Mark W. Batten

Mark Batten is a partner in the Labor & Employment Law Department and co-head of the Class & Collective Actions Group.

Mark represents employers nationwide at all stages of complex employment litigation, including class and collective actions on wage and hour matters and discrimination claims. Ranked by Chambers USA, Mark is hailed as “a fabulous lawyer, handling interesting and complex cases.” Clients “highly recommend him to anyone seeking litigation counsel in the Boston area,” as well as note “he is responsive, pragmatic and team-oriented, and offers excellent legal advice.”

Firm/Organization: Proskauer Rose LLP

Blogs: Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Blog, Labor Relations Update, Law and the Workplace, New England IP Blog, Proskauer on Class and Collective Actions

Latest Articles

Proskauer on Class and Collective Actions

Second Circuit Affirms Expansion of Gender Bias Class Action against Sterling Jewelers

By Mark W. Batten & Jordan Glassberg

November 25, 2019

On November 18, 2019, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit revived a potentially sweeping class action against Sterling Jewelers, Inc. (“Sterling”), holding that potentially tens of thousands of female employees could take part in an arbitration class involving claims of sex discrimination. The Second Circuit’s holding is the latest in the case Jock v. Sterling Jewelers, Inc., an ongoing saga that has bounced between arbitration, the Southern District of New York,…

Proskauer on Class and Collective Actions

Ninth Circuit Affirms Denial of Class Certification for Wage and Hour Claims on Predominance Grounds

By Mark W. Batten & Edward Young

October 15, 2019

On October 4, 2019, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed rulings by the District Court for the Northern District of California to decertify a rest break subclass and to deny class certification of meal break and off-the-clock subclasses in a long-running case brought by AutoZone employees. In re: AutoZone, Inc., Wage and Hour Employment Practices Litigation, Case No. 3:10-md-02159-CRB. Background Plaintiffs brought suit on behalf of a putative class of approximately 30,000 employees challenging…

Proskauer on Class and Collective Actions

NLRB Greenlights Aggressive Response to Class Action Filings

By Mark W. Batten & Jacob L. Hirsch

September 6, 2019

On August 14, 2019, the National Labor Relations Board (the “Board”) held that employers may require employees to waive their right to join class and collective actions – even after a claim has been filed in court – without running afoul of federal labor law. Cordua Restaurants, Inc., Cases 16-CA-160901, 16-CA-161380, 16-CA-170940, and 16-CA-173451. Background Cordua Restaurants had an arbitration agreement in its employment contracts that required employees to waive their right to pursue class…

Law and the Workplace

Final Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave Regulations Published and Other PFML Updates

By Mark W. Batten, Samantha Regenbogen Manelin & Thomas B. Fiascone

June 20, 2019

The Massachusetts Department of Family and Medical Leave (“DFML”) has posted the much-anticipated final regulations regarding Massachusetts’ Paid Family and Medical Leave law (“PFML”). The final regulations come on the heels of Massachusetts lawmakers’ recent extension of key PFML compliance dates. While the final regulations are materially unchanged from the previous draft issued March 29th, the following substantive additions and clarifications are worth noting: Private Plan Clarifications: The bulk of the revisions to the…

Law and the Workplace

Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave Deadlines Extended

By Mark W. Batten, Samantha Regenbogen Manelin & Thomas B. Fiascone

June 14, 2019

With the original July 1, 2019 deadline for numerous provisions of the Commonwealth’s Paid Family and Medical Leave (“PFML”) legislation approaching in mere weeks, Massachusetts lawmakers have now issued a much-welcomed enforcement extension. The extensions comes as employers in the Commonwealth worked to comply with the new law. The amended legislation, announced earlier this week and signed into law on June 13, provides as follows: Required withholding now begins on October 1, 2019, rather than July 1. When…

Law and the Workplace

Retail Salespeople Paid on Commission Are Entitled to Overtime and Sunday Pay, Massachusetts SJC Says

By Mark W. Batten & Thomas B. Fiascone

May 10, 2019

On May 8, 2019, Massachusetts’ highest court held that retail salespersons who are paid entirely on a commission or draw basis, may nevertheless be entitled to additional overtime or pay for work on Sundays. The Supreme Judicial Court considered these questions in Sullivan v. Sleepy’s LLC, SJC-12542. The narrow questions the Court considered were whether employers could satisfy rate of pay requirements under Massachusetts’ overtime law and Sunday pay law – requiring that employees…

Law and the Workplace

Updated: Massachusetts Employers Must Distribute Paid Leave Notice By June 30, 2019

By Mark W. Batten, Samantha Regenbogen Manelin & Thomas B. Fiascone

April 18, 2019

[UPDATE: On June 11, 2019, state officials, including Governor Charlie Baker, issued a joint statement noting that the state has agreed to a three month postponement before companies will be assessed fees pursuant to the PFML, meaning the taxes will begin in October, 2019 rather than on July 1, 2019 as previously anticipated. We will continue to update with further developments.] [UPDATE: As of May 1, 2019, the Department of Family Medical Leave extended the deadline…

Law and the Workplace

Massachusetts SJC Weighs in on Wage Act Class Actions and Offers of Judgment

By Mark W. Batten, Samantha Regenbogen Manelin & Thomas B. Fiascone

April 14, 2019

On Friday April 12, 2019, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court confirmed that plaintiffs seeking to bring class actions asserting Massachusetts Wage Act (“Wage Act”) violations must meet the certification standards set by Massachusetts Rule of Civil Procedure 23 (“Rule 23”), and cannot avail themselves of a lower bar to class certification. In Gammella v. P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, Inc., plaintiff Felice Gammella argued that the Commonwealth’s Wage Act (Mass. Gen. L. ch. 149, §§ 148, 150) provides its…

Law and the Workplace

New Updates to Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave

By Mark W. Batten, Samantha Regenbogen Manelin & Thomas B. Fiascone

April 8, 2019

[UPDATE: On June 11, 2019, state officials issued a joint statement noting that the state has agreed to a three month postponement before companies will be assessed fees pursuant to the PFML, meaning the taxes will begin in October, 2019 rather than on July 1, 2019 as previously anticipated. In May, 2019, the Department of Family and Medical Leave previously extended other deadlines, including the deadline for employers to distribute notice and to file for…

Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Blog

Supreme Court Says that Equitable Tolling Cannot Extend Rule 23(f) Deadline

By Elise M. Bloom, Mark W. Batten & Noa Baddish

February 28, 2019

In a unanimous decision authored by Justice Sotomayor on February 26, 2019, the Supreme Court held that the 14-day deadline to seek permission to appeal a decision granting or denying class certification under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(f) cannot be extended through the doctrine of equitable tolling. Nutraceutical Corp. v. Lambert. The Court reversed the Ninth Circuit’s decision, which had accepted a petition filed more than 14 days after the trial court’s decertification…

Mark W. Batten

Second Circuit Affirms Expansion of Gender Bias Class Action against Sterling Jewelers

Ninth Circuit Affirms Denial of Class Certification for Wage and Hour Claims on Predominance Grounds

NLRB Greenlights Aggressive Response to Class Action Filings

Final Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave Regulations Published and Other PFML Updates

Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave Deadlines Extended

Retail Salespeople Paid on Commission Are Entitled to Overtime and Sunday Pay, Massachusetts SJC Says

Updated: Massachusetts Employers Must Distribute Paid Leave Notice By June 30, 2019

Massachusetts SJC Weighs in on Wage Act Class Actions and Offers of Judgment

New Updates to Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave

Supreme Court Says that Equitable Tolling Cannot Extend Rule 23(f) Deadline

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