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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA

PENSACOLA DIVISION

SHALONDA WILKS, SONYA

BLACKBERBY, and those others

that are similarly situated,

Plaintiffs,

v. Case No.: 3:10-cv-187-RV/MD

SANTA ROSA INVESTORS, INC.,

Defendant.

____________________________________/

ORDER

Now pending is the plaintiffs’ motion for order approving class notice and

requiring the defendant’s disclosure of names and addresses of class members

(doc. 24). The defendant has filed a response in opposition.

At all times pertinent, the plaintiffs, Shalonda Wilks and Sonya Blackberby,

were each employed by the defendant, Santa Rosa Investors, Inc., as a Certified

Nursing Assistant (“CNA”) at the defendant’s Health and Rehabilitation Center in

Santa Rosa County, Florida. They have alleged that they worked in excess of 40

hours per week, but were not paid for those excess hours. Upon information and

belief, and based specifically on deposition testimony from defendant’s Corporate

Representative given during the course of another case, the plaintiffs have further

alleged that all CNAs, Licensed Practical Nurses, Registered Nurses, and other

similarly situated employees have been subject to the same policy and procedure of

overtime underpayment. The plaintiffs have thus brought this “collective action” on

behalf of themselves and other employees pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards Act

[29 U.S.C. §§ 201, et seq.] (“FLSA”). They now move, under Section 216 of the

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FLSA, for a court order approving class notice and requiring the defendants to

disclose the names and addresses of potential class members. 

The process for establishing a collective action under the FLSA is two-fold.

The first step, known as the “notice stage,” begins when the plaintiff seeks court

authorization to issue notice of the lawsuit to other potential plaintiffs. See, e.g.,

Anderson v. Cagle’s, Inc., 488 F.3d 945, 952 (11th Cir. 2007). At this stage, the

district court employs a “lenient standard” in determining whether the employees

are similarly situated, and, consistent with the broad remedial purpose of the FLSA,

it will “typically” issue a conditional certification of the representative class, which

gives notice to potential class members and provides them with an opportunity to

“opt-in.” See Hipp v. Liberty National Life Ins. Co., 252 F.3d 1208, 1218 (11th Cir.

2001); Dybach v. State of Florida Dep’t of Corrections, 942 F.2d 1562, 1567 (11th

Cir. 1991). The defendant acknowledges that a plaintiff’s burden in obtaining courtapproved notification at this stage “is not a terribly onerous one.” The second step

begins after all potential class members have filed their respective consent forms to

opt-in and discovery has been had. At the second step, after discovery is complete

and the case is ready for trial, the defendant may file a motion for decertification:

At this stage, the court has much more information on

which to base its decision, and makes a factual

determination on the similarly situated question. If the

claimants are similarly situated, the district court allows

the representative action to proceed to trial. If the

claimants are not similarly situated, the district court

decertifies the class, and the opt-in plaintiffs are

dismissed without prejudice. The class representatives ---

i.e. the original plaintiffs --- proceed to trial on their

individual claims.

Hipp, supra, 252 F.3d at 1218.

Upon review of the plaintiffs’ motion, and the defendant’s response thereto,

and in accordance with the lenient standard of review set forth above, I find that

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the plaintiffs’ motion is due to be granted --- with a few caveats. First, as there do

not appear to be any allegations presently in the record to suggest that there are

“similarly situated employees” at facilities other than the defendant’s Santa Rosa

Health and Rehabilitation Center, the class will be limited to the CNAs, Licensed

Practical Nurses and Registered Nurses at that facility only. Second, because the

plaintiffs have not identified any extraordinary circumstances that might warrant

equitable tolling of the relevant statute of limitations (three years), the notice will

be read to apply to the CNAs, Licensed Practical Nurses and Registered Nurses at

the facility for three years prior to the date of the notice. As for the content of the

notice itself --- which the defendants object to --- I will grant the defendants’

request that they be given an opportunity to participate in the drafting of a more

neutral notice. The parties shall confer and discuss the language to be included in

the notice within seven days of the date of this order. If the parties are unable to

agree on the language of the notice, I will rule on the matter upon proper motion.

In conclusion, the plaintiffs’ motion for an order approving class notice and

requiring the defendant’s disclosure of names and addresses of class members

(doc. 24) is hereby GRANTED, to the extent indicated above. 

DONE and ORDERED this 9th day of November, 2010.

/s/ Roger Vinson 

ROGER VINSON

Senior United States District Judge

Case No.: 3:10-cv-187-RV/MD