Dukesing It Out: Tighter Post-Dukes Standard Helps Defeat Request For Class and Collective Action Certification

On January 10, 2013, U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb of the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin issued an order denying the plaintiffs’ motion for class and collective action certification of unpaid meal period claims in Boelk, et al. v. AT&T Teleholdings, Inc., et al., No. 3:12-cv-0040-bbc (W.D. Wis. 2013).   This decision is significant for employers because the Court follows the instruction given by the Supreme Court in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes to perform a “rigorous analysis” to determine if Rule 23(a)’s commonality requirement has been met, and because it provides guidance for defeating conditional certification -- a challenging task -- of a FLSA collective action under 29 U.S.C. § 216(b).

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