Yes Virginia, the Twombly/Iqbal Pleading Standard Applies to FLSA Cases Too!

I see Judge Moreno had to explain -- again -- that the Supreme Court's imprecise pleading standard revision in Twombly/Iqbal (discussed or perhaps overdiscussed at length on this blog) cuts across all civil cases, even FLSA suits:

As they did with their response to the first motion to dismiss, Plaintiffs begin their present response by attempting to differentiate the heightened pleading requirements of Twombly and Iqbal from the FLSA context.  Relying on language from a pre-Iqbal Eleventh Circuit decision, they maintain that the requirements to state an FLSA claim are "quite straightforward" in comparison to the complexity of the pleadings involved in Twombly.....As the Supreme Court has stressed, Twombly "expounded the pleading standard for all civil actions.''' Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 684 (emphasis added). Courts in the Eleventh Circuit have affirmed this holding in FLSA cases, specifically distinguishing past contrary case law.

Now, should I repeat this holding one more time?

Oh well, the Court denied the motion to dismiss anyway.

Judge Moreno also denied a motion to stay all discovery pending disposition of the motion to dismiss.

(Given this was the second time around for the plaintiff I can perhaps see the reasoning, but in general I'm no fan of such motions because they can tick off the judge, are rarely warranted, even more rarely granted, and are often filed reflexively.)