The article examines the impact of the Third Circuit's decision in Lundeen v. 10 West Ferry Street Operations LLC one year after it was issued. The ruling clarified that unasserted Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) claims can be released as part of Rule 23 state-law wage and hour class action settlements, making it easier to resolve so-called "hybrid" wage and hour cases through a single global settlement. Attorneys interviewed by Law360 said the decision has already had a significant effect on settlement negotiations and how wage and hour cases are structured.
Zach Hutton said the Third Circuit's ruling streamlines hybrid wage-and-hour settlements by removing the need for separate FLSA claim forms, noting that, “If you inject a claim form process into a hybrid settlement, you're generally going to lower participation, employees are going to get less money, and if there's a reversion, you're just going to have more money revert to the employer.”
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