Employee caught in a pick, Supreme Court scratches her FLSA claims

Fine, I’ll play a quick encore.

In a case decided yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court in Genesis Healthcare Corp. v. Symczyk (opinion here) held that if a plaintiff who brings a claim under the Fair Labor Standards Act on behalf of herself and her co-workers rejects an offer of judgment from the defendant that would fully satisfy the plaintiff’s own personal claim, then the entire case gets dismissed unless the plaintiff can demonstrate a personal interest in representing the unnamed claimants.

They call this a “pick off” of the lead plaintiff and, yeah, I shouldn’t have played that encore. I told my manager. I says, “Charlie, I don’t do these FLSA collective action cases. But no…..”

Charlie’s gonna get an earful from me…