ANDREW HARRINGTON, ET AL V. CRACKER BARREL OLD COUNTRY STORE, INC.
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Case Summary
Disposition
Affirmed in Part
Cracker Barrel appealed the district court’s preliminary certification of an FLSA collective action brought by tipped employees. The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s use of the traditional two-step certification process and its decision not to resolve disputed arbitration issues before notice, but it joined the majority of circuits in holding that Bristol-Myers Squibb’s specific-jurisdiction rule applies to FLSA collective actions. Because the district court had authorized nationwide notice without conducting a claim-by-claim jurisdictional analysis, the panel vacated that portion of the order and remanded for further proceedings.
Circuit Split Identified
Legal Issue
Whether Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. v. Superior Court’s claim-specific personal-jurisdiction requirement applies to Fair Labor Standards Act collective actions filed in federal court.
Circuit Positions
Bristol-Myers applies to FLSA collective actions; courts must find specific jurisdiction over each opt-in plaintiff’s claim.
Bristol-Myers does not apply to FLSA collective actions; nationwide jurisdiction is proper if the defendant has national contacts.
Conflict Summary
The First Circuit holds that Bristol-Myers does not constrain nationwide FLSA collectives because personal jurisdiction in federal court is governed solely by the Fifth Amendment and national contacts. The Third, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, and now Ninth Circuits hold that, under Rule 4(k)(1)(A) and the Fourteenth Amendment, a district court must have specific jurisdiction over each opt-in plaintiff’s claim, requiring a claim-by-claim analysis that often bars nationwide notice when the defendant is not ‘at home’ in the forum state.