The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently held that the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA") does not bar class action waivers.  In Sutherland v. Ernst & Young, the Second Circuit relied on the Supreme Court's recent guidance in American Express Co. v. Italian Colors Restaurant to arrive at its decision.  First, the circuit court found that the FLSA does not contain a "contrary congressional command" that would require rejection of class arbitration waivers.  Second, the court reasoned that while an employee's prospective recovery for an FLSA overtime claim would be dwarfed by the costs of individual arbitration, such an obstacle does not render a class action waiver invalid as it does not totally foreclose the effective vindication of a federal statutory right. 

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