The number of Fair Labor Standards Act civil lawsuits filed in 2011 declined 7.2 percent, according to a recent report by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
In all, 6,335 FLSA cases were commenced in district courts nationwide during the 12-month period ended Sept. 30, 2011, down from 6,825 during the same period in 2010, according to the statistics.
In its Judicial Business of the U.S. Courts report the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts said that district court civil filings since 2007 have increased 12 percent across the board, mainly because of filings involving labor laws, intellectual property rights, contracts and prisoner petitions.
Wage and hour court skirmishes have been a hot spot in litigation for several years. In 2007, 7,310 FLSA cases were filed; in 2008, 5,393 cases were filed; and in 2009 6,073 were filed.
FLSA-related litigation accounted for approximately a third of all labor law cases filed in 2011. A total of 17,966 civil labor law cases were initiated during the 12 months ended Sept. 30, 2011, of which 6,335 were FLSA specific. In 2010, a total of 18,624 cases were commenced, including 6,825 FLSA-related ones.
On Sept. 30, 2011, 272 civil FLSA lawsuits were pending three or more years, as compared with 258 in 2010.