The Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has joined the Second Circuit’s recent opinions requiring plaintiffs in FLSA cases to provide more than generalized allegations regarding hours worked in order to satisfy the the Supreme Court’s Iqbal/Twombly standard (all arising in the medical setting).   Davis v. Abington Mem. Hosp., 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 16472 (3d Cir. Aug. 26, 2014).

Davis, like the Second Circuit’s decision in Lundy v. Catholic Health System of Long Island Inc., 711 F.3d 106 (2d Cir. 2013), concerned an FLSA complaint alleging in very general terms that Defendant hospital “did not compensate them for hours worked in excess of forty per week during meal breaks, at training programs, and outside of their scheduled shifts.”  The Third Circuit rejected this pleading, citing the Second Circuit’s opinion inLundy and explaining that some factual specificity regarding work in excess of 40 hours that went uncompensated is necessary.

With the rising volume of FLSA litigation, complaints that are poorly drafted and contain inadequate facts should be dismissed, and employers who find themselves FLSA defendants should evaluate the complaint in light of this decision.