Kemmerlin v. Bicentennial Inc., 4:24-cv-00230

Samantha Kemmerlin, a dancer at Lady Godiva’s in Tulsa, OK, filed a collective action under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for unpaid minimum wage and overtime, alleging unlawful pay policies.
Kemmerlin and another dancer claim the club classified dancers as independent contractors but exercised significant control over their work, making them de facto employees.
Plaintiffs allege dancers were paid only via customer tips, had to pay fees and fines to the club, and were not paid any wages by the club, including for overtime hours.
Defendant argues dancers could freely choose between employee and independent contractor status, setting their own schedules, refusing customers, and keeping their own tips (subject to certain club fees).
Kemmerlin moved for conditional certification of a collective action, approval of a proposed notice to potential collective members, and disclosure of their contact information. Defendant opposed both certification and the notice process.
The court considered the motion under the lenient first-step standard for collective certification, focusing solely on whether substantial allegations showed a common policy potentially violating the FLSA.

Issue	Plaintiff’s Argument	Defendant’s Argument	Held
Conditional certification of a collective action	All dancers were subject to the same unlawful pay practices	Dancers may have chosen different employment statuses	Certification granted at notice stage—it is a lenient standard
Notice and method of dissemination	Notice by mail, email, and text based on modern realities	Electronic notice is excessive and burdensome	Multiple methods allowed to ensure putative members are informed
Notice content and accuracy	Proposed notice is adequate	Notice misstates defendant's contentions and implies FLSA rights	Notice must be revised for accuracy and procedural fairness
Disclosure of contact information	Needed for effective distribution of notice	Should be limited if notice method is excessive	Defendant must provide names, addresses, emails, and phone numbers

Thiessen v. Gen. Elec. Cap. Corp., 267 F.3d 1095 (10th Cir. 2001) (sets out the two-stage approach for FLSA collective certification)
Hoffman-La Roche Inc. v. Sperling, 493 U.S. 165 (1989) (district courts have discretion and a duty to oversee notice in collective actions)
Vaszlavik v. Storage Tech. Corp., 175 F.R.D. 672 (D. Colo. 1997) (articulates the lenient standard for notice-stage certification)