Walmart Loses Bid to Limit FLSA Wage Collective to Ohio Workers

Walmart Inc. waited too long to assert a personal jurisdiction defense against nearly 2,700 out-of-state workers who opted into a Fair Labor Standards Act collective action brought by Ohio-based auto technicians, a federal judge ruled.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit recently held that the district courts lack specific personal jurisdiction over nonresident defendants facing claims of nonresident FLSA collective members. But Walmart waived its right to this defense by failing to “timely assert” it, despite ample notice, Judge Sarah D. Morrison said.

The lawsuit was filed in September 2019 by David Fortney and Eli Triplett, who ...