Class Of Crewmembers Suing Cruise Line To Recover Wages, Overtime Wages, And Penalty Wages Under Collective Bargaining Agreements Certified.
LUIS BOLANOS, et al., Plaintiffs, -against- NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINES LIMITED, d/b/a NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINES, et al., Defendants.
01 Civ. 4182 (RMB) (AJP)
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13243
July 22, 2002, Decided
DISPOSITION: Recommended that this court certify the proposed plaintiff class pursuant to Rule 23(b)(3) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
PROCEDURAL POSTURE: Seeking to recover wages, overtime wages, and penalty wages under collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) and 46 U.S.C.S. ยง 10313, of the Seaman's Wage Act, plaintiff cruise ship workers moved to certify a class of 5,000 under Fed. R. Civ. P. 23. Defendant cruise line objected, arguing that department heads on each vessel made different decisions, making class certification inappropriate despite uniform wage requirements under the CBAs.
OVERVIEW: Even if different ships and departments kept track of overtime using different methods, the magistrate found that differences in departments, duties, and factual variations would not defeat certification, where all the workers claimed a denial of overtime pay. The common factual and legal questions satisfied commonality and typicality under Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)(2), (3). The cruise line's policy was the CBA. The workers asserted the same wrongful acts in the same manner against all class members, establishing typicality, which did not require that the representative claims be identical to those of the class. Differences in damages did not destroy typicality under Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)(3). Because the workers predominantly sought damages, and injunctive relief only secondarily, certification was inappropriate under Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(b)(2), but was proper under Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(b)(3). The workers claimed across-the-board deprivation of overtime wages; Rule 23(b)(3)'s predominance requirement was satisfied. Individual suits would not be economical, since many of the workers were foreign nationals. The court was familiar with the case from managing discovery and ruling on motions.
OUTCOME: The magistrate judge recommended that the court certify the proposed class.
