Second Circuit – Piecemeal appeals: Zivkovic v. Laura Christy LLC

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United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

Piecemeal appeals — State law class-action certification — Reservation of rights to federal claims

Zivkovic v. Laura Christy LLC

22-1558

Judges Kearse, Park, and Robinson

Background: The appeal from a judgment was superseded by a partial judgment issued one year later which awarded relief to class-action plaintiffs in accordance with a jury verdict on their claims under New York Labor Law. The plaintiffs’ Fair Labor Standards Act claims were not mentioned in either the judgment or partial judgment. On remand, the district court granted the plaintiffs’ request for a conditional dismissal of their still-pending FLSA claims.

Ruling: The Second Circuit held that because the FLSA and NYLL claims arise from the same factual circumstances but have different parameters and because of a policy against piecemeal appeals, certification for final judgment as to the NYLL claims was inappropriate considering the plaintiffs’ reservation of the right to reinstate the FLSA claims if they lose on appeal with respect to the NYLL claims.

Josef Nussbaum for the plaintiff-appellee; Daniel S. Alter for the defendants-appellants.

Oral argument audio