Labor & Employment Law

11th - No class certification for claimed failure to pay for all hours worked

Babineau v. Federal Express (11th Cir 07/27/2009)

Hourly employees sued claiming breach of contract and quantum meruit for the employer's failure to pay for "all hours worked." The trial court refused to certify a class of employees employed in Florida; the 11th Circuit affirmed, holding that the trial court did not abuse its discretion.

The court assumed that the plaintiffs satisfied the Rule 23(a) requirements of numerosity, commonality, typicality, and adequacy of representation, and held that plaintiffs failed as to the Rule 23(b)(3) requirement that issues as to the class must predominate over issues that are subject only to individualized proof. The court found that individualized proof was required as to whether employees were actually working during pre- and post-shift gap periods, and, even more so, as to whether plaintiffs were working during break periods.

Full post as published by Ross' Employment Law Blog on July 29, 2009 (boomark / email).