Mandamus and notice

In re Spiros Partners is the second recent mandamus opinion by the Fifth Circuit about  notice in large collective actions under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The plaintiff–an exotic dancer with the stage name “Syn”–had an “Entertainer’s License Agreement” with an arbitration clause, the trial court entered an order about other parties and their agreements, and the Fifth Circuit held:

1.  “[The district court] determined there was a genuine dispute as to the arbitration agreements’ validity and ordered Spiros to produce the names of the putative members along with their respective ELAs containing the arbitration agreements. The district court did not err by taking this step in deciding which putative members are subject to valid arbitration agreements, and thus which putative members will not receive notice.”
2. “The only way a putative member with a valid arbitration agreement might receive notice is if ‘nothing in the agreement’ prohibits their participation in the collective action. We conclude the district court went too far by requiring submission of evidence regarding whether Spiros has arbitrated claims with other would-be collective members.” (citation omitted).

No. 20-50318 (June 19, 2020, unpublished).