Flowers Foods defeats conditional certification in FLSA collective action

Client(s) Flowers Foods, Inc.

On behalf of Flowers Foods, Inc., Jones Day defeated a motion to conditionally certify a proposed Fair Labor Standards Act class of bakery product distributors in the State of New York. The plaintiffs asserted claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act that they, and all distributors of the company’s bakery products in the State of New York, were misclassified as independent contractors. The plaintiffs also asserted similar claims under the New York Labor Law, and further claimed under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act that they were unlawfully denied benefits. Notwithstanding the lenient standard generally applied to conditional certification motions, the court agreed with Jones Day that it was not appropriate to certify a class on the facts presented to the court. Flowers Foods ultimately settled the matter.

Schucker v. Flowers Foods, Inc., No. 16-cv-03439 (S.D.N.Y.)