Hong v. JP White Plains, Inc.

Background

Yingcai Hong, a former delivery driver, brought this proposed collective and class action against JP White Plains, Inc., Haiku @ WP Inc., and Soonwah Lee. He alleged violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the federal wage law, and the New York Labor Law. The issue in this decision was whether Wei Li and Baozhong Yang could submit late consent forms to join the FLSA collective action.

The court had set a 60-day period for potential collective members to join, later extended through July 3, 2022. Li and Yang contacted plaintiffs’ counsel in September 2022, more than two months after the extended deadline. Plaintiffs said Li had not received the notice because the address provided for him was outdated, and Yang had received the notice but thought it was junk mail because it was addressed using a different name order. Plaintiffs also stated that they had filed separate state-court actions for Li and Yang.

Defendants initially agreed not to object to the late participation if Li and Yang withdrew their state-court actions, while preserving their defenses. Based on the representation that the parties had agreed, the court authorized the late forms. Plaintiffs later stated that they could not withdraw the state-court claims, and defendants withdrew their agreement. The court then reconsidered the late-participation issue.

Court’s analysis

Courts generally assess late FLSA participation by considering factors such as good cause for the delay, prejudice to the defendant, the length of the delay, efficient use of judicial resources, and the FLSA’s remedial purpose. The court emphasized that a showing of good cause is generally required, particularly when other factors weigh against accepting the late forms.

The court held that plaintiffs had not established good cause. Plaintiffs submitted no declarations from Li or Yang and no other evidence confirming their explanations. Regarding Li, the lack of evidence made it impossible to determine when he learned about the lawsuit or whether he acted diligently after learning about it. Regarding Yang, the court found that receiving the notice but not reading it because he believed it was junk mail was not a compelling explanation for the delay.

The court also held that allowing Li and Yang to join would not promote judicial economy, meaning efficient use of the courts’ resources. Plaintiffs had represented that they intended to continue litigating Li and Yang’s wage claims in state court even if the federal court accepted their late forms.

Disposition

The court denied plaintiffs’ motion for leave to file the two late consent forms. It vacated the earlier order that had authorized Li and Yang to join, directed the clerk to terminate Wei Li and Baozhong Yang—listed on the docket as Yang Bao Zhong—as parties, and directed the clerk to note that their filed consent forms had been vacated. The court also denied plaintiffs’ request for 45 additional days for other potential participants to join.