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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]They arent going to get a class certified in this case so I would just not worry about it. [/quote]

They were just certified as a class. [/quote]

The opinion certified the class for most but not all claims.  State wage claims were not certified.  And the FLSA claims are being handled separately for class certification purposes b/c the law surrounding class cert under the FLSA is different.  I don't think the FLSA claims will end up with meaningful class certification in the end due to the many differences in AP situations (not sufficiently similar for class treatment).  
[/quote]

Can you explain this further? [/quote]

My basic understanding is that class certification process under the FLSA is a two step process (which is not the case for the other claims being made by the APs, e.g. that the agencies conspired to keep the pay to the minimum/stipend).

The first step  is "conditional certification" which is universally understood to be a low burden for plaintiffs to meet  (some defendants don't even fight this part, though they should b/c it's far from automatic and courts have denied conditional cert in some cases... but  I digress).  I believe here conditional class cert was indeed granted on the FLSA claims in the past (but I don't know if it was by stipulation, b/c the defendants agreed, or if there was briefing and ruling on it.. I just haven't checked into it). After conditional certification is granted on FLSA claims, there is a period of communication with prospective class members to see if they want to "opt in" (via a process that is negotiated/litigated as part of the case).  Then later there is a second step in the FLSA class certification litigation  process, after the "opt ins" are done and this is the nitty gritty step is in FLSA class certification proceedings), during which plaintiffs will likely move for the ACTUAL (not conditional) class certification and usually defendants will  move to decertify the conditional class based on things like the opt in class members being too dissimilar.

This second step is where I think the APs will lose, though it's impossible to know and I admit that I have not been following it closely enough.  I also can't say offhand whether I think the other non-FLSA claims for which class has been certified as part of the recent motion are of the type that could fatally wound the AP program, or whether they are a meaningless blip to most of us or somewhere in between. [/quote]

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