Early Consensus: Courts Rely on Comcast v. Behrend In Refusing To Allow Wage and Hour Cases To Proceed As Class Actions

Did the Supreme Court’s decision last month in Comcast v. Behrend make it harder for plaintiffs to pursue wage and hour claims as class actions?  An early consensus says “Yes.” 

As we reported previously [read here], the Supreme Court itself, in Ross v. RBS Citizens, N.A., immediately applied Comcast to a wage and hour case, instructing the Seventh Circuit to reconsider whether off-the-clock work claims under Illinois law could be pursued as a class.

Since then, four federal district courts have considered the impact of Comcast on state law wage and hour class certification.  One court denied class action status to two of the plaintiffs’ three claims.  The other three courts refused to allow any class action at all.  All four judges interpreted Comcast to mean that cases requiring significant individualized proof of damages -- as most wage and hour cases do -- should not proceed as class actions. 

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