Pret A Manger successfully limits scope of notice in FLSA collective action
Client(s) Pret A Manger (USA) Limited
Jones Day represents Pret A Manger (USA) Limited in a putative class and collective action matter involving claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA") and New York Labor Law ("NYLL") for unpaid overtime and alleged unlawful tip pooling, among other claims. In January 2013, the Plaintiff filed a pre-discovery motion to conditionally certify an FLSA collective action encompassing over 3,000 employees in 30+ stores. Thereafter, Pret successfully moved to depose the named plaintiff and four opt-ins and used that testimony to oppose Plaintiff's motion for conditional certification. Although Plaintiff's burden at the conditional certification is not a high one, Pret was able to persuade the Court to limit the scope of notice to only 6 (as opposed to over 30) stores and to only Plaintiff’s unpaid overtime claims. See Trinidad et al. v. Pret A Manger (USA) Limited et al., 2013 WL 3490815 (S.D.N.Y. July 11, 2013). Significantly, the Court denied Plaintiff's request to grant conditional certification as to Plaintiff's alleged unlawful tip pooling claims because the Court agreed with Pret's arguments that there is no FLSA claim for tip pooling where an employer does not take a tip credit.
Trinidad v. Pret A Manger (USA) Limited et al., Case No. 12-cv-6094 (S.D.N.Y.)
