Wednesday, April 17, 2013
In Genesis Healthcare Corp v. Laura Symczyk, the Court ruled that the case against the nursing and rehabilitation provider should be dismissed because its offer to Symczyk of the unpaid wages to which she alleged she was entitled effectively ended her stake in the case. The 5-4 decision, split along the court's ideological fault lines, will likely have limited practical applicability but could spark further debate about whether the justices treat collective actions brought under the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) differently from traditional class actions.