Wyndham Sales Representatives Represented by Nichols Kaster and Hawks Quindel Obtain Conditional Class Certification in FLSA Overtime Lawsuit

    MADISON, WI, August 01, 2014 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The attorneys at Nichols Kaster and Hawks Quindel are announcing a significant development in an unpaid wage class action brought on behalf of sales representatives employed by Wyndham Vacation Resorts (Wyndham), after a federal district court in Madison granted the plaintiffs' request for conditional class status.

The case was initially filed in June 2013 by two former sales representatives who had worked for the Orlando, Florida-based company at its location in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin -- the Waterpark Capital of the World -- as In-House Sales Representatives and Discovery Sales Representatives. The two employees alleged that Wyndham violated the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and Wisconsin law by requiring them to work "off the clock" without minimum wage and overtime pay.

In his July 25, 2014 Order, Judge William M. Conley held that the plaintiffs had produced sufficient evidence at this stage of the litigation to suggest that Wyndham maintained a common policy requiring sales representatives in the In-House and Discovery positions to perform off the clock work, making the case appropriate for collective action treatment. The Court also ordered the plaintiffs to mail a notice of the lawsuit to all In-House and Discovery sales representatives who worked for Wyndham in the Wisconsin Dells between July 25, 2011 and July 25, 2014, giving them the opportunity to learn about the case and to join. The Court also ordered Wyndham to post the notice in its Wisconsin Dells location.

Attorney Tim C. Selander, an attorney representing the sales representatives in Nichols Kaster's Minneapolis office, stated, "The Court's decision is incredibly important. It allows the plaintiffs to litigate this case as a group rather than as individuals, it requires the parties to inform other In-House and Discovery sales representatives of the case and their rights, and it allows those employees to assert their rights by joining the case. We're proud to represent these workers, and we're looking forward to proving the merits of their claims in the next phase of the case."

The case is titled Bitner, et al. v. Wyndham Vacation Resorts, Inc., No. 3:13-cv-00451-wmc (W.D. Wis.). The Plaintiffs are represented by William E. Parsons, David C. Zoeller, and Caitlin M. Madden of Hawks Quindel, S.C. in Madison, Wisconsin, and Paul J. Lukas, Tim C. Selander, and G. Tony Atwal of Nichols Kaster, PLLP, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Hawks Quindel has offices in Milwaukee and Madison and represents workers in Wisconsin and across the nation. Nichols Kaster, with more than thirty lawyers in offices in Minneapolis and San Francisco, represents employees and consumers in individual, class, and collective action lawsuits throughout the country. The firm is regularly recognized as one of the nation's top plaintiff-side employment and consumer firms. Nichols Kaster was selected as a member of the National Law Journal's Litigation Boutiques Hot List, ranked as a Best Law Firm by U.S. News & World Report, and selected as a top plaintiffs' employment law firm by Law360.

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