September 8, 2023--Orin Kurtz, founder of the Employment Division of Gardy & Notis, spoke at the fall conference for NELA/NY, an organization of lawyers protecting the rights of employees.
Orin gave an update on two developing legal issues surrounding employment class and collective actions. First, Orin spoke about the current circuit split created by the 11th Circuit's declaring incentive awards unlawful per se. Orin explained the great value that incentive awards have in class and collective actions: Class representatives are giving their time, and risking retaliation, to obtain back wages for themselves AND all members of the class. As a result, the class representatives (who are either current or former employees) deserve compensation for the benefit they provide. Luckily, so far, only the 11th Circuit has prohibited incentive awards; other circuits continue to allow them. The Supreme Court has declined to resolve the circuit split at this time.
Orin also discussed a recent decision in the Sixth Circuit that requires a plaintiff to show a "substantial likelihood" that there are similarly situated employees before the court will send notice of a fair labor standards act to other employees. This standard is higher than in the Second Circuit, where plaintiffs only have to “make a modest factual showing that they and potential opt-in plaintiffs together were victims of a common policy or plan that violated the law.” Myers v. Hertz (Orin Kurtz was one of the lawyers on this case). The Supreme Court has declined to resolve this circuit split.
Orin also gave a few real-world practice tips for dealing with the two issues discussed above.
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