U.S. Supreme Court Refuses to Rule on Wage-and-Hour Class Actions

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The US Supreme Court has refused to settle a split between appeals courts regarding whether federal wage law allows workers to bring nationwide class action-style lawsuits by denying a petition by FedEx security specialist Christa Fischer for review of a July ruling by the 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals. Fischer’s overtime pay lawsuit was filed in Pennsylvania, and the 3rd Circuit ruled that only workers from that state could join the lawsuit. This ruling aligns with those made by the 6th and 8th Circuits, which both found that courts lack jurisdiction over residents of other states. In contrast, the 1st and 7th Circuits have gone the other way, saying that the wage law was designed to enable large-scale collective actions against companies operating in multiple states.

Companies and business groups have been pushing courts to limit nationwide wage-and-hour lawsuits, citing a 2017 Supreme Court ruling stating that people outside California could not join a product liability case filed in state court against Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. The US Chamber of Commerce has urged courts to rule for companies, stating that allowing nationwide lawsuits would subject employers to uncertainty and encourage workers to “forum shop” by filing in plaintiff-friendly courts.

The case in question, Fischer v FedEx, involves allegations by Fischer that FedEx misclassified security specialists across the country as independent contractors rather than employees, depriving them of overtime pay required by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Under the FLSA, workers can file “collective actions” similar to class action lawsuits but have some vital procedural differences, including that other workers must opt-in to be included.

  

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The case has been subject to differing rulings across the US, with the 1st and 7th Circuits allowing nationwide collective actions, while the 3rd, 6th, and 8th Circuits have ruled that only workers from the state where the lawsuit was filed can join. In this case, the 3rd Circuit upheld a ruling by a federal judge in 2020 that refused to allow FedEx employees from New York and Maryland to join the case, citing the Bristol-Myers ruling.

FedEx did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Supreme Court’s decision. Lawyers for Fischer also did not comment. The split between appeals courts regarding nationwide wage-and-hour lawsuits remains unresolved.

The split among appeals courts over whether federal wage law allows workers to bring nationwide class action-style lawsuits continues to cause uncertainty for workers and companies alike. While the US Supreme Court declined to settle the issue in the recent case involving FedEx, it is clear that the legal battle over collective actions and jurisdiction will continue. As the case of Fischer v FedEx illustrates, the outcome of these lawsuits can have significant financial implications for both workers and companies, highlighting the need for clarity and consistency in the application of federal wage law. Ultimately, until the issue is resolved, workers and businesses will continue to face uncertainty and the potential for divergent outcomes in different parts of the country.