Provencher v. Bimbo Foods Bakeries Distribution LLC

── Provencher v. Bimbo Foods Bakeries Distribution LLC ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit Date: May 04, 2026 Category: General 24-3112-cv Provencher, et al. v. Bimbo Foods Bakeries Distribution LLC, et al. UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT August Term, 2025 (Argued: February 24, 2026 Decided: May 4, 2026) Docket No. 24-3112-cv ARTHUR PROVENCHER, individually and on behalf of all similarly situated individuals, MICHAEL MCGUIRE, individually and on behalf of all similarly situated individuals, Plaintiffs-Appellees, — v. — BIMBO FOODS BAKERIES DISTRIBUTION LLC, BIMBO BAKERIES USA, INC., Defendants-Appellants.* B e f o r e: LYNCH, LOHIER, and MENASHI, Circuit Judges. * The Clerk of Court is respectfully directed to amend the official caption in this case to conform with the caption above.  Defendants-appellants Bimbo Foods Bakeries Distribution LLC and Bimbo Bakeries USA, Inc. appeal from the district court’s determination that it had personal jurisdiction over the Fair Labor Standards Act claims of potential plaintiffs who resided outside Vermont, where the district court is located. The district court certified the issue for interlocutory appeal, and we accepted. For the reasons below, we conclude that the current record does not support the district court’s exercise of personal jurisdiction over the out-of-state plaintiffs’ claims. We REVERSE the district court’s contrary ruling and REMAND the case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. _________________ JAMES D. NELSON, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, Washington D.C. (Randall M. Levine, Brendan J. Anderson, Washington D.C.; Joseph Bias, Los Angeles, CA, on the brief), for Defendants- Appellants. SCOTT MORIARITY, Wanta Thome PLC, Minneapolis, MN (Merrill E. Bent, Woolington, Campbell, Bent & Stasny, P.C., Manchester Center, VT, on the brief), for Plaintiffs-Appellees. Catherine K. Ruckelshaus, Edward Tuddenham, National Employment Law Project, New York, NY, for Amicus Curiae National Employment Law Project, in support of Plaintiffs- Appellees. GERARD E. LYNCH, Circuit Judge: Defendants-appellants Bimbo Foods Bakeries Distribution LLC and Bimbo Bakeries USA, Inc. (“Bimbo”) sell baked goods to retailers through delivery drivers, or distributors, like plaintiffs-appellees Arthur Provencher and Michael 2 McGuire.1 Plaintiffs sued Bimbo for alleged violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), on behalf of themselves and others similarly situated. The district court authorized plaintiffs to send notices to the latter group, including distributors based outside Vermont, the state where plaintiffs reside and the district court is located. Bimbo sought an interlocutory appeal challenging the court’s authority to do so, arguing that it lacked personal jurisdiction over the claims of those out-of-state distributors. We agree. We therefore REVERSE the district court’s contrary ruling and REMAND the case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. BACKGROUND Plaintiffs Provencher and McGuire reside in Vermont and deliver baked goods there for Bimbo.2 On a typical day, they arrive at Bimbo’s Vermont warehouse, load their vehicles with Bimbo’s products, drive to Bimbo’s Vermont retailers, and stock the shelves there with those products. They routinely work over 40 hours a we