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Jurisdiction

By: Derek Hawkins//August 22, 2017//

Jurisdiction

By: Derek Hawkins//August 22, 2017//

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7th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Venitia Hollins v. Regency Corporation and Hayes Batson

Case No.: 15-3607

Officials: WOOD, Chief Judge, and BAUER and HAMILTON, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Jurisdiction

Regency Corporation operated for‐profit cosmetology schools in 20 states. Each Regency Beauty Institute offered both classroom instruction and practical instruction in a “Regency Salon,” where members of the public could receive cosmetology services at low prices. Venitia Hollins was a Regency student, first at its Merrillville, Indiana, location, and later at its Tinley Park, Illinois, facility. In this case, Hollins asserts that the work she performed in the Salon was compensable for purposes of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), 29 U.S.C. § 201; she also asserts that Regency violated various state laws, including the Illinois Minimum Wage Law, 820 ILCS 105/1 et seq., the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act, 820 ILCS 115/1 et seq., and the Indiana Wage Payment Statute, Ind. Code § 22‐2‐5‐1 et seq., among many others.

Her complaint indicates that she wanted to bring her suit as a collective action under the FLSA and a class action under the state statutes, but the district court denied her motion conditionally to certify the FLSA action and never certified a class action under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23. Instead, it addressed the individual merits of her case on summary judgment and ruled in Regency’s favor. Hollins has appealed. She now argues that this court lacks jurisdiction over her own appeal, because the claims of other putative members of her collective and class actions are still before the district court. In the alternative, she contends that she and her fellow students should have been recognized as employees entitled to proper payment under the relevant statutes.

Affirmed

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.

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