By Gerald L. Maatman, Jr., Elisabeth Bassani, and Olga A. Romadin
Duane Morris Takeaways: On May 18, 2026, Judge Robert J. Colville of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania issued an order severing claims of over 14,000 plaintiffs who had alleged violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and state laws in Brannon, et al. v. Federal Express Corp., No. CV 2:24-1128, 2026 WL 1382330 (W.D. Pa. May 18, 2026), Abner, et al. v. Federal Express Corp., No. 2:25-1129, 2026 WL 1382330 (W.D. Pa. May 18, 2026), and Smith, et al. v. Federal Express Corp., No. 2:25-1507, 2026 WL 1382330 (W.D. Pa. May 18, 2026). Following an order to show cause, plaintiffs in each of the three matters filed motions to sever and to transfer venue, which the Court granted, tolling the statute of limitations to permit individual plaintiffs to file individual claims.
Case Background
Three mass actions were filed following voluntary decertification and dismissal by plaintiffs in Claiborne, et al. v. FedEx Ground Package Systems, Inc., No. 2:18-CV-1698 (W.D. Pa.), a conditionally certified class and collective action consisting of over 30,000 opt-ins alleging FLSA overtime violations which had been pending in the Western District of Pennsylvania for almost seven years. Id. at *1. The Court subsequently granted a Motion on Misjoinder, Change of Venue, and Separate Trials, and severed the claims of all plaintiffs in Claiborne, and a related matter entitled Atwood, et al. v. FedEx Ground Package Systems, Inc., No. 2:24-CV-1127 (W.D. Pa.). Id. The Court also issued a Memorandum Order in which it opined that Brannon and Abner were also likely mis-joined, and ordered the plaintiffs in those matters to show cause. Id. In response, the plaintiffs motioned to sever and transfer their claims to appropriate forums, as the court had granted in Claiborne and Atwood, which FedEx opposed. Id.
The Court’s Decision
The Court, including the Smith matter in its opinion due to all three matters being represented by the same law firm, granted the plaintiffs’ motion to sever, and tolled the statute of limitations at 60 days, though it declined to transfer the claims of the thousands of individual plaintiffs to appropriate forums as requested because it determined that doing so would be overly burdensome for the Court and the Clerk’s Office. Id. at *3.
Noting the wide disparity in the numbers of putative plaintiffs in Claiborne and Atwood, which had twelve and two, respectively,and the hundreds and thousands of named plaintiffs in the three matters at issue here, the Court warned that the mass actions had the appearance of “a tactical maneuver around the standard or collective action procedures,” which the plaintiffs were unable to maintain, and the Court found to be improper. Id. at *2.
The Court found, as it had in its prior orders, that the plaintiffs here were mis-joined under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 20. Id. at *3. Noting that the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts echoed its conclusions on mis-joinder in related cases before it, the Court wrote that its prior conclusions regarding impracticality of litigating the claims in Claiborne and Atwood were equally applicable here in that holding a trial for 14,296 individual plaintiffs with individual issues predominating was “patently untenable.” Id. Further, the Court found that the claims did not arise out of the same transaction, occurrence, or series of transactions or occurrences, as required for joinder under Rule 20, and thus elected to sever the claims. Id.
Finally, the Court determined that the plaintiffs’ severed claims would be continuations of their current cases, and therefore permitted an extension of the tolling period to allow them 60 days to file individual actions in appropriate forums, but cautioned that any further efforts to bring additional mass claims would be “at their own peril.” Id. at *4.
Implications For Employers
For employers with a workforce that may fall under the FLSA, this decision offers practical insight into maintaining a compliant overtime program.
The Court’s decision additionally highlights the proliferation of creative procedural tactics, such as mass actions, undertaken by plaintiffs’ attorneys as a strategic loophole when class and collective actions are otherwise unsuccessful.