Huggins v. Wiener

Background

The court had previously conditionally certified this Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) collective action. After extending the notice period, the court set February 18, 2021, as the deadline for individuals to submit consent forms to join. Noberto Rozon, Jose Alcantara, and Andres Rodriguez submitted their forms after that deadline.

The defendants moved to strike the three late-filed consent forms and dismiss the claims of the three individuals. They argued that the record did not establish good cause for the delays, that allowing the late opt-ins would undermine the court’s deadlines, and that their addition would cause prejudice through additional discovery costs.

Court’s Analysis

The court applied factors used to decide whether late consent forms should be accepted in an FLSA collective action: whether good cause existed, whether the defendants would be prejudiced, how long the delay was, whether allowing joinder promoted judicial economy, and whether acceptance served the FLSA’s remedial purposes. No single factor was controlling.

The court found that Rozon and Rodriguez showed good cause. Rozon received the notice and consent form after the deadline because it had been sent to a previous address, and he filed his form three days after receiving it. Rodriguez explained that mail delivery in his building had been significantly delayed in early 2021 after the regular mail carrier died from COVID-19; he filed his form five days after receiving it.

The court found that Alcantara had not shown good cause. He received the notice and consent form in January 2021 but lost track of the deadline while moving out of his apartment. The court nevertheless accepted his form because the remaining factors favored allowing him to join.

The court found no prejudice to the defendants because fact discovery would remain open until June 28, 2021, there was no pending summary-judgment motion, and no trial date had been set. The court also noted that the defendants acknowledged the three individuals could bring separate lawsuits, which would require the defendants to defend and conduct discovery in those cases. All three forms were filed within three weeks of the deadline, judicial economy favored joining the individuals rather than creating potentially duplicative lawsuits, and accepting the late forms furthered the FLSA’s purpose of protecting employees.

Disposition

The court accepted Rozon, Alcantara, and Rodriguez as plaintiffs in the collective action. It denied the defendants’ motion to strike their consent forms and dismiss their claims, and directed the clerk to close the motion at docket entry 120. Judge Paul A. Crotty signed the opinion and order.