Court: Airline’s workers can’t sue as class in pay dispute
National Court News
American Airlines workers at Newark’s airport who claim in a lawsuit they’ve been shorted on
overtime pay can’t sue as a class, a federal appeals court ruled this week.
The three-judge panel’s decision published Tuesday reversed a New Jersey judge’s ruling that
would have allowed the lawsuit to go forward and include all non-exempt hourly workers
employed at Newark Liberty International Airport since April 2014.
Several employees, including mechanics and workers responsible for tasks such as cargo
handling, filed the suit in 2016 and said American’s timekeeping system automatically paid
employees based on their schedules rather than on the hours they actually worked.
They also alleged managers regularly refused to authorize overtime pay for work performed
before and after scheduled shifts and during scheduled 30-minute lunch breaks. The lawsuit
sought back pay as well as punitive damages. American denied the allegations.
The appeals court sided with the airline, which argued that while the timekeeping system applied
to all employees, it would be wrong to group all employees into a class because it would have to
be determined on a case-by-case basis which employees worked overtime.
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USCIS Adjusting Premium Processing Fee
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today it is adjusting the premium processing fee for Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker and Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers beginning on Oct. 1, 2018 to more effectively adjudicate petitions and maintain effective service to petitioners.
The premium processing fee will increase to $1,410, a 14.92 percent increase (after rounding) from the current fee of $1,225. This increase, which is done in accordance with the Immigration and Nationality Act, represents the percentage change in inflation since the fee was last increased in 2010 based on the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers.
“Because premium processing fees have not been adjusted since 2010, our ability to improve the adjudications and service processes for all petitioners has been hindered as we’ve experienced significantly higher demand for immigration benefits. Ultimately, adjusting the premium processing fee will allow us to continue making necessary investments in staff and technology to administer various immigration benefit requests more effectively and efficiently,” said Chief Financial Officer Joseph Moore. “USCIS will continue adjudicating all petitions on a case-by-case basis to determine if they meet all standards required under applicable law, policies, and regulations.”
Premium processing is an optional service that is currently authorized for certain petitioners filing Forms I-129 or I-140. The system allows petitioners to request 15-day processing of certain employment-based immigration benefit requests if they pay an extra fee. The premium processing fee is paid in addition to the base filing fee and any other applicable fees, which cannot be waived.