NEWARK — Medco Health Solutions Inc. received a victory in New Jersey federal court recently when a federal judge denied more than 160 former employees class certification in their collective action wage and overtime pay lawsuit. The Newark federal judge found that the more than 160 former employees were not able to produce sufficient evidence to show that a collective action was appropriate for their claims. The former employees claim the company failed to pay one and a half times their regular rate when they worked more than 40 hours in a workweek in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
Medco Claims
Roberta Henry, a former Medco employee, filed the potential collective action lawsuit in May 2014. She alleged that Express Scripts Holding Co., the owner of Medco Health Solutions Inc., failed to pay more than $50 million in overtime wages to her and other similarly situated senior administration analysts. Allegedly, Express Scripts intentionally misclassified the Medco administration analysts as exempt from overtime and denied them the compensation they had earned. Henry claimed the misclassification was intentional because Express Scripts employees in the same or similar positions were classified as non-exempt and received overtime wages, but the Medco employees were not.
Class Status
In order for plaintiffs to move forward with a collective or class action lawsuit, they must first seek class certification from the court. The court requires different levels of evidence before it will grant class certification in a collective or class action. Collective actions require slightly less evidence than does a class action. But, both require a minimal level of evidence showing that the potential class members were subject to the same policies or actions which resulted in the alleged violations.
The amount of proof required at this early stage is modest because employees are not likely to have access to the best or strongest evidence, but they should know enough about their working conditions and the company policies applied to them to prove to a judge that one lawsuit would likely address all potential claims of the many employees affected by the violations. If there is not enough evidence, the judge will deny class certification and the plaintiffs will have to bring their claims against their employer individually, which will likely be more expensive for all involved and could result in very different outcomes for each employee.
Not all wage and overtime claims have to be class or collective actions. In many instances wage claims can be and are brought on behalf of one or a few employees. If you believe you have a wage or overtime claim or have questions about a potential class action, contact our overtime pay lawyers today. Our experienced team of overtime pay lawyers can evaluate your claims and help determine if a class action is the best option and can be reached at (855) 754-2795. Or complete our Free Unpaid Overtime Case Review form and our knowledgeable legal team will evaluate your claim. If we accept your case, we will represent you under our No Fee Promise. This means there are no legal fees or costs unless you receive a settlement.