18th Annual Workplace Class Action Report - 2022 Edition

Annual Workplace Class Action Litigation Report: 2022 Edition 749 (lxxxvi) Writs Of Mandamus In Class Actions In Re Citizens Bank, N.A., 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 29897 (D. Md. May 10, 2021). Plaintiffs, a group of mortgage loan officers, filed a class and collective action alleging federal and state wage & hour claims against Defendants for failing to properly compensate them for all wages worked. After the District Court granted conditional certification of the FLSA collective action, Plaintiffs moved for class certification of the state law claims and the employer moved to decertify the collective action. The Court granted the motion for class certification and denied Defendant’s motion for decertification. On Defendant’s appeal, the Third Circuit reversed the order of class certification. On remand, the District Court refused to readdress certification issues and set the FLSA portion of the case for trial. Out of alternative avenues for relief, Defendant petitioned for a writ of mandamus, a stay pending a decision on its petition, and reassignment to a new judge. Defendant argued that it was improper to try the merits of the FLSA claim prior to class certification and an opportunity for class members to opt-out. The Third Circuit granted the motion to stay, and denied as moot the mandamus petition. The Third Circuit determined that the “trial-before-certification” approach ignored Rule 23’s mandate to decide certification “at an early practicable time after a person sues.” Id . at *20-21. The Third Circuit additionally opined that the approval would require proposed class members to wait for final judgment before deciding whether to opt-out, thereby permitting them to “benefit from a favorable judgment without subjecting themselves to the binding effect of an unfavorable one.” Id . at *18. The day the Third Circuit issued the stay, the District Court issued a supplemental response to the mandamus petition, which joined in Defendant’s request that the case be reassigned. Accordingly, the Third Circuit denied as moot the petition for a writ of mandamus, and dissolved the stay so that the matter could be reassigned.