the court’s earlier conditional certification of a class of plaintiffs. While the 4th Circuit has not ruled directly on whether interlocutory appeals of FLSA conditional [...]

Union OK’d Despite ‘Inflammatory’ Racial Comments

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 7, 2013
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge James A. Wynn Jr., Labor

A nursing home cannot overturn a vote by its certified nursing assistants (CNAs) and other employees for union representation by arguing that the election was improperly influenced by racially inflammatory comments by a local NAACP official, and the 4th Circuit affirms an order to bargain issued by the National Labor Relations Board. The NAACP official [...]

Employer Access to Prior Records Limited

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 19, 2012
Tags: Judge Henry Coke Morgan Jr., Labor, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

In this overtime-pay case filed by a long-distance truck driver, defendant trucking company may not subpoena the trucker’s employment records from four prior employers, says a Norfolk U.S. District Court; the court grants the motion to quash the subpoenas duces tecum and enters a protective order limiting defendant’s ability to obtain prior employment records. Each [...]

Conditional Class Certified in Overtime Pay Case

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 5, 2012
Tags: Judge Raymond A. Jackson, Labor, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A Norfolk U.S. District Court denies plaintiff discount store employees’ motion for equitable tolling of their suit for overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act, and dismisses with prejudice FLSA claims related to assistant store managers, but dismisses plaintiffs’ non-Illinois state law claims without prejudice and grants plaintiffs’ motion for conditional certification and notice. [...]

Office Manager Class Conditionally Certified

By Deborah Elkins
Published: August 8, 2012
Tags: Judge Raymond A. Jackson, Labor, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

In a collective FLSA action for overtime wages, a Norfolk U.S. District Court grants a motion to conditionally certify a class, filed by an administrative assistant who has worked for the company for five years. Defendant is a company engaged in providing disaster recovery and property restoration services to businesses in Virginia. Plaintiff claims she [...]

Complaints About Union Leaders Not Protected

By Deborah Elkins
Published: July 17, 2012
Tags: Judge James P. Jones, Labor, U.S. District Court - Western District

A plaintiff’s proposed amendment to her complaint against her union local for alleged violation of the “free speech” provision of Section 101(a)(2) of the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act does not allow her to state a claim, and the Abingdon U.S. District Court denies her motion for leave to amend. The proposed amendment does [...]