Halle v. West Penn Allegheny Health Sys. — civil — dismissal — Smith

Hospital employees sued a hospital under the Fair Labor Standards Act for failing to pay them for work during meal breaks. They sought to proceed as an FLSA collective action (analogous to a class action) on behalf of similarly situated employees, but the district court decertified the collective action on the ground that the claimants were not similarly situated. In a prior appeal, the Third Circuit dismissed for lack of appellate jurisdiction, ruling that a decertification order is not appealable and a voluntary dismissal does not make it so. Employees filed a new suit, in which the district court denied collective-active certification on issue preclusion grounds.

The present appeal was brought by employees who tried to opt into the successor suit. The Third Circuit began by detailing what an FLSA collective action is, how it works, and how it differs from a class action, including an affirmative opt-in requirement. After this lucid overview, the opinion sua sponte held that it lacked jurisdiction over the appeal because the appellants’ claims were dismissed without prejudice and thus have no appealable final order. The court rejected the employees argument that it should hear the appeal because the defendants picked off the original plaintiff.

Joining Smith were Ambro and Fisher. Arguing counsel were Nelson Thomas of NY for the employees and David Fryman of Ballard Spahr for the hospital.