Judicial Panel Grants Defense Request for Pretrial Coordination of Class Action Lawsuits Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1407, Unopposed by Class Action Plaintiffs, and Transfers Actions to Eastern District of Louisiana
Three class actions –in the Eastern District of Louisiana, the Western District of Tennessee and the Eastern District of Texas – were filed against DirecTech Southwest alleging violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act; specifically, the class action complaints allege defendant failed to pay its technicians overtime as required by the FLSA. In re DirecTech Southwest, Inc., Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) Litig., ___ F.Supp.2d ___ (Jud.Pan.Mult.Lit. October 8, 2008) [Slip Opn., at 1]. Defense attorneys filed a motion with the Judicial Panel for Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) requesting centralization of the class actions pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1407 in the Eastern District of Louisiana; plaintiffs in all three class actions supported the motion. _Id._ The Judicial Panel granted the motion to centralize the class action lawsuits and agreed that the Eastern District of Louisiana was the appropriate transferee court “because the first-filed and most advanced action is pending there and this choice is supported by all responding parties.” _Id._
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