Justin Washington On Behalf Of Himself Flsa Collective Plaintiffs And

Key Facts

Issues

• The court considered whether to grant Plaintiff's motion for leave to amend the complaint to include additional allegations regarding unlawful time shaving practices. The court evaluated whether the amendment was timely, whether it was filed in bad faith, and whether granting the amendment would cause undue prejudice to Defendants. The court determined that mere delay absent bad faith or undue prejudice does not warrant denial of amendment rights, and Defendants failed to demonstrate substantial prejudice from the proposed amendments.
• The court evaluated whether Plaintiff satisfied the legal standards for conditional certification of an FLSA collective action under Section 216(b) of the Fair Labor Standards Act. This required determining if Plaintiff made a modest factual showing that he and potential opt-in plaintiffs were similarly situated victims of a common policy or plan that violated the law. The court credited Plaintiff's statements regarding conversations with other drivers about unpaid hours and found Defendants' conflicting assertions insufficient to defeat the motion at this preliminary stage.
• The court addressed whether to compel production of discovery related to collective and class members, including names, contact information, and other relevant documents. The court granted the motion in part, directing Defendants to produce a spreadsheet of Covered Employees with names, titles, dates of employment, addresses, email addresses, and telephone numbers by January 22, 2026. The court also directed parties to meet and confer regarding remaining discovery and file a joint proposed discovery plan by January 29, 2026.

Holdings

• The court granted the Motion to Amend the Complaint, finding no undue delay or bad faith by Plaintiff in seeking to add allegations regarding unlawful time shaving. The court directed Plaintiff to file a proposed amended complaint by December 29, 2025, with Defendants having 30 days thereafter to answer or otherwise respond.
• The court conditionally certified a collective action comprised of all current and former drivers employed by Defendants in New York on or after May 16, 2018 until December 19, 2025. The court approved dissemination of the Notice and Consent Form as Exhibits A-B, directed Defendants to produce an Excel spreadsheet of Covered Employees including names, titles, dates of employment, addresses, email addresses, and telephone numbers by January 22, 2026, and required Plaintiff to disseminate notice via mail and email within 15 days of receipt and file proposed text message language by January 22, 2026.
• The court granted the Motion to Amend, directing Plaintiff to file a proposed amended complaint by December 29, 2025, with Defendants having 30 days to respond. The court granted the Motion to Certify, conditionally certifying a collective action for all current and former drivers employed by Defendants in New York on or after May 16, 2018 until December 19, 2025. The court approved dissemination of the Notice and Consent Form via mail and email, directed Defendants to produce an Excel spreadsheet of Covered Employees by January 22, 2026, and required Plaintiff to disseminate notice within 15 days of receipt and file proposed text message language by January 22, 2026. The Motion to Compel was granted in part, directing Defendants to produce information related to proposed collective members, requiring parties to meet and confer by January 22, 2026, and file a joint proposed discovery plan by January 29, 2026.

Remedies

• The Motion to Compel is granted in part, and Defendants are directed to produce the information related to proposed collective members. The parties must meet and confer for at least one hour in person no later than January 22, 2026 to discuss production of documents, remaining depositions, and proposed discovery dates. The parties must file by January 29, 2026 a joint proposed discovery plan and, if disputes persist, a joint letter describing the disputes.
• The Court grants conditional certification of a collective action comprised of all current and former drivers employed by Defendants in New York on or after May 16, 2018 until December 19, 2025. The Court approves dissemination of the Notice and Consent Form via mail, email, and text messages. Defendants are directed to produce an Excel spreadsheet of Covered Employees' names, titles, dates of employment, last-known mailing addresses, email addresses, and telephone numbers by January 22, 2026. Plaintiff must disseminate the Notice within 15 days of receiving contact information and file proposed text message language by January 22, 2026. The Court also grants equitable tolling of the FLSA statute of limitations for potential opt-in plaintiffs.
• The Motion to Amend is granted. Plaintiff is directed to file his proposed amended complaint on the docket by December 29, 2025. Defendants will have 30 days thereafter to answer or otherwise respond to the amended complaint.

Legal Principles

Precedent Name

• Patton v. Thomson Corp.
• Ding v. Mask Pot Inc.
• Valdez v. MichPat & Fam., LLC
• Scott v. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc.
• Block v. First Blood Assocs.
• Alvarado v. Villas Mkt. Place Inc.
• Hoffman-LaRoche Inc. v. Sperling
• United States ex rel. Ladas v. Exelis, Inc.
• Myers v. Hertz Corp.
• State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. CPT Med. Servs., P.C.
• Parada v. Banco Indus. De Venezuela, C.A.
• Zou v. Han

Cited Statute

• Fair Labor Standards Act
• New York Labor Law

Judge Name

Passage Text

• For the foregoing reasons, the Motions are granted. Specifically: (1) The Motion to Amend is granted; (2) The Motion to Certify is granted; (3) The Motion to Compel is granted in part, and Defendants are directed to produce the information related to proposed collective members.
• The Court does not find that Plaintiff has acted with undue delay. Even if the Court were to find undue delay, it is well-established in this Circuit that '[m]ere delay, ... absent a showing of bad faith or undue prejudice, does not provide a basis for a district court to deny the right to amend.'
• Plaintiff seeks conditional certification of 'all current and former drivers employed by Defendants in New York on or after May 16, 2018' ('Covered Employees'); Plaintiff has made the 'modest factual showing' that he and potential plaintiffs together may have been victims of a common policy or plan that violated the law.