The Seventh Circuit's new standard for certifying collective actions, introduced a year ago in an age discrimination case against pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly, has turned out to be less onerous than certification standards recently established by other circuits and hasn't significantly impacted notice distribution, wage and hour attorneys say.
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While the standard established that plaintiffs need a material factual dispute, it lacked specificity on how closely judges need to examine plaintiffs' response to an employer's counter-evidence, said Chicago-based attorney Allison Powers of management-side firm Blank Rome LLP.
The standard leaves it up to "the courts' perception of whether there is a dispute of fact," which is something similar to what parties have seen in summary judgment motions, she said.
"There's still some unanswered procedural mechanics here," Powers said. "The doctrine changed, but the practice guide for the district courts is still being written case by case."
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"Collective Cert. Still Steady 1 Year after 7th Circ.’s Lilly Ruling," by Irene Spezzamonte was published in Law360 Employment Authority on July 31, 2026.