(Reposted from the Labor & Employment Law Navigator Blog - Click Here to Subscribe)
In a development that may be of interest both to those who follow Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) developments and to those interested in mediation, the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York has mandated early mediation for all FLSA cases. The pilot program responds to the surge in FLSA case filings by sending cases to mediation immediately upon the appearance of the defendant.
The mediation is to be scheduled within four (4) weeks of the Court’s issuance of its standard order. Limited disclosures are required as follows:
- Both parties to produce any existing documents describing plaintiff’s duties and responsibilities
- Both parties to produce records of pay and hours worked by plaintiff
- Plaintiff to produce spreadsheet of alleged underpayments and other damages
- Defendant to produce documents describing compensation policies
- If claiming inability to pay, defendant to produce proof of financial condition
If the mediation is successful, the parties are then required to provide a memorandum to the Court so that it can perform its function of approving the FLSA settlement.
Some see a conflict between the voluntary process of mediation and forcing parties to participate in it. However, getting parties to agree to mediate disputes before discovery has taken place is a tough sell, especially to lawyers. In FLSA cases, the key facts are often available and material/factual issues may be limited. FLSA cases should lend themselves well to early resolution, and mandating prompt mediation with limited, but relevant, disclosures is probably well worth the investment in the pilot project. It remains to be seen if other courts will follow along.