Seyfarth Synopsis:
In Whiteside v. Hover-Davis, Inc., the Second Circuit upheld the dismissal of an FLSA claim because the plaintiff failed to allege facts sufficient to invoke the three-year limitations period for willful violations.
If a plaintiff merely alleges a willful violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), without more, will that suffice to invoke the FLSA’s three-year statute of limitations for willful violations? The Second Circuit said “No” when it
recently affirmed a district court’s dismissal of a plaintiff’s overtime violation claim.
The case was not without controversy, though, as the court had to navigate a circuit split on this issue, and a split between the districts courts within the Second Circuit. Further, the opinion generated a forceful dissent, which suggests this matter, although settled in the Circuit, may rise again at the Supreme Court one day.