The order, issued April 14, 2026, by Magistrate Judge Marl J. Dinsmgre, permits plaintiff Tiffany Sparks to notify potential collective members via text message and defines the group broadly to include caregivers employed on or after April 1, 2022.
The underlying dispute centers on allegations that TLC failed to pay overtime premiums to caregiver employees who worked more than forty hours in a workweek. The plaintiff seeks to recover unpaid overtime, liquidated damages, and attorney fees on behalf of present and former non-exempt employees.
According to the plaintiff's amended complaint, defendants originally treated the caregivers as independent contractors before reclassifying them as employees. The workers provided home and community-based services to Medicaid waiver recipients under the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration program.
A central conflict involved the relevant time period for the notice. The plaintiff proposed a start date of April 1, 2022, when TLC became subject to the FLSA, arguing for equitable tolling of the statute of limitations due to alleged failures to post required employee rights notices.
The defendants argued for a start date of October 6, 2022, citing the three-year statute of limitations for willful violations. The court rejected the defendants' argument that potential plaintiffs relying on equitable tolling should be excluded from the notice.
Citing Seventh Circuit precedent, the court held that collective actions permit individualized defenses. The judge found that the possibility of equitable tolling does not negate that potential plaintiffs are similarly situated as victims of a common unlawful employment practice.
The court also overruled the defendants' objection to sending notice via text message. The judge determined that receiving a single text message without attachments is not overly intrusive and may be the most reliable means of communication in 2026.
Defendants were ordered to provide names, addresses, cell phone numbers, email addresses, and dates of employment for each potential collective member within fourteen days. The court approved a protocol for obtaining dates of birth only if initial mailings return as undeliverable.