Barrera v. Forlini's Restaurant, Inc.

Background

Plaintiff's counsel asked the court to extend the deadline for filing a notice of appeal under Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 4(a)(5). The proposed appeal concerned the court's August 12, 2022, order denying the plaintiff's request for conditional collective certification under the Fair Labor Standards Act, a federal wage-and-hour law.

The plaintiff argued that the court had applied a new, heightened standard for conditional collective certification. The plaintiff also cited another case in which Judge Caproni had denied conditional certification and argued that appellate review would help clarify the standard.

Court's analysis

The court treated the letter as a motion for an extension under Rule 4(a)(5). That rule allows an extension based on excusable neglect or good cause. The court explained that the merits of the proposed appeal—whether the conditional-certification standard was correct—were not relevant to this request. The plaintiff provided no other basis for extending the deadline.

Ruling

Judge Valerie Caproni denied the application, finding that the plaintiff had not shown good cause for an extension. The order addressed only the requested extension of time to appeal; the opinion text does not decide whether the underlying challenge to the conditional-certification ruling would succeed.