What You Don’t Know Can’t Hurt You Unless You Work For JPMorgan Chase: The Fifth Circuit’s Refusal to Notify Potential FLSA Plaintiffs Under Arbitration Agreements

Abstract

On February 21, 2019, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held in In re JPMorgan Chase & Co. that district courts may not send or require notice of a pending Fair Labor Standards Act collective action to employees bound by arbitration agreements. The decision represented a matter of first impression among the federal courts of appeals. This Comment argues that the Fifth Circuit’s decision correctly applied the 1989 Supreme Court case, Hoffmann-La Roche v. Sperling, which gave district courts the power to facilitate notice in collective actions, to the new reality of arbitration agreements. This Comment further contends that, although the Fifth Circuit’s opinion was legally correct, it creates case law that could minimize the effectiveness of Fair Labor Standards Act collective action suits.