Prickett

On January 16, 1947, an action was brought against appellee, Consolidated Liquidating Corporation, to enforce causes of action, hereafter called claims, for unpaid overtime compensation and liquidated damages under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended, 29 U.S.C.A. § 201 et seq. The claims sought to be enforced were those of appellants, Glenn O. Prickett, H. F. Winans, S. E. Whitney, Luther M. Walters, Samuel D. Tinker, Frank Hemminger, Oliver H. Raftery, Fred M. Koehler, Charles R. Cobb and Charles E. Smith-Sanford. Prickett, Winans and Whitney brought the action “on behalf of themselves and all other employees similarly situated.” Walters, Tinker, Hemminger, Raftery, Koehler, Cobb and Smith-Sanford claimed to be “employees similarly situated.”

On April 11, 1947, appellee moved for a bill of particulars. That motion was granted on May 12, 1947. The Portal-to-Portal Act of 1947, 29 U.S.C.A. § 251 et seq., was enacted on May 14, 1947. A bill of particulars was filed on June 5, 1947. An answer was filed on June 16, 1947. An amended complaint was filed on April 6, 1949. In May, 1949, appellee made two motions to dismiss. The first was, in effect, a motion to dismiss the…