INDIANAPOLIS (LN) — U.S. Magistrate Judge M.J. Dinsmgre granted motions on May 14, resolving disputes between plaintiff Tiffany Sparks and defendants TLC House and Residential Services, LLC, and its owner Tamara Brown, over the scope of the collective action notice and its delivery method.

Sparks filed the Fair Labor Standards Act lawsuit alleging that TLC failed to pay overtime premiums to caregiver employees who worked more than 40 hours in a workweek. The suit seeks unpaid overtime premiums, liquidated damages, and attorney fees.

The defendants did not oppose sending notice to potential plaintiffs but objected to several provisions, including the use of text messaging and the relevant time period. During a hearing, the parties narrowed their disagreements, and the court provided its own proposed class definition, which the parties accepted.

A central dispute involved the start date for the collective action. Sparks sought to include employees employed on or after April 1, 2022, arguing that equitable tolling of the statute of limitations was warranted because defendants did not post the required FLSA notice of employees’ rights until late 2022 or early 2023.

Defendants argued for a start date of October 6, 2022, which is three years before the case was filed, aligning with the standard three-year statute of limitations for willful FLSA violations.

Dinsmgre ruled that the notice could include potential plaintiffs whose claims depend on equitable tolling. The judge noted that whether tolling applies is an individualized determination that does not prevent those individuals from being "similarly situated" to the plaintiff for notice purposes.

"The fact that some potential plaintiffs may need to invoke equitable tolling to defeat Defendants' statute of limitations argument does not negate the fact that they are similarly situated to Plaintiff," the judge wrote, citing Seventh and Sixth Circuit precedent.

The court also overruled the defendants’ objection to text-message service, rejecting the argument that it was "overly intrusive and unwarranted."

"Receiving one text message, without any attachment or link in it, is not overly intrusive in today's world and may well be the most reliable means of communication in 2026 for many people," Dinsmgre wrote.

The order allows plaintiff’s counsel to send a single text message to each putative plaintiff’s cell phone number. If a putative plaintiff responds, counsel may engage in additional text messages. The defendants were ordered to provide names, addresses, cell phone numbers, email addresses, and dates of employment for each potential collective class member within 14 days of the order.

The approved notice defines the collective as all present and former caregiver employees of TLC who worked over 40 hours in one or more workweeks on or after April 1, 2022, and were not paid an overtime premium for some or all of those hours.

The notice explicitly states that the court has not ruled on the merits and that TLC denies any liability. It informs recipients that they may join the lawsuit by returning a consent form to plaintiff’s attorney, Ronald Weldy of Weldy Law, by mail, email, or text.

Federal law prohibits TLC from discharging or discriminating against employees for participating, the notice warns, citing 29 U.S.C. § 215(a)(3).