Shidler v. Alarm Security Group, LLC

919 F. Supp. 2d 827, 2012 WL 6743792, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 180630
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Texas
DecidedDecember 21, 2012
DocketCivil Action No. 7:12-CV-6
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 919 F. Supp. 2d 827 (Shidler v. Alarm Security Group, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Shidler v. Alarm Security Group, LLC, 919 F. Supp. 2d 827, 2012 WL 6743792, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 180630 (S.D. Tex. 2012).

Opinion

ORDER

MICAELA ALVAREZ, District Judge.

Pending before the Court is the self-styled “Notice to Court of Joint Submission of Agreed Notice for Court Approval” 1 (“Agreed Notice”), as well as the “Motion for Equitable Tolling of the Statute of Limitations for Potential Opt-In Plain[828]*828tiffs”2 (“Motion for Equitable Tolling”) filed by Plaintiff Eric Shidler (“Shidler”). After reviewing the notice, motion, response and relevant authorities, the Court CONDITIONALLY CERTIFIES the proposed class and GRANTS the motion for equitable tolling.

1. Background

On January 6, 2012, Plaintiff Eric Shidler (“Shidler”) filed a complaint alleging insufficient overtime payment by Alarm Security Group, LLC, (“ASG”) in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”).3 On February 3, 2012, ASG filed an answer denying Shidler’s allegations.4 On April 13, 2012, Shidler filed a motion to conditionally certify the action as a collective action and, on May 14, 2012, the parties jointly submitted the agreed notice for the Court’s approval.5 On July 11, 2012, the Court ordered Defendants to clarify the membership of ASG for the purpose of ascertaining the parties before the Court and the propriety of the Court’s adjudication of this matter.6 However, after the responsive filing by ASG was inadequate to provide the necessary clarity, the Court subsequently ordered further clarification on August 11, 2012.7 Finally, after the Court established the membership of ASG, Shidler moved for equitable tolling of the statute of limitations for potential opt-in plaintiffs, to which ASG has responded.8 The Court, having reviewed the filings, assured itself of both the parties before it and the propriety of its adjudication of this matter, now considers both the agreed notice and the motion for equitable tolling.

II. Conditional Certification

The Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) creates a cause of action against employers who fail to pay adequate overtime compensation, and allows for that action to be brought collectively on “behalf of [an employee] ... and other employees similarly situated.”9 Other employees only become a part of a collective action under § 216(b) by affirmatively opting in to the class; the Fifth Circuit has recognized this as a “fundamental, irreconcilable difference” from the traditional class action under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b), under which similarly situated plaintiffs are automatically included as members of the class unless they affirmatively opt out of the action.10

Although the Fifth Circuit has refrained from endorsing a specific approach to collective action certification,11 the majority of courts apply a two-stage certification process set forth in Lusardi v. Xerox Corp.12 Under the Lusardi approach, certification proceeds by two stages: the “notice stage” followed by the “decertification stage.” At the notice stage, the Court normally makes [829]*829an initial determination, based on the pleadings and any accompanying affidavits, of whether to conditionally certify the class and issue notice to potential class members.13 If the Court decides to so certify and authorize notice, the action proceeds as a representative action.14 The decertification stage usually commences once the opt-in period has expired, discovery has been largely completed, and the defendant has filed a motion to de-certify.15 During this stage, the Court uses the larger amount of information available to conduct a fact-intensive determination of whether the claimants are similarly situated; the action thereafter proceeds accordingly.

As this action is currently at the notice stage, the Court’s broad discretion is subject only to two general limitations. First, the Court must give special regard to judicial neutrality, avoiding the appearance of partiality regarding the merits of the case.16 Second, the Court’s authority does not extend to prohibiting entirely the issuance of notice.17 Ultimately, the Court’s determination centers on whether a factual nexus exists between the proposed members of the class such that the grouping of their claims promotes judicial efficiency.18

Here, the Court finds that the proposed notice encompasses putative class members between whom such a factual nexus exists. In this regard, the agreement between the parties weighs heavily on the Court’s determination, and dramatically minimizes the need for substantive involvement by the Court at this point in the action, as there is no dispute between the parties that requires the Court’s adjudication.

III. Mtotion for Equitable Tolling

As explained above, under the FLSA, plaintiffs are not bound to the results of the litigation until they have affirmatively opted into the collective action.19 Consistent with this statutory framework, the statute of limitations runs as to each potential opt-in plaintiff until written consent is filed with the Court; for limitations purposes, post-complaint consent filings by opt-in plaintiffs do not relate back to the original complaint.20

In his motion, Shidler requests that the Court equitably toll the statute of limitations from the date the parties filed the agreed notice of conditional certification.21 “The doctrine of equitable tolling preserves a plaintiffs claims when strict application of the statute of limitations would be inequitable.”22 Although the Fifth Circuit has held that the doctrine of equitable tolling should generally be applied sparingly, it has nonetheless consistently allowed the doctrine’s application [830]*830where a plaintiff has acted diligently and the delay concerns extraordinary circumstances.23

In support of this request, Shidler argues that he has diligently pursued his action.24 The Court agrees, and ASG does not dispute this point in its response. The record reflects that Shidler filed his original motion for conditional certification less than a month after the initial pretrial conference in this matter.25 The record further shows that Shidler shortly thereafter filed an agreement with ASG regarding the terms of the notice.26 At that point, there was no controversy between the parties for the Court to consider. Instead, the only basis for the delay was entirely beyond the control of Shidler; to wit, the Court required more information about the membership of ASG to ensure the propriety of the Court’s consideration.

In its response to the motion, ASG argues that equitable tolling is not appropriate in this case. • Notably, the response does not assert that Shidler failed to act diligently in seeking to conditionally certify the class.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
919 F. Supp. 2d 827, 2012 WL 6743792, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 180630, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/shidler-v-alarm-security-group-llc-txsd-2012.