Sixth Circuit Creates New Test for Wage Collective Actions (2)

A federal appeals court in Ohio has become the second to reject a lenient standard federal judges generally have used to determine whether to certify wage-and-hour collective actions under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

In a splintered decision May 19, the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit set precedent by establishing a new, higher evidentiary standard that workers must meet when seeking to resolve their claims as a group rather than individually in FLSA collective actions.

District courts in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee must require plaintiffs to show a “strong likelihood” that employees seeking to join the ...