PITTSBURGH (LitNews) — U.S. District Judge Robert Colville on Monday severed the claims of nearly 14,300 plaintiffs in three consolidated wage-and-hour lawsuits against FedEx, denying a request to transfer the cases and forcing plaintiffs to file individual actions in appropriate forums.
The three cases — Brannon, Abner, and Smith — are spinoffs from Claiborne v. FedEx Ground Package System, Inc., a litigation that has been pending in the Western District of Pennsylvania for nearly seven years. In late April 2024, the plaintiffs in Claiborne moved to voluntarily decertify a collective action that included more than 30,000 individuals. The court granted the motion, dismissing opt-ins without prejudice while tolling their statute of limitations through August 2024.
Plaintiffs’ counsel designated the new cases as related to Claiborne, alleging that FedEx violated the FLSA and state laws by failing to pay overtime to delivery drivers employed through intermediary companies.
On September 29, 2025, Colville had already granted motions to sever and transfer claims in Claiborne and a related case, Atwood v. FedEx Ground Package System, Inc. He directed those severed claims to appropriate forums, noting that the claims in Brannon and Abner were likely also misjoined under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 21.
The Brannon case involves nearly 400 named plaintiffs. The Abner case involves 11,643 named plaintiffs. The Smith case involves 2,253 plaintiffs.
Colville wrote that the plaintiffs filed these mass actions as a "tactical maneuver around the standard class or collective action procedures," citing Third Circuit precedent describing such actions as "class actions in disguise."
"The request for the Court to transfer these cases is neither just nor warranted, and such a transfer would represent a massive administrative burden on the Court and the Clerk’s Office that is simply not justified under the circumstances presented here," Colville wrote.
Plaintiffs had asked the court to sever their claims and transfer them to appropriate forums, mirroring the relief granted in Claiborne and Atwood. They also offered to personally file their individual claims following severance, provided the court did not dismiss the claims outright.
Colville agreed to sever the claims but denied the transfer request. He ruled that plaintiffs must file their individual lawsuits in their respective states of employment.
"The Court will thus sever Plaintiffs’ claims, and it will permit Plaintiffs to file their claims individually in appropriate forums. The Court will not transfer Plaintiffs’ claims," Colville wrote.
The judge rejected the plaintiffs' proposed 120-day filing deadline, calling it excessive given the time they had already been afforded. He set a 60-day deadline for plaintiffs to file their individual actions and pay filing fees.
"To be clear, the Court’s Order is intended to provide Plaintiffs with only 60 days to file their individual claims, otherwise their claims will be time-barred," Colville wrote.
Colville also warned that his determination on joinder would constitute the law of the case. He noted that FedEx appeared prepared to address collateral estoppel issues if plaintiffs attempted to file further mass actions after the severance.
"The Court has no intention of offering an advisory opinion. Plaintiffs proceed at their own peril should they attempt to file further mass actions after this Court’s (and/or the Massachusetts District Court’s) misjoinder determination," he wrote.
The court will mark the cases as closed consistent with the plaintiffs' request.