Part of our managed care overtime cases →
In Jackson v. Superior HealthPlan, Inc., No. 3:15-cv-03125 (N.D. Tex.), a field service coordinator sued Superior HealthPlan, Inc. and Centene Company of Texas, L.P. for unpaid overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). On November 7, 2016, Magistrate Judge Irma Carrillo Ramirez granted the motion for conditional certification (Doc. 54). Jack Siegel served as lead attorney for the workers.
The collective covered Level 2 Field Service Coordinators, including those identified as Level II, LPN, LVN or LCSW Field Service Coordinators, who worked for the defendants in Texas from April 2013 on and were paid primarily on a salary basis. The court pointed to the plaintiff’s evidence of similar job duties, qualifications and pay practices for Level 2 Service Coordinators across the defendants’ Texas locations, and it ordered the defendants to provide contact information for notice.
Conditional certification is an early step that lets notice go out. It is not a finding that anyone was misclassified or that the employer broke the law.
As general information, the FLSA requires overtime at one and one-half times the regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek unless the employer proves an exemption. The administrative exemption requires, among other things, a primary duty that includes the exercise of discretion and independent judgment on matters of significance. At the time of this 2016 order, courts in the Northern District of Texas used a two-stage test. The Fifth Circuit rejected that approach in Swales v. KLLM Transport Services (2021).
This page describes a 2016 court order. The time to join that collective was set by the court in that case.
In a later case against Centene, Del Toro v. Centene Management Company, a federal court in Missouri conditionally certified a seven-state collective of salaried Care Management Employees.
It let notice go to Level 2 Field Service Coordinators who worked for the defendants in Texas, so they could choose to join (opt in) and pursue their own overtime claims.
An FLSA collective action allows workers who are "similarly situated" to join together in a single lawsuit against their employer. Unlike a Rule 23 class action, workers must affirmatively opt in by filing a consent form. The process typically begins with conditional certification, followed by a notice period, and then a second stage where the employer can challenge whether the workers are truly similarly situated.
Certification — whether conditional certification under the FLSA or class certification under Rule 23 — allows workers to pool their resources, share legal costs, and present a unified case against the employer.
The administrative exemption is one of the "white collar" exemptions under the FLSA. If it applies, the employer does not have to pay overtime. To qualify, the worker must be paid on a salary basis at or above a set minimum and must have a primary duty that involves the exercise of discretion and independent judgment with respect to matters of significance. Whether a managed care worker meets this test depends on the actual duties.
After conditional certification, the court authorizes notice to be sent to potential opt-in plaintiffs. Workers then have a set period (usually 60-90 days) to file consent forms to join the case. After the opt-in period closes, the employer typically moves for decertification — asking the court to break up the collective. If the collective survives, the case proceeds to discovery, potential summary judgment, and trial.
Siegel Law Group PLLC concentrates in unpaid overtime cases under the FLSA and state wage laws. The firm has filed more than 100 federal overtime cases, obtained 50+ class and collective certifications in 20 federal judicial districts across 15 states, and recovered more than $100 million for workers. It has never represented an employer in a wage case. Free consultation. Contingency fee: we advance case costs, and they are repaid from any recovery. No recovery, no fee and no costs. Phone: (214) 790-4454 | Email: [email protected]
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"Certified" means a judge agreed the case could go forward for a group of workers at once, not just the one person who filed it. It is a step in the case, not the end of it.
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Jack L. Siegel of Siegel Law Group PLLC, Dallas, Texas, is responsible for the content of this page. He appears in federal courts in other states by admission to those courts or by leave of court, and is not licensed in every state shown in this list.
