In an article published on March 27, 2023 in Law360, Nelson Mullins partners Matt Abee and Debbie Durban discuss the impact on opt-in plaintiffs in collective actions stemming from the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2017 opinion in Bristol Myers Squibb Co. v. Superior Court of California. Currently, four of the 13 U.S. circuit courts have addressed the issue, but they aren’t in agreement with one another.

“Employers and practitioners will now have to wait to see if the court will resolve this split between the circuits,” said Abee and Durban. “In the meantime, parties are likely to forum shop to bring their FLSA collective action lawsuits in those circuits that do not require personal jurisdiction for all opt-in plaintiffs, or those circuits who at least have not opined on the issue. In any event, plaintiffs can avoid this issue altogether by suing their employers in the courts having general personal jurisdiction over them — states in which the employer ‘is fairly regarded as at home,’ per the Supreme Court's Bristol-Myers opinion.”

To read the full article, click here.