Seventh Circuit Raises The Bar On Collective And Class Certification of Wage-Hour Claims

In an opinion likely to make it more difficult for wage-hour plaintiffs to certify a class action and maintain certification of a collective action, the Seventh Circuit affirmed the Western District of Wisconsin’s decertification decision in Espenscheid v. DirectSat USA, LLC on the grounds that trial was not manageable under the plan submitted by plaintiffs, where determining damages would require 2,341 separate evidentiary hearings.  We previously discussed the District Court’s decision here (and thus will not rehash the background facts).  Espenschied is a very important decision that could shape the wage-hour certification landscape because of its holding that ultimate certification of a collective action is subject to the same standard as a Rule 23 class action, its requirement that damages in a wage-hour case be capable of being determined through common proof, and its emphasis on a workable, trial plan as a predicate for class and collective action certification.

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