District Court Grants Conditional Certification As Collective Action Under FLSA

Stillman v. Staples, Inc., 2008 WL 1843998 (D.N.J. 2008) (Magis. Judge Schwartz) – In yet another misclassification case by a retail store manager, under the FLSA and the NJ Wage Payment Law, plaintiff claims he and other managers spent the majority of their time performing non-managerial tasks, and were prohibited from performing a host of managerial tasks, such as scheduling, training and terminations.

The District Court agreed to conditionally certify the action and to issue a court-facilitated notice.  The Court found plaintiff had presented sufficient evidence, through affidavits and deposition transcripts, to satisfy his lenient burden to show that he was similarly situated to other managers.  The Court emphasized that at this early stage it would be improper to consider the merits of their claimed nonexempt status.

Note: This article was published in the May 2008 issue of the New Jersey eAuthority.