The U.S. Supreme Court held today, in Genesis Healthcare Corp. v. Symczyk, that where the claim of the lone plaintiff in a Fair Labor Standards Act “collective action” (see 29 U. S. C. §216(b), which authorizes a plaintiff to bring a claim on behalf of himself “and other employees similarly situated”) is dismissed, the case fails to present a “case or controversy” and therefore lacks subject matter jurisdiction. Here, the named plaintiff’s individual claim was rendered moot by defendants’ Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 68 Offer of Judgment (which plaintiff did not accept).
The Court rejected plaintiff’s argument that this would allow defendants to inappropriately “pick off” the lead plaintiff “before the collective-action process could unfold.”