Simmons v. Wal-Mart Associates

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) gives covered workers non-waivable rights to a minimum wage and overtime pay. The Department of Labor has long stated and several courts have held that FLSA claims can be settled only with the Department’s supervision or court approval.

In these consolidated cases, employees brought claims under the FLSA alleging that they were not paid for overtime work. In each case, the parties reached a settlement agreement in principle and then filed joint stipulations to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(1)(A)(ii). Rather than entering dismissals, the district court required them to provide information to enable it to conduct a fairness review of the settlements.

The parties appealed to the Eleventh Circuit, and Public Citizen filed an amicus brief in support of affirmance of the district court’s order. The amicus brief explains that parties cannot use stipulations of dismissal under Rule 41(a)(1)(A)(ii) to evade the requirement for court-approval (or Department supervision) of settlements in FLSA cases.