Low Number of Class Members Results in Denial of Class Action Certification in IC Misclassification Case

Goya Foods succeeded in defeating a motion for class certification by two Pennsylvania sales representatives in an independent contractor misclassification lawsuit filed in New Jersey federal court. Goya utilizes a workforce of sales representatives who have executed broker agreements to distribute its products to supermarkets, grocery stores, and restaurants. Some of the sales representatives had also signed arbitration amendments to the agreements. According to the complaint, the sales representatives claimed that Goya unlawfully misclassified them as independent contractors and took unlawful deductions from their pay in violation of the Pennsylvania Wage Payment and Collection Act.

In denying plaintiffs’ motion for class certification, the court concluded that the sales representatives failed to satisfy the “numerosity” requirement for class action certification. At its maximum possible size, the proposed class would have amounted to 37 members, including the two plaintiffs. Further, the court noted that because 16 of the sales representatives signed arbitration agreements, the number of possible class members might be as low as 21. The court stated that even assuming that the 16 sales representatives who had signed arbitration agreements were included in the proposed class, “joinder [of all the proposed class members as individual plaintiffs] is not impracticable here.” Ortiz v. Goya Foods Inc., No. 2:19-cv-19003 (D.N.J. Aug. 3, 2022).