Given the Sixth Circuit ’ s abandonment of the traditional two-step certification process, which allows the plaintiffs’ bar to conditionally certify a collective action with ease and exert substantial settlement leverage with minimal work and expense, we expected a material decrease in FLSA cases filed in that in 2024. Indeed, there were only 12 rulings on certification and decertification motions in 2024 in the Sixth Circuit, down from 22 total rulings in 2023.
II. Key Rulings In Wage & Hour Class And Collective Actions In 2024 The significant decisions in 2024 can be grouped into several categories. These include which include: (i) significant rulings from the U.S. Supreme Court and U.S. Court of Appeal for the Fifth Circuit; (ii) some progress, though general reluctance, in adopting the Swales or Clark framework to conditional certification; (iii) rulings granting conditional certification, even based on minimal evidence; (iv) rulings denying or substantially limiting conditional certification based on insufficient proof; (iv) rulings denying conditional certification based on procedural or technical arguments; (v) rulings decertifying collective actions or denying Rule 23 class certification; (vi) rulings denying decertification or granting Rule 23 class certification; and (vii) rulings adjudicating class and/or collective actions on the merits. III. Significant Rulings By The Supreme Court And Fifth Circuit Threaten To Upend Long-Standing FLSA Regulations On June 28, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, et al., 144 S. Ct. 2244 (2024) ( Loper Bright ), overturned the 40-year-old Chevron doctrine, which required federal courts to defer to federal agencies’ reasonable interpretations of ambiguous statues. While the underlying claim in Loper Bright was unrelated to wage and hour laws, its holding has the potential to influence all substantive areas of law reliant on agency regulations.
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© Duane Morris LLP 2025
Wage & Hour Class And Collective Action Review – 2025
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