Johnson et al v. JTK Restorations LLC et al

Filing 29

ORDER signed by Judge Rudolph T. Randa on 12/9/2014 GRANTING 19 Plaintiff's Motion for Conditional Class Certification. See Order for details. (cc: all counsel) (cb)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN
RICHARD MONTANA and JOHN RAU,
on behalf of themselves and all others
similarly situated,
Plaintiffs,
-vs-

Case No. 14-C-487

JTK RESTORATIONS, LLC, and
JAMIE L. ULRICH,
Defendants.
DECISION AND ORDER
The

plaintiffs,

Richard

Montana

and

John

Rau,

move

to

conditionally certify this case as a class action under Section 216(b) of the
Fair Labor Standards Act.
Under the FLSA, an action “may be maintained against any
employer … by any one or more employees for and on behalf of himself or
themselves and other employees similarly situated. No employee shall be a
party plaintiff to any such action unless he gives his consent in writing to
become such a party and such consent is filed in the court in which such
action is brought.” 29 U.S.C. § 216(b). Courts allow notice to be sent if the
plaintiff demonstrates “a reasonable basis for believing that she is
similarly situated to potential class members.” Austin v. CUNA Mut. Ins.

Soc., 232 F.R.D. 601, 605 (W.D. Wis. 2006).
Plaintiffs seek certification of the following class: “All persons who
are or have been employed by Defendants as a crew member who worked
in excess of forty hours and who were not paid any overtime premium for
this work at any time within three years prior to the filing of this action.” A
crew member for purposes of the putative class is any individual who
worked for Defendants and performed work such as cleaning, hauling
garbage, painting, fixing windows and roofs, mowing lawns and other
manual tasks, and light maintenance. The plaintiffs and the putative class
members all engaged in similar non-exempt work, were wrongly classified
as contractors and/or paid on a salary basis, and were not paid an overtime
premium for any hours worked in excess of forty hours in a given
workweek. This is enough to meet the plaintiffs’ initial burden for
conditional class certification.
NOW, THEREFORE, BASED ON THE FOREGOING, IT IS
HEREBY ORDERED THAT plaintiffs’ motion for conditional class
certification [ECF No. 19] is GRANTED. The Collective Class is certified
as follows: All persons who are or have been employed by Defendants as a
crew member who worked in excess of forty hours and who were not paid
any overtime premium for this work at any time within three years prior to
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the filing of this action.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED THAT (1) counsel of record is
appointed as Collective Action Counsel; (2) the form and content of the
Notice of Collective Action is approved; (3) the defendants must provide
Collective Action Counsel with a list identifying all persons known to
defendants to meet the above definition, including their name, street
address, city, state, zip code, phone number, and the last four digits of their
social security number; and (4) the Collective Action members are allowed
ninety (90) days from the mailing of the Notice of Collective Action to opt
into this action.
Dated at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, this 9th day of December, 2014.
BY THE COURT:
__________________________
HON. RUDOLPH T. RANDA
U.S. District Judge

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