Only One Way Out of This Mess: Settlement of FLSA Lawsuit May Need to Be Public to Receive Court's Approval

Experienced practitioners have long understood that very few wage-hour class or collective actions go all the way to trial.  Nearly all cases that are not decided by a dispositive motion are resolved by a settlement.  In a noteworthy recent decision, Wolinsky v Scholastic Inc., Judge Jesse M. Furman of the Southern District of New York rejected a proposed settlement of overtime claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act because the proposed agreement contained a confidentiality clause.  The court’s order left the parties in an unfortunate predicament: continue litigating the case even though they agreed to settle, or make their agreement fully public.

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