439 F.Supp.3d 1042
W.D. Tenn.2020Background
- Plaintiff Laura Canaday, a Medical Management Nurse who works from home in Tennessee, sued Anthem under the FLSA alleging she and similarly situated Medical Management Nurses were misclassified as exempt and denied overtime.
- Anthem employed approximately 2,575 Medical Management Nurses nationwide (fewer than 100 in Tennessee); plaintiff limited the proposed collective to the “Medical Management Nurse” job family.
- Canaday moved for conditional (opt-in) collective certification nationwide; Anthem moved to dismiss certain out-of-state opt-ins for lack of personal jurisdiction.
- The Magistrate Judge recommended conditional certification limited to in-state plaintiffs and rejected nationwide certification under Bristol-Myers; also recommended denying a reminder notice.
- The district court adopted the Report & Recommendation: it applied Bristol-Myers to require specific jurisdiction analysis for out-of-state opt-ins, conditionally certified a Tennessee-only collective (employees in Tennessee, salaried, treated exempt, worked >40 hours, primarily performed medical necessity reviews since May 7, 2016), ordered disclosure and notice, denied reminder notice, and dismissed without prejudice three named out-of-state opt-ins for lack of personal jurisdiction.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether Bristol-Myers limits a federal court's personal jurisdiction over out-of-state opt-in plaintiffs in an FLSA collective | Bristol-Myers does not apply to FLSA collectives; opt-ins are like class members and need not show forum contacts | Bristol-Myers applies; opt-in plaintiffs must each show their claims arise from defendant’s forum contacts | Court applied Bristol-Myers and held out-of-state opt-ins must show forum-related contacts; denied certification as to out-of-state plaintiffs |
| Whether Canaday has met the lenient "similarly situated" standard for conditional certification (in-state) | Canaday: her and other Tennessee Medical Management Nurses share common policies, duties, and misclassification theory | Anthem: individual differences in duties/locations undermine commonality | Court found plaintiff met the lenient burden and conditionally certified the Tennessee collective |
| Scope and definition of the conditional collective (geography and time) | Plaintiff sought nationwide class since three years before filing; later limited job-family | Anthem sought narrower scope or dismissal of out-of-state claims for lack of jurisdiction | Court limited collective to employees who worked in Tennessee and set temporal scope back to May 7, 2016; denied nationwide scope |
| Whether a reminder notice to potential opt-ins should be authorized | Plaintiff requested reminder notice to increase participation | Anthem opposed as potentially coercive or duplicative | Court adopted Magistrate Judge’s recommendation denying reminder notice as unnecessary and potentially encouraging joining |
Key Cases Cited
- Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. v. California, 137 S. Ct. 1773 (2017) (Due Process limits specific jurisdiction; forum must have connection to each plaintiff's claim)
- Goodyear Dunlop Tires Operations, S.A. v. Brown, 546 U.S. 915 (2006) (general jurisdiction principles)
- Intera Corp. v. Henderson, 428 F.3d 605 (6th Cir. 2005) (plaintiff’s prima facie burden to show contacts supporting jurisdiction)
- Neogen Corp. v. Neo Gen Screening, Inc., 282 F.3d 883 (6th Cir. 2002) (establishing contacts with forum to support jurisdiction)
- Thomas v. Arn, 474 U.S. 140 (1985) (de novo review requirement for objections to magistrate judge’s report)
- Raddatz, 447 U.S. 667 (1980) (standard of review for magistrate judge nondispositive matters)